Sungold cracking and taste management

[Barmaley]

Hi all,

I saw a lot of opposing opinions about "best variety" or "best testing tomato" but I never saw somebody blaming Sungold for taste. So I planted 4 plants on my small porch. I understand that one of the main issues with it is cracking. I read that cracking happens if a sudden rain follows days of drought. If I would follow weather and water my plants moderately ahead of rains will it protect my plants against cracking?

The main reason I grow tomatoes is to experience the real tomato flavor. I read that to get a good flavor with early girl we need to grow it dry. Is there any techniques to improve taste of sungold? Is anything else I need to know to grow them well since I have 0 experience with tomato-growing.

Are there any tomatoes which taste better then Sungolds?

[Setec Astronomy]

The main reason I grow tomatoes is to experience the real tomato taste.

Are there any tomatoes which taste better then Sungolds?

I'm sure that many members would argue that a Sun Gold isn't a "real tomato taste". I love Sun Gold, buying some at a local farm stand is what got me into growing tomatoes. This year I am trying a couple of seemingly similar varieties, Honeycomb Hybrid and Orange Paruche. I don't have any HH's yet, and the Orange Paruche hasn't impressed me, but I have only taken 2 fruit off.

I think with the cracking, trying to maintain an even moisture level is what is usually recommended. The idea with restricting the water in the ripening phase is to concentrate the sugar (think raisins), which is fine with a determinate plant (if the weather permits you to do it), but I don't know how you do it with an indeterminate plant that is always producing fruit. There is a variety Sun Sugar, which is like Sun Gold but supposed to crack less, I don't remember if that really cracked less than Sun Gold for me.

My trick for the Sun Gold cracking is to pick anything that's close to ripe before any big rainstorms--if you've got some that are a little underripe, let them sit on the counter inside for a few days and they will be fine.

[Ginger2778]

My trial and error over the years has led me to water evenly, easy to do in an Earthbox which has a water reservoir, and for taste I have learned to leave them on the vine until they are bright screaming orange. I grow SunGold every year and it's my biggest seller in my annual plant sale.
I will pick almost every other variety at first blush to keep critters away, but SunGold doesn't seem to develop its perfect flavor and sweetness unless it ripens to bright orange on the vine.

[worth1]

My trial and error over the years has led me to water evenly, easy to do in an Earthbox which has a water reservoir, and for taste I have learned to leave them on the vine until they are bright screaming orange. I grow SunGold every year and it's my biggest seller in my annual plant sale.
I will pick almost every other variety at first blush to keep critters away, but SunGold doesn't seem to develop its perfect flavor and sweetness unless it ripens to bright orange on the vine.

Word.

[Barmaley]

I grow in pots. If I cover the top of a pot before rain, will the cracking still take place because the leaves exposure to rain? And again: does cracking happens because of sudden change of soil water content or because of over-moistening of the soil?

[Ginger2778]

Happens because of sudden changes.

[Ginger2778]

Don't know the answer about covering the top of the pot, but if expecting rain you would be OK if you cover the whole plant, leaves, pot and all. I have no idea if that is practical for you.

[Barmaley]

I am not sure if covering the whole plant would be practical to covering the soil is easy. Can cracking happen through leaves watering only?

If its tomatoes are totally green, can they still crack?

Are there any other known issues with sungold?

[worth1]

I am not sure if covering the whole plant would be practical to covering the soil is easy. Can cracking happen through leaves watering only?

If its tomatoes are totally green, can they still crack?

Are there any other known issues with sungold?

My experience with my containers and growing in the ground is heaver watering wont make them crack but rain will.
Rain is charged with nitrogen from lightning and atmospheric saturation and I think but do not know nor can I prove this is what causes it due to rapid growth.
I have never seen a totaly green tomato crack from this very often but I have seen it if it is right before the blushing stage.
Lost a ton and I mean a ton of celebrities one year due to it none were blushing but close to it and it was in July the rains came big time.
Something to think about.

[Setec Astronomy]

If its tomatoes are totally green, can they still crack?

Are there any other known issues with sungold?

You're overthinking this a little. No, they don't split when they are green, they split when they are ripe. It's a nuisance, but if you keep up with picking the ripe ones, and as I stated (and a couple other members seemed to disagree with), pick any that are a day or two away from being ripe before a big rainstorm, you should be fine.

