Tomato Flavor Boosters

[FatBeeFarm]

I'm wondering what advanced tips and accumulated wisdom others here have about maximizing tomato "flavor". Some years my tomatoes taste better than other years. The smaller cherry tomatoes are pretty consistent in flavor, but the bigger the tomato gets the more I notice a tapering off in tomato umami most years. I think @worth1 mentioned using Ironite and I'm pretty sure @Uncle_Feist mentioned Potassium Nitrate and well water with a trace of sulfur at some point. I also know that starving them of water works but that is difficult for me here as it rains a lot. I'd like to do a better job in this department but I'm not sure how to go about it.

[Uncle_Feist]

A feeding of Epsom salt at fruit set then a booster a couple of weeks later will boost the fruit sugars. My sulfur spring irrigation water works the same as the epsom salt.

Most important thing for the best flavored fruit is healthy foliage, a well fed plant and of course fully vine ripened.

[karstopography]

Below are just impressions or my thoughts on flavor with tomatoes. Some might have something scientific to back them and some are just ideas about observations about when I get my best tasting tomatoes.

I think overall weather has a bearing on the quality of the tomatoes. Too cool, some tomatoes suffer on flavor and quality, too hot, other tomatoes might diminish in quality and flavor. I haven’t even come close to working out any of the details on all this and likely will not ever be able to nail anything down. I just see when I get the best tomatoes on which plants and when and then try to infer something about the overall weather. Dester is a good hotter weather tomato as far as quality and flavor go. Sart Roloise seems to decline in flavor and quality in hotter weather. Coyote gets even better when temperatures soar above 100°. Pruden’s Purple is a good early season slightly cooler temperature tomato, but still maintains very good quality and flavor in very warm weather. Some tomatoes are very touchy about water and seem to be more sponge like, soaking up excess water like a sponge and splitting and cracking easily, diluting flavor.

I agree with having healthy foliage and plenty of it, partly to feed the tomato fruit and partly to shade the fruit. Sunscald is the enemy of fine flavored tomatoes, that’s definitely something I can say for sure. Too much direct sun on fruit is a bad thing in hotter, intense sunlight climates or latitudes. I like the tomatoes to have ample potassium, sulfur and magnesium, https://downtoearthfertilizer.com/produ ... te-0-0-22/ this langbeinite that supplies all three nutrients has I believe helped me with getting high quality fruit. Side dressings of Langbeinite, Calcium Nitrate, and Cotton seed meal seem to produce really good fruit. Cotton seed meal is a soil acidifier in addition to a slower boost of nitrogen than calcium nitrate.

One aspect of flavor that gets overlooked is judging the ripeness of a tomato. Some varieties can hold a long time on the counter looking fully ripe and some deteriorate rather quickly. When during the spectrum of the ripening process does the tomato get cut and consumed is big. Tomatoes are always on this continuously advancing spectrum of being underripe to peak ripe to overripe to rotting. I’m very intentional about when I cut a tomato trying to judge by feel and the overall look

Daytime highs generally in the mid to upper 80°s with a little time up to 90° or so during the second half of the fruit growth seems to be a sweet spot for the best tomatoes overall on quality, flavor, that has been my experience. But, some varieties might be better in cooler temperatures. Carmello and Gregori’s Altai are better cooler weather tomatoes for good flavor in cooler conditions.

I think climate, soil, light, temperature, water, and nutrient differences account how one particular tomato might shine in one region and be not so great in a different region.

I like growing a variety and a lot of new to me tomato varieties every year because tomatoes really do vary a lot in flavor and some can be just fantastic if it is the right tomato for the right region grown in a favorable year.

[TomatoNut95]

I wish I could boost my tomatoes flavors. But I think the excess rain caused a dilution in taste this year. On the other hand, there are a lot of varieties that are simply mild in flavor.

[AKgardener]

Is there even a thing?? I had the worst tomato the other day it was so tart and acidic wich I do not mind that it’s the tartness that was awful.. and I was looking forward to it now I’m not I even want it next year

[Shule]

In a gardening context, Epsom salt really does seem to work in my garden (at least when growing with black plastic). Also, for big tomatoes that are too mild and/or mealy, their flavor (and texture) benefits considerably by growing them with black plastic (in my garden); it makes them more juicy and flavorful (both sweet and acidic). For Black Cherry, it seems to taste better in the shade (without black plastic) for me. For Green Giant, when I grew it without black plastic, I needed to give it full sun for optimal taste. Dry-farming can also potentially have a positive impact on taste. Also, what you eat before you eat a tomato matters; if I eat blackberries first, they taste a lot more like blackberries. If I brush my teeth first, then . . .

