I grew it once, and it was tasty and mild. A local high-end restaurant, that has itās own large organic garden, grows mostly Paul Robeson.
Where I live the three most popular tomatoes are Cuore di Bue for taste, Ox Heart for Paste as well a San Marzano. They also grow many, many heirlooms including a great deal of yellow tomatoes and green Zebra ( a personal Fav.). Cannot wait for tomato season to begin. This summer I will grow my own very sugary cherry tomatoes.
Just to put this variety on your radar screen, the Green Bee tomato is a really weird one that I have grown for two seasons now. Itās unlike any other tomato. Chartreuse when ripe, crunchy and intensely flavored. And fairly productive too, but not a large plant. The fruit are so tough that they sit on the vine intact after the vine has withered. I just picked one and it is still crunchy, however being Jan 25 the flavor is largely gone. Not unpleasant though.
https://store.growartisan.com/product/greenbee
Some pics from todayās āharvestā:
Check out Galahad. It was new last year and is the most advanced resistance to Blight so far. I try a lot of varieties each year and Galahad ( created by crossing Iron Lady and Defiant, both new Blight resistant varieties) produced a lot of large tomatoes for 2020. I canned 40 quarts of sauce. I have been reading that a new Tomato called Brandywise has resistance to Septoria Leaf Spot and Early and Late Blight and will try that this year as well.
Thanks for the recommendations!
I havenāt done tomatoes from seed in a couple years but I just ordered the Brandywise from Fruition Seeds and got some Paul Robeson from Baker Creek.
Wish me luck - normally I have issues with disease and aphids (the latter easy enough but a hassle).
Like always, I have way more that I want to grow than I have room for. Iām planning to try a bunch of paste types this year and a ton of cherries. I have seeds for all of these, some a bit old so I need to grow a few of these just to refresh my seeds.
I need to drop at least 25% from this list and would welcome any suggestions of tomatoes on this list anyone grew and didnāt like, had really bad disease issues, etc. so I can cut them. Please no new suggestions, lol!
Larger tomatoes
Zenaās Gift
Coustralee
Neves Azorean Red
Matsu Express
Stump of the World
Purple Calabash
Elgin Pink
Biskaya Roza
Girl Girlās Weird Thing
Cherokee Lime
Carbon
Paul Robeson
1884 Purple
Brandywine Cowlick
Cherokee Purple
KBX
Brandywine Yellow
Wild Thyme Bicolor
Big Beef
Rebel Yell
Estlerās Mortgage Lifter
1884 Pink
Wakefield Warrior
Lindaās Faux
Cosmonaut Volkov (determinate)
Cherokee Green
Medium
Eva Ste. Wendell
Sugar Plum Fairy
Pale Perfect Purple
Momotaro F1
Daifuku
Cheburan
Homestead (determinate)
Rumi Banjan (determinate)
Arkansas Traveler
Japanese Black Triefele
Pastes
Striped Roman
Limbo (determinate)
Fuego Verde (GWR plum)
Costoluto Genevese (Brokenbarās strain)
San Marzano Redorta
Marzano Fire
Schokolodnaya Sosulka (chocolate icicle)
Tigarella Nero
Pertsevidnyi Zheltyi (yellow determinate)
Coeur de Boeuf
Inzhir Roxovyi (ribbed russian pear)
Hearts
Orange Russian 117
Dotsonās Lebanese Heart
Red Lithium
Fish Lake Oxheart
Cherry
Candy Sweet Icicle
Mattās Hornet
Ambrosia Gold
Sunrise Bumblebee
Rev. Michael Keyes
Pink Princess
Fruit Punch
Gobstopper
Komohana Cherry
Dikovinka
Rebel Alliance
Maglia Rosa (semi-determinate)
Japanese Pink
Mattās Wild Cherry
Chadwick Cherry
Helsing Junction Blue
Dr. Carolyn (light yellow)
Sungold
KARMA Miracle
Hanging Basket (to grow over the edge of a retaining wall)
Shimofuri
Spanish Dancer
Mini Parvula
I grew Mountain Vineyard Cherry Tomatoes last summer as well, and they did well . It was nice to have a regular supply of decent Cherry Tomatoes over an extended period of time.
Iāve grown a few from your list.
Striped Roman was a good Roma type fruit for us, orange with yellow stripes.
San Marzano was a prolific, small plant, good flavor fruit, but was very disease prone.
Yellow Brandywine was a big, potato leafed plant, very good flavor, but shy bearing.
Girl Girl was a pretty good darker stripey variety, good flavor.
I havenāt grown KBX, but did grow the regular Kelloggās Breakfast last year. It was a good producer, very good yellow, with a rich flavor.
You must have a big yard to grow so many varieties! Especially if you grow more than one of each.
Cosmonaut Volkov was a dud here in 7B. I hear itās a lot better up North.
Also interested in KBX.
Stump of the World was pretty good- won a friendās tasting contest.
Iāve grown about 35 off of your list zendog. Eva Ste. Wendell was a selection of my Big Beef X Eva Purple Ball sent to Bill Jeffers about 12 years ago. He selected for a few traits that were still segregating and released it roughly 8 years ago. It is a very good tomato albeit similar to Eva Purple Ball with better disease tolerance and less likely for the fruit to drop off when ripe.
