Hey, I’m trying decifer what tomatoes to grow for this year. I’m looking for good tasting, but I don’t want to sacrifice too much productivity for it. (like what most brandywines and cherokee purple seem to occasionally suffer from).
For reference, my growing season runs from about late April-early May through mid-end October. I have generally dry summers, full sun, and good heat (75-110f). There’s often nearly a 50°F difference between night and day.
My current list is already looking a little unwieldy and could use condensing, so I was looking for information/experience with these varieties to identify what should be cut.
Varieties in Question:
Balanced:
Cowlicks Brandywine
German Johnson --Benton Strain
Aunt Ginny’s Purple
Marianna’s Peace
Stump of the world
Daniels
Aunt Ruby’s German Green
Cherokee Purple/Indian Stripe PL/Spudkee
Pruden’s Purple?
KBX? (reg. leaf version did poorly last year)
Rich Acidic:
Box Car Willie
Lynnwood
Sweet:
Crnkovic Yugoslavian
Paste:
Costoluto Genovese
Repeats from past years:
Cherry:
Sweet 100
Sungold
Hybrid:
Big Beef
After reading @Fusion_power thread Talking About Tomatoes, it inspired me to research tomato varieties. After finding the old Tomatoville forum, my list got a little large for my garden. I have around 18 spots available and should be able to make a few more to give paste tomatoes their own separate area, but I was hoping for some new options.
German Johnson of any strain is a bland tomato. Aunt Ginny’s is half decent but Prudens Purple is much better. KBX is fantastic and very productive.
I don’t know where you found “sour” for Box Car Willie and Lynnwood, but they are not. Both are rich flavored. Akers West Virginia is a slightly more intense flavored tomato.
You don’t list a small early red tomato. Bloody Butcher is hard to beat if you want one to try.
In your climate, Heidi will be a very good and productive paste.
We really like Big Beef… and are going to grow Big Beef Plus this year. Also Akers WV.
Also growing Ponderosa Pink… lots of Youtube videos and threads about it on other forums like Tomatoville etc… as well as the social medias… im excited about it for an heirloom and i like pinks so YMMV. Seems to do well in northern climates as well as Florida etc. Not much bad to find about this one.
Stump of the World is a very good flavored tomato though a bit sweet. Only negative with it is the fruit is variable in size often starting at 12 to 16 ounces and winding up the season as 4 to 8 ounces. I don’t mind the size variation given the flavor is top notch.
Of the above list, Daniels is the sleeper. IMO, it is better flavored than any of the Brandywines and most other pink tomatoes. It is also a very productive tomato.
Here is your list arranged by my preference.
Daniels - exceptional flavor, excellent production, outstanding sandwich tomato
Stump of the World - exceptional flavor, very good production
Cowlicks Brandywine - A good and productive strain of Brandywine
Prudens Purple - very good flavor, can beat almost all others in a good year
Marianna’s Peace - can be exceptional, has some issues with radial cracking
Aunt Ginny’s Purple - is very good and an often grown variety in my garden
Aunt Ruby’s German Green - Has a spicy sweet flavor, production is low to medium
Cherokee Purple/Indian Stripe PL/Spudkee - all very good with rich smoky flavor
KBX - Hands down the best flavored orange tomato I’ve grown and very productive
German Johnson --Benton Strain - IMO would not grow
Yeah, I guess I don’t. Early Girl usually covers that category in my garden. How does Bloody Butcher compare?
I’ll go 50/50 between Heidi and Costoluto Genovese this year for sauce. Last year I tried San Marzano and they weren’t very productive for me and were plagued by BER.
How do Spudkee and ISPL stack up to Cherokee Purple in terms of flavor? Are they basically just more productive versions of it?
Brandywine is the queen for reds and pinks. German Pink is also pretty good.
After many years of growing tons of varieties. Black Krim is the best black tomato ever. I won’t ever grow a Purple Cherokee again. They look very similar and the PC seems more productive and resilient to some ber and the super hot summer keep setting. But there is no comparison in the flavor, texture and quality. I’ve only grown them side by side for 2 seasons.