Also, you may find that tomatoes can taste different if you grow them in different locations in your garden.

In a culinary context, here are some tomato flavor enhancers:
- Black pepper: raw tomatoes with lots of pepper on them are great; it works better than salt, in my opinion
- Wonderberries (use whole wonderberries with tomatoes on frittatas and as a pizza topping; they enhance the flavor of the tomatoes; however, if you blend wonderberries up in sauce and cook it, that doesn't have the same effect for some unknown reason)
- Salt (of course; I prefer to eat raw tomatoes without salt, though, if they're otherwise plain)
- Sugar (it's actually pretty good, but I don't do it very often)

And here are a few things that pair well with tomatoes:
- Green onions (they mix well with tomatoes and salt for a great simple raw salsa; they're also excellent with tomatoes in frittatas)
- Bacon
- Cheese (melted, cooked with the tomatoes)
- Actual onions
- Garlic
- Ranch
- Ground beef
- Basil (although basil does kind of dominate the flavor; so, if you want to find new flavors continually, I don't recommend using basil every time)
- Oregano
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Mushrooms
- Lettuce
- Olives
- Peppers

I know it's often said that refrigerating tomatoes has a negative impact on flavor, but I find that it actually helps at least some kinds of homegrown tomatoes taste better (such as Valencia). Also, the ones that get too juicy and/or too ripe to be optimally enjoyable are good candidates for refrigeration.

[Ken4230]

Dr. Male, in my conversations with her, always said that taste and color was subjective. She wasn't much on adding things to the plant just to improve the taste. I think her opinion was that plant breeding was the best way to improve taste. She thought I was silly to add wooden matches to each planting hole for the sulfur, which I have done for years along with Bone and Blood Meal.

One thing I do know is that the more rain we have, the blander the tomatoes taste, at least to me. With all of this rain, I have been hand watering with a much stronger solution of Epsom Salts and Bloom Booster. Don't know if it helps, but it makes me feel better.

[maxjohnson]

I don't have scientific backup for anything I'm about to say.

I do think genetic makes a huge difference.

From the various things I read indicates micronutrients beyond NPK are important.

I have a feeling length of sun exposure is important, but not so much the intensely as more intense will only stresses the plants and weaken their immunity to diseases. But I wonder if the length and angle of the sun makes the difference. Because I remember growing various cherries (Ambrosia, Lemon Drop, Black Cherry) in South Florida, and while the climate makes it harder to grow, the intensity of the sweetness were more than I can achieve in my current zone. In fact, I have been unable to achieve the same level of sweetness with Black Cherry from up here compared to down there, but I don't know if this is also down to the fact it is more adapted for that climate.

Which leads to the topic of leaves, or lack thereof. I have no answer for this but I wonder about it. Would like to see some randomized controlled study that compare the brix scores for the same variety growing using different methods. Maybe there is one already, but I imagine it would be complex with too many variables, it's not just leaves, but amount of stems, and the volume of fruits being produced. If I apply the same logic to other fruits such as fruit trees and watermelon, it makes more sense that the leaves are important to develop flavor. Quick search University of Cali says this about fruit tree: "The leaves closest to an individual fruit serve as the primary source and provide the majority of sugars required for development." Is this true for tomatoes, particular with indeterminate vine that continues to grow and produces more fruits, maybe there is a breaking point where it is enough. I do know that later in the season with less sun and my cherry plants goes crazy with many stems, they produces a lot of fruits but there are less sugar content in each fruit. So from this logic, perhaps limiting the amount of stems but providing enough leaves can help force more concentration of sugar to the existing fruits.

[FatBeeFarm]

@Uncle_Feist

A feeding of Epsom salt at fruit set then a booster a couple of weeks later will boost the fruit sugars. My sulfur spring irrigation water works the same as the epsom salt.

Most important thing for the best flavored fruit is healthy foliage, a well fed plant and of course fully vine ripened.

How do you apply the Epsom salt and at what rate of application?

[FatBeeFarm]

@Shule

big tomatoes that are too mild and/or mealy, their flavor (and texture) benefits considerably by growing them with black plastic (in my garden); it makes them more juicy and flavorful (both sweet and acidic). For Black Cherry, it seems to taste better in the shade (without black plastic) for me. For Green Giant, when I grew it without black plastic, I needed to give it full sun for optimal taste.

How are you using black plastic? Do you mean the film you lay on the ground, or big black pots, or something else? Do you have a photo you can post? Thanks!

