Tomatoes to Avoid and Why

[pepperhead212]

I had terrible BER last year, but only on a single variety, Black Plum. Nothing helped. But I like its taste, and it's very fruitful, so I planted it again.

I had that same experience, the one time I grew that, many years ago, when it was new on the market, when there weren't many black tomatoes. Not a single useable fruit. Same thing with a small tomato, labeled Salsa, which I figured would be great for me! Every single fruit had BER. When I have only one variety doing this in a season, it's not the soil or fertilizing.

[worth1]

Costoluto Genovese. The plant was very prolific, and the tomatoes were attractive and large. We hated the taste. My mom wouldn't even give them away because she was embarrassed they tasted so bad. However, we have since learned that they taste much better cooked and are used as a cooking tomato.

Danube. Got diseased instantly. Took forever to ripen. Skins were hard. Fruit was alarmingly crunchy, celery-like.

Costoluto Genovese were a big hit here in Central Texas.
Our climate is much more like where they originated too.

[Jfink]

Yellow Pear. Cute, pear shaped cherry tomato, lovely on the plate, prolific production, and completely tasteless. If you plan to eat what you harvest, I would pass on this one.

[Blackbear]

Tigarella is the worst mushy mater I ever grew.--- @arnorrian nailed it.
I grew over 30 varieties one year, and Orange Banana was the only one to get end rot. I never picked any fit to eat.
Brandywine is a extremely light producer.
Everyone raves about Isis Candy-- Not me !! There is just too many great cherries out there for me to grow Isis Candy.
Blue Beauty is great to look at-- but bad mushy.
PS-- Celebrity, Big Boy, Parks Whopper, and Lemon Boy was all great tomatoes 30 years ago. They IMPROVED them all. To where the taste has diminished.

I have also experienced a few OP that were supposed to be "improved" and they did not work out as well as the original

be careful folks …..and value the original strains ...if they "ain't broke " . we also inadvertently experience mutations
and inadvertent crosses that become very productive and interesting …..but value those famous originals

[EdieJ]

I had ordered Big Zebra seeds one year and got Green Zebra instead. Oh well, plant them anyway, right? Bad idea. They were very healthy, very prolific, and very very astringent. We couldn't eat them. I will admit they actually made a half-way decent salsa but we don't eat much of that. So ... Green Zebra is on my no-grow list for sure. Unlike Big Zebra which I must have every year!

[WoodSprite]

Yellow tomatoes in general. (Except for yellow cherry tomatoes. I love some of them. Others not.) I grew at least 20 varieties of yellow tomatoes to try to find a favorite to grow each year but gave up. I can't remember one that wasn't mealy in texture and/or had a very weak flavor. Ick.

[Nan6b]

Butter Apple is a yellow with good strong flavor.

[SQWIB]

Black Vernissage was the nastiest one I ever grew, You do have to pick them slightly pre-ripe or they are just mush/mealy.

I grew Mortgage Lifters and Brandywine Red, True Black Brandywine and Cherokee purple a few years ago but decided to try Hybrids, my main reason for this is we get so much rain that all my heirlooms split.

I then tried Celebrity (fail) I thing the seeds were wrong.
Box Car Wille, And Abe Lincoln, both good tomatoes.
Last year I tried Jetstar, Big Beef, Beef Master and Kosova. I was happy with the Big Beef and Jet Star, the Kosova was OK and the Beefmaster would get a lot of those fused blossoms and not ripen correctly.

This year I am adding Amish Paste because I plan on doing some canned tomatoes and sun-dried tomatoes. I will also be growing Jet Star and Big Beef again, although my Jet Star seedlings look horrible.

I try to give each new tomato I try, 2 years and if Big Beef is good again this year, it will be my new main tomato.
Out of everything I grew the last 5 or so years, I have to say, for my climate/area, the Big Beef was the best, taste was awesome, no splitting, and fairly prolific.

I do also grow a cherry type tomato each year and have been happy with Gardeners delight, I don't want to say it's quite thick skinned but the skin does have like a paper texture but still is a very good tomato, small enough to pop in your mouth, big enough to use on salads or in a pinch, slice for a sandwich.
I loved the Matts Wild cherry also, but the fruit was tiny, putting the tiny size aside, it has been one of the tastiest cherries I ever ate, not as sweet as the sweet 100 but had a very tomatoey flavor, if that makes sense.
Maybe I would grow Matt's if I had more space but since space is limited I have to make my choices wisely. I did like snacking on them when in the garden.

[TomHillbilly]

SQWIB wrote-- "I try to give each new tomato I try, 2 years and if Big Beef is good again this year, it will be my new main tomato.
Out of everything I grew the last 5 or so years, I have to say, for my climate/area, the Big Beef was the best, taste was awesome, no splitting, and fairly prolific. "
If If Big Beef is a winner with you, then you should know. Big Beef is a fairly stable hybrid. You can collect seeds from your F-1 plants the first year. You will see no noticeable morphs in your F-2 plants. PS-- This will cut against the grain of what you will read. And what others will claim, with no first hand knowledge. Collect some seeds, if for no other reason than to have a back up plan.

[Blackbear]

SQWIB wrote-- "I try to give each new tomato I try, 2 years and if Big Beef is good again this year, it will be my new main tomato.
Out of everything I grew the last 5 or so years, I have to say, for my climate/area, the Big Beef was the best, taste was awesome, no splitting, and fairly prolific. "
If If Big Beef is a winner with you, then you should know. Big Beef is a fairly stable hybrid. You can collect seeds from your F-1 plants the first year. You will see no noticeable morphs in your F-2 plants. PS-- This will cut against the grain of what you will read. And what others will claim, with no first hand knowledge. Collect some seeds, if for no other reason than to have a back up plan.

most interestink ...mmmm so much so I will start a side discussion on Big Beef ...

[Hatgirl]

Micro Tom is disgusting. I love micro tomato varieties, but that one is just awful.