What Colors are You

[karstopography]

Growing?
I went through my grow list and not counting the four cherries (two orange, two red)
I’ve got 7 each of Red and Pink tomatoes
5 dark tomatoes
4 orange
2 bi-color
1 yellow
1 white
1 mystery. (I don’t know what the plant is label went AWOL.)

So, do you weight your grow list heavily towards a particular color or is it more of a mix?

No big deal, just wondering what color tomatoes people seem to gravitate towards.

[Tormahto]

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK, and SunGold.

[slugworth]

better red than dead.
easiest to tell if 100% ripe or not.

[Setec Astronomy]

Ha...I don't feel like counting, and I grow a lot of striped, etc. (what color is a Brad's Atomic Grape?), but I'll have red, pink, purple, green, yellow, orange, and a couple of "black" late additions.

[worth1]

Red serrano chiles.

[Tormahto]

Red serrano chiles.

Worth,

You are 100% rojo.

[karstopography]

So, isn’t there a Red Brandywine and then the original Pink(knowing there are different strains) one? Wonder what the difference is between the two other than the skin color? Does yellow tomato skin that evidently makes for red tomatoes taste different than colorless tomato skin that makes a tomato appear pink? Or are there other genes influencing flavor that get pulled along with the skin color? Or does Red Brandywine have significant different parentage than the Pink one?

I fully realize that weather, soil, light, irrigation, etc and other things can influence tomato flavors, but does the skin itself taste different, yellow and the colorless, if all else is equal?

Are there any other tomato skin colors besides yellow and colorless?

[Tormahto]

To me, the skin tastes like cr#p, no matter its color. And, I've had a few tomatoes that were streaked in both clear and yellow skin, on the same fruit.

Not getting into genetics, the major difference that I observe is that in the green stage, red tomatoes are usually solid light green, and pink tomatoes are light green with darker green shoulders. Some speculate that there is a flavor gene associated with green shoulders.

As for me, when I observe pics of fruit, I am always looking for green shoulders in just under-ripe fruit. Some people actually try to hide the green shoulders by taking pics of the blossom end. If only they knew.

Another factor is "Internal White Tissue, which shows up often during hot weather in red tomatoes, in my garden. It rarely effects pink tomatoes. I don't believe that I've ever had a good/great tasting tomato that had IWT.

[Paulf]

Seven red hearts
eight pink hearts
one black heart
five reds
four pinks
four yellows
one bi-color

[Sue_CT]

Well this thread got me to start planning. So far I have Mostly pink, a yellow, an orange, a striped, a bicolor (Ananas Noire) at least one dark (black cherry) and only one red (Box car Willie). Still not done though. I have 10 on my list and I have room for 12-16 depending on if I do a few in pots. I might just double up on some favorites or I might add a few more, or a little of both, lol.
For now I am at:

4 Pink(Ukranian Heart, Brandywine Sudduth, Stump of the World, Estler's Mortgage Lifter)
1 Red (Box Car Willie)
1 black (Black Cherry)
1 Orange(KB)
1 Yellow (Azoychka)
1 Striped (Red and Green, I think, GWT)
1 Bicolor (Annas Noire)

[NMRuss]

Blues and purples and blacks. Tomatoes and carrots especially... all containing anthocyanin. .. the good stuff found in blueberries.

[Magic_Mike]

Our tomato selections are heavy on the Pinks.
# Varieties
Bi-Colors: 3
Dark: 8
Green: 2
Orange: 4
Pink: 18
Purple: 1
Red: 8
White: 2
Yellow: 2

Our pepper selections are heavy on the Reds.
# Varieties
Green: 4
Red: 15
Orange: 3
Peach: 3
Pumpkin: 1
Yellow: 6

[patihum]

IF everything germinates - some are older seeds

12 dark
9 pink
9 red
2 GWR
1 yellow
1 orange
1 bi-color

[karstopography]

I wish I had a green while ripe one this year. I did buy seeds for Aunt Ruby’s German Green, but too late really for the spring season. I could have gotten Green Zebra at the feedstore but passed on it, seems like I heard not so great things about it.

From what I can tell from comments here and there and everywhere, White, pale while ripe tomatoes get either total hate or some that really like them and describe melon flavors and such. Melon is a good flavor in my estimation.