[Uncle_Feist]

How do you apply the Epsom salt and at what rate of application?

This year I used a 3lb. Bag injected through my drip lines at first fruit set for around a hundred plants. I would give that amount again when the fruit starts bulking up if I wasn't watering with sulfur water.

Google says a tablespoon or so per plant.

[FatBeeFarm]

This year I used a 3lb. Bag injected through my drip lines at first fruit set for around a hundred plants. I would give that amount again when the fruit starts bulking up if I wasn't watering with sulfur water. Google says a tablespoon or so per plant.

Mission accomplished! Read your post and immediately went outside to do it. 80 tomatoes, 42 peppers, and 24 eggplants all got a tablespoon of Epsom salt. My drip irrigation should water it in tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed. Thanks for the advice!

[Uncle_Feist]

This year I used a 3lb. Bag injected through my drip lines at first fruit set for around a hundred plants. I would give that amount again when the fruit starts bulking up if I wasn't watering with sulfur water. Google says a tablespoon or so per plant.

Mission accomplished! Read your post and immediately went outside to do it. 80 tomatoes, 42 peppers, and 24 eggplants all got a tablespoon of Epsom salt. My drip irrigation should water it in tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed. Thanks for the advice!

You are very welcome!
My plants continue to thrive with the almost constant irrigation with sulfur water and added nutrients in these high temperatures. This picture was taken last Sunday.

When moisture and nutrient requirements are fully met you not only get great tasting fruit, but also a bumper crop with continually setting fruit well up the plants. If plants stop setting fruit it's a sign they need water and/or nutes. I always like to see that light green and tender foliage in the tops of my plants as a health indicator.

[KaguyaCloud]

Below are just impressions or my thoughts on flavor with tomatoes. Some might have something scientific to back them and some are just ideas about observations about when I get my best tasting tomatoes.

Some tomatoes are very touchy about water and seem to be more sponge like, soaking up excess water like a sponge and splitting and cracking easily, diluting flavor.

From personal experience growing tomatoes indoors, cracking seems to happen very frequently when the tomatoes are watered suddenly and consistently in nutrient poor soil. Because I avoid watering the leaves and fruit indoors, it is very apparent that the water that causes the cracking can travel from the root zone to the fruits. And this can happen to cherry tomatoes that have already turned to their mature color. Against the common conventions, the process of osmosis can still happen to ripe or ripening fruits on the vine despite the fact that there should be a fully sealed abscission zone preventing anything else from flowing into the fruit. I can only assume that the abscission zone is either permeable to water or not fully formed until the tomato itself basically falls off the vine with the slightest breeze.

So from that assumption, this might be why using Epson salts or other methods of increasing the number of ions in the soil work to maintain tomato flavor. Plants absorb nutrients from the soil and can do so until the nutrient levels that are present are too low. They also have nutrient storage organelles in their cells that maintain their rigidity. Because they are living organisms, they have the capability of maintaining higher nutrient levels in their tissues compared to the soil around them in order to survive.

However, even if they can accumulate nutrients in their tissues, this difference in concentration between the nutrients in the plants vs the nutrients in the soil can still cause osmotic pressure, making water flow from the soil to the plant tissue. If the tomatoes are surrounded by enough water with not many ions for extended periods of time, it's possible that excess water flows from the vine to the fruit, causing the bland flavor or cracked fruit. Keeping the water in the soil isotonic or even hypertonic via fertilizer/salt might prevent it from cracking and/or concentrate flavor. Maybe dry farming follows the same principle, keeping the soil dry enough that any small amount of moisture present in the soil is isotonic or hypertonic to the plant.

I wonder if people can experiment a little and add some Epson salt/fertilizer/anything that dissolves in water into the soil before a heavy rain to see if cracking is decreased.

[karstopography]

@KaguyaCloud yes, even fully ripe tomatoes left on the vine can split after a good dowsing of water, rain or with a hose. The fact ripe tomatoes remaining on the vine are prone to splitting after watering has always been interesting to me and maybe an argument in favor of the leave the tomato on the vine until fully ripe crowd since obviously something, water, but likely more than just water, crosses from the plant to the tomato via the stem. On the other hand, removing a color breaking tomato before a rain or before watering is something I try very hard to remember to do since I despise allowing the tomatoes to split when it could have been easily prevented. What besides water that can and does cross over after the tomato breaks color might remain a mystery. I pick my beefsteak types at various stages after the color break and the only time flavor really suffers is when I missed one and the rain caused a swollen split tomato.

