Sun Gold vs. Sunsugar
11 years ago
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- 11 years ago
- 11 years ago
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Which Sun Gold-type OP cherry is the closest to Sun Gold F1?
Comments (27)So I've finished my comparison between the following "sweet" cherries: 1. Sunsugar (hybrid; SS) 2. Sungold (hybrid; SG) 3. Ambrosia Gold (OP; AG) 4. Big SunGold Select (OP; BSS) All were grown from seed and then transplanted in ground with similar soil conditions, sun/shade, watering. Ranking data is below with the best listed first. A. Germination success: SS, SG, BSS, AG B. Productivity: SS, AG, BSS, SG C. Growth: BSS, SS, AG, SG D. Flavor: AG, SS, SG, BSS E. Brix: SS, SG, AG, BSS General observations: GERMINATION: As expected, hybrid varieties tended to show a lot higher germination rate than the OP varieties. That being said, germination is also a factor of seed harvesting techniques, storage and age. I don't have any information on these characteristics, but it would be interesting to note if my germination for the OPs goes up for seeds that I saved and grew out next year (I'm betting it would be a lot better). Take home message, when growing the OPs from seed, make sure that you plant more than you need due to germination success. GROWTH: All varieties grew at a similar pace indoors as seedlings all showing good strong seedling health. As I recall, none stood out as particularly better or worse than others during the seedling stage. Once transplanted BSS definitely observed the tallest plant with thick strong limbs. There was not that much difference between SS and AG. For some reason I always see SG as being more wisphy and frail and this occurred again this year. PRODUCTIVITY: SS was the best with productivity generally showing good strong trusses and generally observing good success from flower to fruit. AG was a very close second. BBS came third and SS was a distant fourth. As noted in the pics below, BBS is indeed a large cherry (1-2oz) and is easily double the size of the hybrid varieties. AG came in second. SS tended to be a bit larger than SG, but they were relatively close in size. As noted by others, SG tends to having more cracking/splitting issues vs SS. AG and SS tended to hang on the vine the longest. BSS showed some cracking, but not as much as SS. In terms of coloring when ripe, SS tended to have the strong golden orange color. SS was more yellowish orange while both AG and BSS were a deeper red when ripe. FLAVOR: Flavor is of course very subjective. My personal favorite was AG, not b/c it was the sweetest, but b/c it has a noteworthy complex flavor. It definitely has sweetness to it, but it mixed it with a tang/acidity which I quite liked. SS was also very good, but it had more of a linear sweet taste which I like (as well as my kids) but it didn't have the complexity of AG. SG came in third. SG tends to be a little more variant in it's taste. Sometimes sweet, sometimes slightly sweet like it was not completely ripe even though it appeared to be the case. BSS was by far the least flavorful. BSS had a somewhat bland tomato taste, which was not awful, but was definitely not sweet. BSS would be fine in a garden salad and is obviously the largest of all cherry tomatoes evaluated, but if you want to get a nice large cherry with good taste there are others that are better (like Gardeners Delight which I also grew). BRIX/SWEETNESS: I thought I should mention this since after all these varieties are supposed to be "sweet" cherries. SS was by far the sweetest. Although I didn't actually do a brix test, I'm certain the sugar content would be the highest. Next up was SG, but as I mentioned above, it's sweetness tended to be hit or miss. AG came in third with a pleasant sweetness but not overly sweet. BSS was not sweet at all. CONCLUSION: I have grown SG for many years and for many years it has always done well. SG always germinates well and is a solid producer as cherries go in my garden. That being said, SS was hands down a better hybrid. It produced more and the flavor was more consistent. It was definitely the sweetest of all cherries that I grew and stayed longer on the vine and split less. As mentioned above, I also really liked AG and was pleasantly surprised by its flavor and productivity. It was my personal favorite of all four. It observed many of the same characteristic as SS, but was larger and had a more complex flavor. I was very happy to note these attributes especially since AG is an OP and the seed can be saved and regrown year after year. BSS was a dud. But only b/c of its flavor. I suppose if BSS were marketed as a large cherry with traditional tomato taste, I would grade it much higher, but as a "sweet" OP that was supposed to compete with SG/SS, it wasn't even in the same ballpark. That being said, you definitely get your biggest bang for the buck due to its size and growth. ....See MoreYou were all correct about Sun Golds
Comments (15)My second try with SunGold is a mixed success. THe plant is poorly looking (am sure it will die soon) but the fruit is yum-diddly-umcious! Had myself a mini-salad with a handful of those beauties this weekend and now I cannot and WILL not eat another supermarket tomato until mine are all done for the year.Only problem is, the sungold will run out long before I get a ripe non-cherry tomato. Arrgghh!...See MoreBig Sungold Select vs Sun Gold (pics)
Comments (3)I would hope that future generations of an orange BSS would be orange and the same as what you have, but given that apparently the seeds sent to Brad and me were not completely stable for the variety. I simply can't predict what will happen. Reinhard is very careful in what he releases but someone can put out 20, 30 plants at the F5 or F6, maybe, and all will be as they should be and yet if another plant had been put out it could be the offtype/ I've listed 5 0r 6 varieties in the SSE YEarbook since about 1990, with hundreds of varieties listed, where my saved seed I thought was pure and distributed hundreds of seeds from that batch until the first offtype, in this case from low level crossing, showed up. Thankfully that's only happened a few times. And always will unless blossoms are bagged. But in my case for many years I was growing many hunmdreds of plants each season and same of varieties. And no way could I bag blossoms when all those were being grown. Luckily self pollenization is the rule with tomatoes as the article in the FAQ at the top of this first page explains in detail. If anyone wants to know more about how to prevent cross pollination that FAQ article is pretty darn good. Carolyn...See MoreNapa Grape, Black Cherry, Chocolate Cherry or SunGold Cherry Tomatoes?
Comments (15)We grew (6) Galina's plants last year along with multiples of Sunchoccola, Husky Cherry Red, Riesentraube, Sunrise Bumblebee, Lucky Tiger, Sungold and Nefertiti. The Galina's were the yellow variety in our mixed cherry baskets. IMO it's a great cherry and very prolific as well but it does not have that "pop" of a Sungold or a Sunsugar. We have customers that demand Sungolds but the splitting is problematic where we're located. I am hesitant to grow it anymore other than for personal consumption because of that. Shell...See More- 11 years ago
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