Orange tomatoes Kellogg’s Breakfast is phenomenal.
Also definitely try Pineapple, Hillbilly and Black Pineapple(Ananas Noire).
For the non heirloom Beefsteak, Big Beef, Celebrity and Better Boy are excellent growers you won’t ever regret if you want to eat a lot and share tomatoes.
I’ve grown some top named dwarf tomatoes and tbh I don’t grow them any longer and didn’t really care for them.
Cherry tomatoes Black Cherry and Sungold are my favorites. Green Grape is also very tasty and Barry’s Crazy Cherry is a producing machine worth trying out.
Bloody Butcher is golf ball size, potato leaf, red with very good production. Most important, it has excellent flavor for a 55 day tomato. Early girl is closer to tennis ball size and usually about 8 days later ripening. In the right climate, Early Girl is a good tomato. Bloody Butcher is a very good tomato in just about any climate.
IMO, Indian Stripe PL is a pretty good tomato. You won’t go wrong growing it.
For general black tomato suggestions, Bear Creek, Spudatula, Carbon, Cherokee Purple, J.D.'s Special C-tex, and Black Krim are usually very good. Bear Creek in particular is a standout for flavor.
Im pretty sure i grew this in 2022 and 2023… and shared some seeds with a neighbor that grows alot of tomato varieties… was the best tomatoes we had that year and put on until frost. I was going to save seeds again but i had plants too close together and was afraid they wouldnt be as true. Not sure if thats how it works but i will grow these again.
I grew BB+ 2 years ago and found it was about the same as Big Beef. Why? Because the improvements are in disease resistance to several viruses including tomato spotted wilt plus it has the b^og gene for higher lycopene. Since I did not have an outbreak of serious viral disease that year, Big Beef + was similar to the original. What BB+ does not have is significant resistance to late blight and its tolerance to early blight is mediocre at best. I don’t want to downplay it, but for most gardeners, the original Big Beef is still tough to beat.
Thanks! Black Krim is one I may try sometime. My dad did a little minitrial in Lake County back when he had vineyard there and found Black from Tula to be good as well.
Over the years, our tomato annual grow list has generally condensed down to Big Beef, Early Girl, Cherokee Purple, Sweet 100, and Sungold. Any extra spots are normally filled with Brandywine, Better Boy, or Celebrity.
That list is kinda what my dad has instilled into me, so I figured this year I should branch out a little and experiment. Last year we began by trying Two Tasty tomato. The plants were crazy vigorous and productive, but a little late and slightly too acidic for my liking. After sacrificing too much garden space to those cherry tomatoes last year, I’m longing big, beefy slicers.
Thanks for this! From my time with Cherokee Purple, blacks are of great interest to me. I’ve heard great things about Bear Creek, but little on it’s production. I’d love to hear your experience on that front.
Also, do you know much about its suspected kin, Barlow’s Best Black? Seems fairly reclusive, but it sounded good the few times it was mentioned.
Keith Mueller bred Bear Creek along with Gary’O Sena, Liz Birt, and Dora from a cross of Brandywine (Sudduth) with Cherokee Purple. I’m not aware of any direct relationship with Barlow’s Best Black. Keith sent seed that became Bear Creek to Robbins Hail about 2005 and Robbins then stabilized Bear Creek. IMO, Bear Creek is a moderate to highly productive tomato. It is one of the better flavored black tomatoes and usually one of the most productive.
J.D.'s Special C-tex is relatively heat tolerant and is from a cross of Black Krim and Early Girl. Carbon is widely adapted. Black Krim is sometimes finicky about climate but is overall a very good flavored tomato. Spudatula is a potato leaf version of Black From Tula with better production and flavor.
Thanks for the info on Bear Creek, it’s becoming ever more appealing to me. I’ll probably look to grow it and ISPL for my blacks. Maybe I’ll try to track down Barlow’s Best Black too, but I think its getting too late for starting seeds now?
