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Tomato varieties that others love-- but you find little use for?

Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2021 4:05 pm
by TomHillbilly
 Is there a variety that others prefer? And you never understood why? What do others see-- that I'm missing?   
A good friend of mine grows around 120 tomato plants a year. He gives away tomatoes by the bushel to good will stores, and such.  I give him some of the plants, and he always buys 12 to 16 Mr Stripey plants from a nursery. I've never seen him take any of those huge Stripey tomatoes inside his house. They only go as far as the back porch, which is a loading dock for his truck. I asked him one day why he never took any Stripey mater inside to eat. He laughed and replied, "Probably for the same reason you never grow Stripey seedlings." While we both agreed that Stripey isn't a bad tomato. Neither of us understand why our area in East TN holds the variety to such high regard? He says Stripey is the only tomato variety people call his house requesting. 
PS. So many articles about how tomatoes will grow and taste different, depending on the area. The bulk of truth is probably in that. BUT WHAT IF--- Tomatoes can be an area preferred taste thing? Kinda like the beer and sodas which are targeted to certain areas. Just an alternative thought to ponder.

Re: Tomato varieties that others love-- but you find little use for?

Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2021 4:27 pm
by OhioKate
For me it's Sungold. It's not a bad tomato but it's never been an incredible performer in my garden and I really didn't think the taste was anything special.

Re: Tomato varieties that others love-- but you find little use for?

Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2021 5:01 pm
by TomHillbilly
OhioKate-- LOL... You really went and done it now! You have attacked the king of the cherries. {I'm only joking of course.}
Those that don't have a taste for sweetened tomatoes, will have a problem with Sungold. I grew it for a few years. Sunsugar cracked a little less, and produced a little more for me. So I switched up. But both tastes about the same, so I'm doubting it's a mater for you.

Re: Tomato varieties that others love-- but you find little use for?

Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2021 6:25 pm
by rossomendblot
Sungold for me aswell, far too sweet for my taste.

Re: Tomato varieties that others love-- but you find little use for?

Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2021 9:32 am
by rdback
Riesentraube - what a nasty little tomato this one is lol. I grew it over 10 years ago and I still can't get that taste outta my head!

Re: Tomato varieties that others love-- but you find little use for?

Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2021 9:53 am
by Labradors
Black Cherry!

I never could understand what all the fuss was about as it never tasted good for me, and I grew it a few times. Marsha even sent me some of her seeds, in case I had a bad batch, but either it doesn't grow well for me, or I'm just not crazy about the taste.

Linda

Re: Tomato varieties that others love-- but you find little use for?

Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2021 10:56 am
by mikestuff49
I think quite often the soil and the climate where you grow has a lot to do with taste. What might grow and produce well in one zone might produce far less in another. I grew Sungold a couple of times and they tasted good, but the production made it more trouble than it was worth. I never had much luck with Brandywine. Also a problem with production.

Re: Tomato varieties that others love-- but you find little use for?

Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2021 11:05 am
by Tormahto
Don't... get... me... started.

Re: Tomato varieties that others love-- but you find little use for?

Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2021 11:09 am
by Paulf
Green when ripe varieties, all cherry tomatoes except Black Cherry.

Re: Tomato varieties that others love-- but you find little use for?

Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2021 12:22 pm
by worth1
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Re: Tomato varieties that others love-- but you find little use for?

Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2021 12:31 pm
by Dee
Jaune Flamme. It barely produced for me the year I grew it, and I don't even remember the taste. I am willing to give it another try at some point, though!

Re: Tomato varieties that others love-- but you find little use for?

Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2021 12:48 pm
by Dawn
Barry's crazy cherry. Everyone talks about how sweet they, mine were not sweet, they were bland and kinda gross. I had plants in 3 places (home garden, community garden, and my mom's house), no one liked them. They were insanely productive, that part was true. My dog loved them 😄.

Re: Tomato varieties that others love-- but you find little use for?

Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2021 1:30 pm
by Cole_Robbie
One year my best dwarf was bosky chabarovsky. It was pink, fuzzy, juicy and delicious. I bragged incessantly and mailed seeds to everyone. I don't know what happened, but the tomatoes those seeds grew were awful. They were dry, wrinkled, and the worst tomatoes I ever grew.

Re: Tomato varieties that others love-- but you find little use for?

Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2021 11:42 pm
by JRinPA
rdback wrote: Sat Jan 02, 2021 9:32 am Riesentraube - what a nasty little tomato this one is lol. I grew it over 10 years ago and I still can't get that taste outta my head!
I second that!!
I also found Roma to put out some terrible tasting tomatoes. I make sauce from the tasty ones.

Re: Tomato varieties that others love-- but you find little use for?

Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2021 4:11 am
by karstopography
I wasn’t very impressed by San Marzano. Maybe it needs volcanic soil of Naples to shine. The tomatoes I grew looked pretty, but the flavor was pretty...meh

Re: Tomato varieties that others love-- but you find little use for?

Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2021 5:01 am
by MrBig46
Dee wrote: Sat Jan 02, 2021 12:31 pm Jaune Flamme. It barely produced for me the year I grew it, and I don't even remember the taste. I am willing to give it another try at some point, though!
Jaune Flamée was also my biggest disappointment. Instead of a sweet taste, something very sour grew up for me. I threw away the seeds.
Vkadimír

Re: Tomato varieties that others love-- but you find little use for?

Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2021 9:28 am
by Rockoe10
JRinPA wrote: Sun Jan 03, 2021 11:42 pm ...
I also found Roma to put out some terrible tasting tomatoes. I make sauce from the tasty ones.
Agreed. Not sure what it is, but i didn't care to eat them on toast as i do with other varieties. Sauces are about all they are good for.

Re: Tomato varieties that others love-- but you find little use for?

Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2021 9:42 am
by Gardadore
I have had similar experiences with Black Cherry. Tried from different venues but it has never impressed. Gave plants to a friend over two years and she had the same reaction - bland taste. Have since read that people don’t let them ripen enough. That may have been my problem - picking them too soon. Might try them again sometime to test the theory.

Re: Tomato varieties that others love-- but you find little use for?

Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2021 11:29 am
by rossomendblot
I've found Black Cherry needs a good summer (which are infrequent in the UK :D) to be at its best. When it's good, it's my favourite cherry and I'm not a great fan of cherries. If we don't get much sun the fruit stays quite pale and the taste just isn't the same.

Re: Tomato varieties that others love-- but you find little use for?

Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2021 11:37 am
by Cole_Robbie
I like purple bumblebee better than black cherry, but some people say the skins are too thick.

Ambrosia blue is a good substitute for juanne flamme. It is a juicy orange antho saladette.

And I wonder if riesentraube was once grown to make wine? Or maybe it was just what was around in Germany at the time. Seed companies still say it tastes great, lol.