[Ginger2778]

If its tomatoes are totally green, can they still crack?

Are there any other known issues with sungold?

You're overthinking this a little. No, they don't split when they are green, they split when they are ripe. It's a nuisance, but if you keep up with picking the ripe ones, and as I stated (and a couple other members seemed to disagree with), pick any that are a day or two away from being ripe before a big rainstorm, you should be fine.

I did not and do not disagree. If you pick them before bright orange the flavor isn't as good, but yes, they won't split. So now the OP needs to decide on crack protection vs excellent flavor, because in my experience and having picked them at some color but not fully ripe, I have found they stay more tart, even when they get bright orange. The ones left on the vine to become bright orange develop a lot of sweetness along with the tartness.

[Barmaley]

[/quote]
My experience with my containers and growing in the ground is heaver watering wont make them crack but rain will.
Rain is charged with nitrogen from lightning and atmospheric saturation and I think but do not know nor can I prove this is what causes it due to rapid growth. [/quote]

This is very, very interesting. Can I generalize that after rain tomatoes grow faster than without rain?

[/quote]Rain is charged with nitrogen from lightning and atmospheric saturation ... [/quote]

This sounds unusual since I think chemical reactions even augmented by electricity can not produce new elements, (don't we need a nuclear reaction for this?), so I assume rain water can be saturated with nitrogen from the air to facilitate growth? So - it is not water but nitrogen what causes the problem? Can not fertilizing with nitrogen can alleviate cracking issue?

[worth1]

We aren't talking about producing elements we are talking about lighting allowing the nitrogen in the air to mix with water in the air in the form of nitrates.
For every breath you take you are sucking in about 78% nitrogen gas known as molecular nitrogen N2 which is two atoms of nitrogen.
The energy in lightning busts these molecules apart so they can bond with other elements like oxygen then into rain water.
It's a quick shot of nitrogen so I wouldn't be cutting back in fertilizer.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q ... eVho_WsMln

[worth1]

It is both the nitrates in the rain and the rain that causes the splitting.
Or at least that is my observation.
I have never watered anything so much that they split but rain has so I am (guessing) it is the nitrates doing it.
I think it is a good guess.
Plants love rain 100 times more than a water hose.

[Barmaley]

Is it a good idea to collect rain water or it looses its benefits after a day in a barrel?

About the taste of it. I understand that at different conditions fruit may taste quite different. What are known factors in treating sungoldt to squeeze the best sweetness and aroma from sungolds?

[Shule]

That's a very interesting thought on nitrates, Worth.

[karstopography]

https://sciencing.com/rainwater-contain ... -8461.html

[mention]worth1[/mention] here’s a link supporting the rainwater supplying nitrogen to plants idea you brought up. I too agree rainwater, especially a good soaking from big noisy thunderstorm, truly supercharges growing plants.

“Nitrogen in Rainwater

A 2004 study of the chemical composition of rainwater at 48 sites in 31 states found nitrates in nearly all the samples, although a high degree of variation existed in both time and space. Several studies in the 1990s showed that locations along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico could expect to get 18 pounds of ammonium and nitrates per acre per year from rainwater. That's about a tenth of typical nitrogen requirements for growing crops.

The Good and the Bad

“Because rainwater contains nitrogen in forms that plants can absorb, and plants need nitrogen to grow, farmers have noticed that rainwater stimulates more plant growth than water from other sources. That's good, in that farmers don't need to apply as much artificial fertilizer. However, in some cases human activities result in an excess of nitrogen in rainwater. That has the effect of throwing off the balance in some fragile ecosystems where some plants -- typically algae -- that are normally limited by a lack of nitrogen now have enough extra nitrogen from rainwater to choke out other organisms.”

From the link.

Not all water is even close to equal.

[Ginger2778]

Is it a good idea to collect rain water or it looses its benefits after a day in a barrel?

About the taste of it. I understand that at different conditions fruit may taste quite different. What are known factors in treating sungoldt to squeeze the best sweetness and aroma from sungolds?

The sweetness and smell are mostly just simply a matter of ripeness. AFAIK.