Yes, they definitely do. Some are acidic, some are sweet. Some are very flavorful, some have very little taste. Some are mealy, some are watery. Some have thick skins, some have thin. Some are loaded with bitter seeds, some have very few seeds. It all depends on what you like. You taste a yellow pear with a sweet million and tell me they taste the same.

Very different! Sungolds are so sweet they are like eating apricots. The beefsteak varieties tend to be mild, less acidic. Some like that old-fashion acidy tomato taste. Some like them milder or sweeter. Then there is the size of the seed cavity, making some meatier and others juicier. Then there is the determinate and indeterminate varieties. I prefer the latter for slicing, but for canning, it sure is handy to have a whole lot get ripe all at once, like Roma's. Then there is the length of your season to consider. Some get ripe in less than 2 months from planting out. Others take 4 months.

If you are getting more than just one 4-pack, I recommend that you try a variety.....but if you are planting more than a 4 pack, I wonder why you are asking the question. I mean, if you don't know the answer to your question, why would you plan to plant more than a couple of plants?

i got my tomato seeds directly from the tomatoes that i bought from the store. so i have never bothered with those heirloom tomatoes. that is why i am asking this question.

to me, the cherry tomatoes, medium size tomatoes and regular size tomatoes all taste the same.

if other tomatoes taste so good, how come most stores don't sell them?

there is definitely a tremendous variety in taste, and stores that need to ship produce is vast quantity over long distances need a product that can withstand those conditions without becoming mush. I think sungolds could do it, but Cherokee purples would just get disgusting. There's no way I could grow a summer without those 2 tomato types. If you're growing from saved seed, the question is what variety you started with. If it was a hybrid, and you have an F2 or F3 generation, then you probably don't even have some of the desirable traits that you might have bought. Sweet millions are delicious and abundant, but they are also hybrid, so you can't reliably save seed from them and predict what you'll get. Give the different shapes and colors a try. I like Pineapple, Cherokee Purple, Sungolds, and Amish Paste, all very different form each other.

I began growing heirloom/op tomatoes a few years ago and up to that point my tomato tasting experience was limited to say the least. The first tomato to come ripe that year was a Stupice. I picked it and bit it and I was shocked at how good it tasted....a real tomato....better than any I ever had tasted up to that point. Last year I grew Hillbilly West Virginia and couldn't believe how sweet it was. So, yes, there are many different tastes.

i don't see a reason to plant different tomato plants, it seems to me that they all taste about the same, cherry tomato, small, big tomatoes, etc?

You're kidding right? ;)

if other tomatoes taste so good, how come most stores don't sell them?

Do you understand how foods are grown commercially for market sale? And how that commercial food production, harvesting, shipping, etc. differs from home gardening? If not, I suggest some basic research on commercial food production as there really is no comparison.

You might also want to do some reading on why saving and using seeds from the hybrid varieties sold in markets is generally a waste of time as those seeds don't breed true.

Your personal page says you don't have a garden but would like to someday. So are all of these questions you have posted just hypothetical?

Dave

Store tomatoes all taste the same because the commercial varieties are all bred for toughness to hold up to shipping rather than to have a delicious flavor. The beefsteak varieties I love most can't be shipped at all. You can't even stack them in a bucket when picking because their own, juicy weight will bruise and damage them.

Additionally, commercial tomatoes are all picked green, before what flavor they have truly manifests.

A home-grown tomato is a completely different vegetable.

There is one variety I grow every year. Matts wild cherry...Small tiny currant sized sweet slightly salty heaven!!!! I grew it in whiskey barrels and they literally grew over my front door and down the other side. Easily over 10-12 feet tall!!! AND not a single one EVER makes it into my house!!!!!
I grow a Small yellow one called Egg Yolk (and it looks like yolk! but tastes AMAZING!!!!) Sweet Million because my son LOVES this variety, Black Brandywine, Aunt Gerties Gold, Costoluto Genovese (sp?) Green Zebra, Black Pear, and about 5 different ones I cant think of. They are all amazing in their own ways, and very interesting to look at and eat...
Nothing better than giving someone a yellow or green tomato and them going, "What the heck? Ive never seen anything like this!", and then see them get interested in the different types of tomatos.
My ex mother in law REFUSED to try any tomato that wasnt red. I finally coaxed her into eating a black brandywine and she LOVES to try different tomatos now because they all taste different and all have different qualities that make them special...
Dont get me wrong, some arent that great, but even those you can use in a multi colored salsa, or find something to do with them. And if you cant stand them, theres usually someone willing to take them off your hands!!! LOL! -Cass

As digdirt said, you need to do a little research on commercial growing.

Here's a nickel tour: Commercial growers want tomatoes that produce a large quantity of uniform tomatoes, all at the same time, that are highly resistant to disease, pests, etc. They also want tomatoes that SHIP well. Most tomatoes are EXTREMELY sensitive when ripe, so that means MOST commercial growers pick their tomatoes at maximum SIZE, but before they start to ripen (aka change color). The ripening process is the part that allows the tomato to really develop its characteristic flavor, texture, etc.

