Help Me Choose?

[Seven Bends]

I have twice as many tomato plants as I have spaces for them; want to weigh in to help an indecisive person choose? Are any of these "must grow!" or "don't bother!" for you? I'm in a hot, humid climate, growing in-ground. Thanks!

Pinks:
Stump of the World
Terhune
(I grew both of these in 2020; loved the taste but production was poor and many of the tomatoes split or rotted. I'd like to try one of the two again this year to give them another chance. Which do you recommend?)

Large Pink Bulgarian
Pink Potato Top
Momotaro
Think Pink

Yellows, golds, bicolors:
Kellogg's Breakfast (grew in 2020; delicious, moderate production, some cracking/spoilage)
Big Rainbow (likely to plant in 2021)
Pineapple (grew in 2020 but planted late; only got one usable tomato and don't remember it well)
Hillbilly
Old German
Jaune Flammee (likely to plant in 2021)
Jubilee (probably no in 2021)
Azoychka (probably no in 2021)

Other:
Cherokee Carbon (grew in 2019; pretty and tasty; good production except didn't set fruit in hottest weather; succumbed to disease earlier than others)
Aker's West Virginia
Mediterranean (Victory Seeds)
Cuore di Bue (Botanical Interests - pear/pouch-shaped)

[Labradors]

Stump of the World is supposed to be amazing, and many of us are growing it in memory of Remy from the Sample Seed Shop.

I don't think you can go wrong with a pink tomato!

I would not grow Jaune Flammee or Azoychka because I find them both acidic.

Linda

[PlainJane]

I grew both Peppermint and Hillbilly last year in N. Florida. Hillbilly is not back this year; Peppermint is.
And I made the switch from Kellogg’s to KBX 2 years ago. KBX is much more reliable in a hot, humid setting.

[slugworth]

Kelloggs did good last hot humid year,but takes forever to get ripe.
I didn't eat any until September.
Trying this year with saved seed.

[karstopography]

I like Hillbilly and Pineapple. Both are productive here, pineapple especially so. Their sweet and fruity notes flavor suits me. Hillbilly is one daughter’s favorite tomato. Pineapple is potentially a super tall and very small footprint type, small diameter plant with blue-green tinted leaves, it’s also a little earlier than Hillbilly. Both are healthy plants and resistant to issues from the Humidity here. Both set fruit well in 50s to high 60s nights, but tend to struggle setting in nights over 70. Pineapple may hang in their a bit better with fruit set in warmer conditions than Hillbilly.

Old German was very late for me and not especially productive. Big tomatoes, Big, rangy plant. Taste was good.

Note: two of my tomato beds are raised beds, but with no barriers between the medium, a soil much like the natural clay dominated soil, and the native soil below and not so high they couldn’t be in contact with the native soil. The other bed is only slightly raised and a blend of the native clay/silt and compost amendments.

[slugworth]

Cour di bue was a lot smaller than the picture on the packet.
Probably due to the heat.

[Sue_CT]

I wouldn't blame the tomato too much with the cracking. Just pick anything blushing before rain and don't over water. Stump deserves another chance, and so does KB in my opinion. I have never had a problem with those cracking but I pick blushing tomatoes before rain.

[Shule]

I'm in a different climate, but here are my thoughts:

I'm with [mention]karstopography[/mention] on Old German not being especially productive (but it tasted fantastic). Big bushy plant; I got maybe two or three undersized fruit.

Cuor Di Bue is kind of cool, but if you're not into acidity, it's more acidic than most oxhearts. Not super acidic, but kind of acidic. The flavor didn't blow me away, but it was reasonable.

[Seven Bends]

Stump of the World is supposed to be amazing, and many of us are growing it in memory of Remy from the Sample Seed Shop.

I don't think you can go wrong with a pink tomato!

I would not grow Jaune Flammee or Azoychka because I find them both acidic.

Linda

In my garden last year, Stump & Terhune seemed very similar, especially in taste (both were delicious), though Terhune was a little earlier and Stump produced longer. Both had a lot of trouble with early blight, but it was a wet summer. I guess if I only grow one of them this year, I'll probably choose Stump due to the tribute to Remy.

Thanks for the tip about acidity. I was leaning away from Azoychka for that reason but was hoping Jaune Flammee might have more sweetness. I may grow Jaune Flammee anyway just to have something different, if there's a space for it, but I'll move it lower on the list.

[Seven Bends]

I grew both Peppermint and Hillbilly last year in N. Florida. Hillbilly is not back this year; Peppermint is.
And I made the switch from Kellogg’s to KBX 2 years ago. KBX is much more reliable in a hot, humid setting.

Thanks for mentioning Peppermint; I wasn't familiar with that one and will consider it in future years. No fair adding more choices when I already can't make up my mind, but at least it's too late now to grow more plants and I have to stick with what I have.

Opinions about Hillbilly seem to vary greatly, so thanks for adding your experience. I've been reading about KBX for awhile now but didn't realize that one of its virtues is better reliability in hot, humid conditions, so that's helpful to know. I'll probably give my Kellogg's plant a spot in the garden this year, even though it's been struggling more than most of the other plants for some reason. Maybe I'll try KBX next year, maybe side-by-side with regular Kellogg's.