I see a good amount of photos on websites like TJ and other sites and a lot of folks are getting tomatoes with all kinds of major cracking and the all deep splits from excessive water. I’d much rather choose to pick an unsplit relatively unblemished tomato at color break if given the option between leaving the tomato on the vine until fully ripe that might be damaged by rain.

Even if I can get past the yuck factor on the splitting, tomatoes swelled up by water coming in enough to split them aren’t very good anyway. Who wants a watery split tomato?

A few tomatoes, all small fruited types, I’ve grown, thankfully not very many, have been very touchy about how much water they receive and will split with very little margin of error with the hose or the least little rainfall. Sweet millions, Sungold, and Creamsicle grape are the worst three in that order with sweet millions being the worst.

It has to be a real doozy of a rainstorm to get most of the beefsteak type tomatoes I have grown to split. Can’t explain the difference between the beefsteaks and those cherry tomatoes I’ve grown that are prone to splitting, just an observation.

A tomato that’s proven itself to be easily prone to splitting doesn’t get invited back into the garden.

[MissS]

I have observed that my tomatoes have always tasted best coming out of a brand new garden. I suspected that it was due to the higher mineral content. I now ammend my soil every fall with minneral supplements. I have used Azomite, kelp meal, alfafa meal. greensand, sulphur, iron and basalt dust. My water is high in iron, so I really don't need this. I do really like the first two ingredients and use those every year.

My tomatoes are once again spot on for flavor. I think that mineral content really does make a difference in a tomatoes flavor. Of course this is subjective, but I do know what my taste buds tell me.

[KaguyaCloud]

Even if I can get past the yuck factor on the splitting, tomatoes swelled up by water coming in enough to split them aren’t very good anyway. Who wants a watery split tomato?

A few tomatoes, all small fruited types, I’ve grown, thankfully not very many, have been very touchy about how much water they receive and will split with very little margin of error with the hose or the least little rainfall. Sweet millions, Sungold, and Creamsicle grape are the worst three in that order with sweet millions being the worst.

Perhaps lightly fertilizing or adding salts to the soil right before a major rainstorm might mitigate that, assuming this is an issue is osmosis causing this splitting issue.

The genetics of tomato skin rigidity and elasticity are beyond what I know of. I don't see many studies on those properties. However, judging by the splitting patterns of certain beefsteaks and cherry varieties, it seems that there is quite a bit of variation. It's possible that all three of those cherry type tomatoes have very inelastic skin, causing them to burst at the first signs of increased moisture.

[karstopography]

Even if I can get past the yuck factor on the splitting, tomatoes swelled up by water coming in enough to split them aren’t very good anyway. Who wants a watery split tomato?

A few tomatoes, all small fruited types, I’ve grown, thankfully not very many, have been very touchy about how much water they receive and will split with very little margin of error with the hose or the least little rainfall. Sweet millions, Sungold, and Creamsicle grape are the worst three in that order with sweet millions being the worst.

Perhaps lightly fertilizing or adding salts to the soil right before a major rainstorm might mitigate that, assuming this is an issue is osmosis causing this splitting issue.

The genetics of tomato skin rigidity and elasticity are beyond what I know of. I don't see many studies on those properties. However, judging by the splitting patterns of certain beefsteaks and cherry varieties, it seems that there is quite a bit of variation. It's possible that all three of those cherry type tomatoes have very inelastic skin, causing them to burst at the first signs of increased moisture.

This season I have been side dressing langbeinite, calcium nitrate, and cottonseed meal before any anticipated rain event. Our weather pattern in the heart of the tomato season tends to be dry, which is helpful. The only tomato that split this season was Creamsicle Grape and really only late in the season when the rain has gotten extreme.

[Cole_Robbie]

It boosts flavor to grow a variety that makes fewer tomatoes. The sugar production potential of the leaf surface area is spread across all the fruit being produced.

[Shule]

@Shule

big tomatoes that are too mild and/or mealy, their flavor (and texture) benefits considerably by growing them with black plastic (in my garden); it makes them more juicy and flavorful (both sweet and acidic). For Black Cherry, it seems to taste better in the shade (without black plastic) for me. For Green Giant, when I grew it without black plastic, I needed to give it full sun for optimal taste.

How are you using black plastic? Do you mean the film you lay on the ground, or big black pots, or something else? Do you have a photo you can post? Thanks!

I just mean the rolls of black plastic that you lay out on the ground to keep weeds from growing. It's kind of like landscaping fabric, except it doesn't let water through (although it's more effective at keeping weeds out).

For a picture, you can see some black plastic on the ground in the pictures in this post (with the peppers):
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