BUT, since commercial growers only want their fruit to LOOK good, rather than truly TASTE good, they simulate the ripening process (using by placing the tomatoes in an environment rich in ethylene gas (as given off greatly by bananas and apples). This gas turns the tomato red, BUT does not RIPEN the fruit! Therefore, the tomatoes you grow in the store are basically unripe tomatoes that just LOOK ripe. They have a "woody" quality to them and are not full of the array of flavors that tomatoes are truly capable of!

Now, home grown tomatoes are grown especially for their TASTE. That means that looks are not as important (some heirlooms are extremely "funky" looking!). They are usually left on the tomato vine until fully ripe, which allows the tomatoes to fully reach their peak of flavor, texture, etc. Different varieties allowed to FULLY develop will actually change their flavor from competing varieties, hence the array of flavors available. There are also tomatoes of a tremendously diverse colors, from almost black to yellow to GREEN (yes, some tomatoes are RIPE and yet remain green!)

In my opinion there are two kind of people in the world: tomato lovers (who then start to grow their own, because they understand the true nature and diversity of tomatoes) and the uninitiated! My wife didn't LIKE tomatoes before we were married and had bought a house where I could grow tomatoes. NOW, she LOVES tomatoes. She still picks the tomatoes off her sandwiches when we are out, because that's the "tomato" that she truly doesn't like. A good, home-grown tomato has shown her that all tomatoes are not equal! There is a huge difference, and once you experience a true tomato, you will understand that! Stick with heirloom varieties, if you want to richest diversity of flavors, textures, etc. Not only that, but heirlooms are the ONLY tomatoes that you can trust to produce seeds which will produce the same tomatoes the next year!

I prefer black varieties.

Here's some interesting tomato harvesting information.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato - HARVEST AND POST-HARVEST

The reason I started growing heirlooms was taste. I love to cook, but I am very picky about my ingredients. One day, I was going to make pico de gaio. I went to Lowes foods to get the items I needed. I saw a table of mixed heirlooms. So I bought one of each color.
I was thinking of the visual presentation, but once in the kitchen, I tasted a black tomato and was amazed at the smokey taste, so I began sampling all of them. The gold one was fruity, the green was citrusy(is that a word?). One was acidic and another was sweet. I ran back to the store to get more, and then noticed that they were 6.99/pound. That's when I got the idea to grow my own.
I grow Paul Robeson and Black Ethiopian, Yellow Submarines(cause Yellow Pear is disappointing, Green Giant, Big Zac, and Homer Fike's Yellow Oxheart. Gives me all the flavors I need, I just need a paste variety and I am set.

You might want to consider Amish Paste. I am trying that for the first time this year. I'm hoping that it is what is claimed about it, plus since I live in PA, I figure a variety that works in Amish Country (just 90- minutes west of me!) would perform extremely well in my garden, as well!

Given large size and small amount of seeds, I figure its ideal for canning, but have read reviews that say its also great fresh!

"Originally from the Amish of Wisconsin, we acquired our seed from the Amish farms in Lancaster, PA. The deep red, 8 ounce fruit resembles an acorn, with thick flesh and few seeds. Makes an excellent canning tomato! Indeterminate vines." - heirloomseeds.com

"Very productive heirloom from Wisconsin that produces up to 12 oz, deep-red oxheart-shaped, meaty fruit. (Probably one of the largest paste tomatoes) Lots of sweet, tomatoey flavors from this coreless meaty fruit. A great slicing and sauce tomato." - tomatofest.com

There's a tomato called Yellow Submarine?!

Oh my gosh, I HAVE to grow that one!

If you have any farmers markets in your area?
If so, go down when tomatoes are harvested in your area and buy a few different heirloom varieties.
You will be amazed at the different tastes, feels and goodness

All varieties taste the same from the grocery store cause they are all crap

Brian

I don't eat tomatoes unless they come from the garden. Simple as that. Those red things in the store aren't the same animal. Even the "vine ripened" ones they charge so much more for are tasteless. There's nothing that compares to the taste of a home grown tomato. It's night and day from the regular grocery store.

I just wish there was a way to preserve them so along with salsas and sauces you could have a "fresh" slice of tomato on your burger in the middle of winter!!

I must say, I've never grown heirloom varieties - I did grow Brandywine one year, but was very disappointed. I got like 2-3 small tomatoes and didn't notice anything special about them. From reading the comments on them here, however, I realize now I might not have actually had a real Brandywine. Anyway, I'm growing varieties this year I've never grown before and I can't wait to try them! I have Cherokee Purple & Julia Child for larger size, Pompeii & San Marzano for paste varieties, and Sugar Sweetie for a cherry.

Lisa

hi, people.

i just spent $1.50 and bought a package of burpee variety tomato seeds. inside, it has less than 20 tiny tiny seeds!

so expensive, i hope that some will germinate. ;) mm, i want to taste them all.

ABSOLUTELY they taste different. Why do you think so many of us grow heirloom varieties? To get a superior taste experience. Plus, you can save heirloom seeds from year to year and know reliably what you will get. An assortment of heirlooms and a few hybrids, that's what I grow, all selected for TASTE. And by and large, you must grow them yourself to get what you want, because the common outlets will not offer them.

Don't know what your season is like where you are preppy, but I've never direct seeded tomatoes, because they yield better when I start them indoors (of course there is a HUGE difference between zones 9 and 5).

Good luck with your tomatoes, and enjoy!