There’s surely others besides @Tormato that really like Pink maters, or at least some of the pinks. That thing for pink tomatoes people apparently have is one and the main reason I’m growing many more pinks this year. Mortgage Lifter (unknown strain) might be the only knowingly pink tomato I have grown to date and it didn’t wow me, but my wife loved it so it gets a spot out in the garden since I started growing it.

I know I like Cherokee Purple and Cherokee Carbon so that lead me to get more dark tomatoes. Bi-colors have been great, but somehow, I seem to have only 2 this year.

I had one anthocyanin tomato seed pack with a few seeds remaining and did plant them “ great white blues” from renaissance and maybe the mystery, UFO, tomato I have out in my remaining sets is that.

[Tormahto]

I wish I had a green while ripe one this year. I did buy seeds for Aunt Ruby’s German Green, but too late really for the spring season. I could have gotten Green Zebra at the feedstore but passed on it, seems like I heard not so great things about it.

From what I can tell from comments here and there and everywhere, White, pale while ripe tomatoes get either total hate or some that really like them and describe melon flavors and such. Melon is a good flavor in my estimation.

There’s surely others besides @Tormato that really like Pink maters, or at least some of the pinks. That thing for pink tomatoes people apparently have is one and the main reason I’m growing many more pinks this year. Mortgage Lifter (unknown strain) might be the only knowingly pink tomato I have grown to date and it didn’t wow me, but my wife loved it so it gets a spot out in the garden since I started growing it.

I know I like Cherokee Purple and Cherokee Carbon so that lead me to get more dark tomatoes. Bi-colors have been great, but somehow, I seem to have only 2 this year.

I had one anthocyanin tomato seed pack with a few seeds remaining and did plant them “ great white blues” from renaissance and maybe the mystery, UFO, tomato I have out in my remaining sets is that.

Perhaps it may not do well in your conditions, but my #1 recommendation would be Stump of the World, with about 4" of mulch.

The most melon-like flavored tomato that I've ever trialed is Persimmon.

[karstopography]

SOTW might be a good choice. Really, are the conditions all that different? My slicer, beefsteak types tomatoes generally are setting fruit in late March and into April, then ripening in May and into June. Temperatures here then are similar, more or less, to summer temperatures in Massachusetts.

[Acer Rubrum]

I'm doing most colors, though heavy on the orange ones. Also yellows and bicolors. I've got some reds, mostly paste types. And certainly pinks. I ended up with Aunt Eula's Rockhouse Pink from the swap and I find myself compelled to grow it. One of my experimental varieties is a pink paste and I'm continuing to work on that this year. I've only got a couple of dark ones, including Cherokee Purple Heart. I'm looking forward to that one.

[Lotte]

I think there are most red, as red is the 'normal' color. But I grow every color also - yellow, orange, 'white', brown, black, green, striped, pink, purple.

[KateL]

Highest proportion of pinks to date, since participating in the MMMM swap, ha!
Almost three-quarters of these are new-to-me varieties, so will be interesting to see how the proportions compare or settle over the next few years.

Have other peoples’ colour choices evolved over the years?

Red: 15
Dark: 13
Pink: 8
GWR: 2
Orange: 2
Yellow: 1
Bicolour: 1
Stripey:2

[Tormahto]

SOTW might be a good choice. Really, are the conditions all that different? My slicer, beefsteak types tomatoes generally are setting fruit in late March and into April, then ripening in May and into June. Temperatures here then are similar, more or less, to summer temperatures in Massachusetts.

Your soil is likely not as acidic as up here. That could be one factor. Some say that very acidic soil makes the best tasting tomatoes.

There once was a poster at T'ville ,who lived in the upper mid-west, who often traveled to Texas and Florida. He said the only good tasting tomatoes in the south were the black/dark ones. The dark tomatoes were better than the same ones up north. But, the pinks and reds were not as good as the ones up north. I've heard that some people grow great tasting pinks in Texas, with the common theme of a heavy layer of mulch, which means much less watering.

As for Mortgage Lifter (likely the Radiator Charlie version), Carolyn said it wasn't much, when compared to the exceptional pinks.