[Seven Bends]

Kelloggs did good last hot humid year,but takes forever to get ripe.
I didn't eat any until September.
Trying this year with saved seed.

Interesting, thank you. Last year I grew Kellogg's, Gold Medal, Stump of the World, Terhune, Pantano Romanesco, Mule Team, Neves Azorean Red, Soldacki, and Pineapple. I put the plants in the ground on 6/13 (late due to Covid; we couldn't access our garden plots for awhile). I picked my first Stump of the World and Terhune tomatoes on 8/8. I picked my first Pantano Romanesco on 8/11, first Kellogg's and Gold Medal on 8/14, first Mule Team and Neves on 8/20, and first Soldacki on 8/25. (I said in an earlier message that Terhune produced before Stump, but I just checked my notes and that wasn't true. I got my first tomato from both of them on the same day, but Terhune produced more at the beginning, and Stump produced more later, after Terhune was done.)

[Seven Bends]

I like Hillbilly and Pineapple. Both are productive here, pineapple especially so. Their sweet and fruity notes flavor suits me. Hillbilly is one daughter’s favorite tomato. Pineapple is potentially a super tall and very small footprint type, small diameter plant with blue-green tinted leaves, it’s also a little earlier than Hillbilly. Both are healthy plants and resistant to issues from the Humidity here. Both set fruit well in 50s to high 60s nights, but tend to struggle setting in nights over 70. Pineapple may hang in their a bit better with fruit set in warmer conditions than Hillbilly.

Old German was very late for me and not especially productive. Big tomatoes, Big, rangy plant. Taste was good.

I planted my Pineapple plant later than the others last year -- 6/23. On 8/11, I noted that it still hadn't set any fruit and hardly had any blossoms. Of course, it's extremely hot here in July, so it didn't really get a fair chance. Maybe if I can get it in the ground tomorrow, it will have time to set some fruit. My experience was the same as yours -- it's a very tall but narrow plant, even without pruning. At this point, I'm leaning toward planting Pineapple and Hillbilly, and skipping Old German this year. (Still not sure which I'll pick if I can only choose one.) Thanks for your helpful comment.

[Seven Bends]

Cour di bue was a lot smaller than the picture on the packet.
Probably due to the heat.

Good to know. Along with [mention]Shule[/mention]'s comment about the flavor, this sounds like one to skip this year. The plant is kind of unhealthy anyway, so maybe it just wasn't meant to be in my garden this year.

[Seven Bends]

I wouldn't blame the tomato too much with the cracking. Just pick anything blushing before rain and don't over water. Stump deserves another chance, and so does KB in my opinion. I have never had a problem with those cracking but I pick blushing tomatoes before rain.

Good advice, thank you. These were deep, radial cracks that formed pretty early, while the tomato was still fairly green. Mainly Stump & Terhune, not so much the other varieties. We get most of our summer rainfall in the form of thunderstorms that can dump an inch or more of water, often after a week of no rain, so it can be tough to avoid cracking. You probably experience the same thing in CT. It was a particularly bad weather year here last year, so I agree with you, they deserve another chance. I'll make a point of picking earlier and of trying to even out the water in the drier stretches.

[Seven Bends]

I'm in a different climate, but here are my thoughts:

I'm with @karstopography on Old German not being especially productive (but it tasted fantastic). Big bushy plant; I got maybe two or three undersized fruit.

Cuor Di Bue is kind of cool, but if you're not into acidity, it's more acidic than most oxhearts. Not super acidic, but kind of acidic. The flavor didn't blow me away, but it was reasonable.

Thanks, these were really helpful comments. I think I'll wait until next year for Old German, and I'll push Cuor Di Bue even further down the list. I'm sure I'd enjoy having it, but there are so many to try, and so little space.

[slugworth]

Pantano Romanesco I traded plants to a guy that runs a restaurant and I had free pizza slices until there was snow on the ground.
I like to trade plants you can't normally buy local.
Will trade for food.
I didn't start any this year. 26 different varieties was enough for me without adding that one.
Soldacki did well last year.That is a repeat-bought plants and others from saved seed.

[slugworth]

Soldacki I picked last year before the aug 4th hurricane.
I didn't want to see it rolling down the street.

100_0590.JPG

[slugworth]

Not on the list,but husky red cherry does well planted directly in the ground vs. container.
It survived a direct hurricane hit ( a low rider) and produced until frost.

[slugworth]

Bonnie plants has a variety called heatmaster,but I couldn't find any plants this year.
I am trying to start saved seeds,but tricky since it is a hybrid.
https://bonnieplants.com/product/heatmaster-tomato/

[Sue_CT]

Interesting, I have not had a problem with radial cracking that i recall in those two. I do remember a year or two when I had pretty widespread radial cracking or scarring but I don't remember which specific varieties, probably because I don't usually have a problem with those varieties and if I did one year I would have put it down to weather.