Dr. Carolyn is technically a white though many people describe it as pale yellow. Dr. Carolyn Pink was selected from a bee made cross a few years later. IMO, Dr. Carolyn Pink is one of the best flavored cherry tomatoes around.
Orange Russian 117 is a striking tomato, unfortunately, flavor is poor to non-existent. I would strike it from the list along with Homestead. Homestead is a good tomato, there is just no compelling reason to grow it when you have so many others that are similar.
Paul Robeson is a very good flavored tomato, but struggles with disease on the east coast. Grow it if you like, but donāt expect much production.
You will love Costoluto Genovese. The flavor is rich and intense almost off the scale. Donāt try to slice it for fresh eating. Cut into chunks, bake in the oven at 350F for about 10 minutes to bring out the flavor and make mind blowing tomato sauce.
Arkansas Traveler is a consistent producer of medium sized medium flavored tomatoes. While I prefer Lynnwood for flavor, I have to give Arkansas Traveler a thumbs up for consistent production year in year out.
I have grown lots of varieties of tomatoes and liked most of them well enough.
I have found that most tomatoes that ripen really early, have very little flavor. I quit trying thoseā¦ got to have flavor.
I used to grow those more fickle heirloom varieties, Brandywine and Cherokee purpleā¦ both excellent on TASTEā¦ Brandywine I have to agree with many that it is the best I have ever tasted. But very low producers in my garden, so I donāt bother with them anymore. Got to have production.
I have tried several cherry tomatoes but sun gold is the only one that I really thought was all that good. It has flavor (to me) a little different than most but good flavor. I tried black cherry, and several other red cherriesā¦ but was not impressed.
If you know of a very flavorful cherry that is very productive, disease resistantā¦ I might give it a try. My wife likes cherry tomatoesā¦ I am more into big beefy tomatoes myself.
That is why I grow mostly the Big Beef Hybrid now. In my TN garden, it is quite disease resistant, and produces loads of big beefy tasty tomatoes. The flavor is not Brandywine level, but plenty good.
I prune mine to 2 stems and they usually set 4-5 nice sized tomatoes on each bloom setā¦ and by fall they have grown 9 ft or more tall. Loading up the freezer and jars and eating all the fresh you want.
Big Beef from my gardenā¦
TNHunter
Do any of you know the tomato variety? :
- Cuarentena ( in English Quarantine )
If you do not know it, I recommend this variety .
Regards
Jose
Jose, if you have seed, would you be willing to ship some Cuarentena to me? I would be happy to send you some very tempting tomato seed in return.
@hambone @subdood_ky_z6b and @Fusion_power Thanks for your thoughts on my list. Iām dropping Cosmonaut Volkov, Homestead and Orange Russian 117. That helps, but Iāll have to cut deeper.
Regarding KBX, it is good and productive, but the taste is not nearly as good to me as the Yellow Brandywine, so I have to keep the Yellow Brandywine. Wild Thyme Bicolor is fairly close to being another yellow in color, but I tasted one my niece grew last year and it really had a lot going on for flavor as well so Iāll see how that compares.
@subdood_ky_z6b I actually have a small yard, plus a 12x25 plot at a community garden. But I grow one of each and everything except the determinates are grown as a single stem so I can get a lot of varieties into a relatively small area. I usually grow about 45, so definitely more trimming to do on the list.
Fusion_power, can you put together a list of tomatoes that will do well in a cool climate? Iām in California, but in the fog belt. It is NOT hot here. Last year I grew Early Girl, and it was productive but the taste did not develop like it does in hotter areas. This year I am going to try Stupice for an early tomato.
I also grew Cherokee Purple and Berkeley Pink Tie-Dye last year. They both did well, but I only got 2 tomatoes off Berkeley because I started it so late. They actually tasted superior to Cherokee Purple, so Iām going to try it again this year.
I belong to a garden club here, and we have a tomato sale in the spring as a fundraiser. It would be nice to know of more varieties that will produce well in cool conditions.
CA_Poppy, there is a variety named San Francisco Fog (I donāt have seed) that was selected for ability to mature in your climate. Here are the varieties I would suggest:
Bloody Butcher
Stupice
Kotlas
Wisconsin 55
Sioux (or Super Sioux, either will work)
Sashaās Altai
Gregoriās Altai
O-33
Krainiy Sever
Early Wonder
Betimes McBeth (small fruit, brachytic plant, does reasonably well in a cold climate)
Donāt try to get all of them. Find sources for 5 or 6 and grow a few plants of each to see how they perform for you. Wisconsin 55, Gregoriās Altai, and Sashaās Altai are larger fruited and less likely to produce very well, but they make up in flavor for whatever limits they have due to climate. Bloody Butcher is arguably the best suggestion for both production and flavor, but fruits are golf ball size or slightly larger. As you note with Early Girl, it really takes heat to amp up the flavor of tomatoes. Try putting ripe fruit in your oven at 100 degrees for about 20 minutes. This usually boosts the flavor significantly for a couple of hours. With a bit of experimentation, you will likely find a way to make your tomatoes taste better without compromising other traits.
One suggestion, look into building a high tunnel over your tomato plants. It can be done relatively cheap and significantly boosts the temperature around the plants.
CA_Poppy, I have seeds of San Francisco Fog if you would like to try it. Would be glad to send you a few seeds.
Thank you for the offer, but I think I am going to go with started plants this year. Things have been very busy here, and I donāt think I have the time for seed starting this year.