Too many choices - HELP!

13 years ago

Feeling a little overwhelmed at the moment. It is time to start my tomatoes, but I have probably around 150 different varieties, and room for only around a dozen plants.

Not a big fan of cherry tomatoes, and haven't found one that I like better than Black Cherry yet, so that decision is done. It's the rest of the list that's giving me trouble. Love the flavor of beefsteaks, but use a good portion of my crop for tomato sauce and salsa, so need to have at least one or two paste types. The year I grew San Marzano, they were bland and mealy, hated them. Tried Opalka, and like the flavor better, but most were still green by our first frost. This past year, I tried Amish Paste, and so far that has been my favorite. Thinking about adding either Polish Linguisa or Romeo this year. Any recommendations there?

Haven't found a yellow or orange tomato that has much flavor yet. I know Kellogg's Breakfast is popular, but mine were very late, and not impressive on taste. Tried Gold Medal last year, and thought it was better, but still not awesome : ) So what's the most flavorful orange or yellow out there? What about Sweet Horizon (aka Rosalie's Early Orange? I do have a short season here ...

With pinks, I really liked Earl's Faux, also thought Giant Belgium, and Soldacki were pretty tasty. Considering German Giant, Pantano Romanesco, Lancaster Pink, and Caspian Pink. Any of these stand out more than the others?

For reds, I'm thinking Box Car Willie, Crnkovic Yugoslavian, and/or Neves Azorean Red. Thoughts?

Bi-colors, grew some humongous Striped German's last year, but also considering Hillbilly, or Marvel Stripe. Is there another more worthy of trying?

And that brings me to blacks, my favorites. Love Cherokee Purple, and Indian Stripe, though I really couldn't tell much difference between the two. Tried Cherokee Chocolate last year, and it was very productive, though maybe a little less tasty than the other two. How does Carbon compare to the others? Or maybe Black Krim?

Okay, I know it's all subjective, but I'm just struggling with indecision this year, and am hoping some feedback will help me finalize my growlist.

Thanks for your insight!

Bonnie

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Comments (22)

digdirt2
13 years ago
All I can offer is what I would pick from your listed choices. In the end it is up to you but you can always try the others next year. That is our blessing and our curse. :)

On the paste issue - skip them. Great sauce is made from great tomatoes with much less growing effort and few paste tomatoes rate a "great" label. But if you want one then stick with what worked for you in the past - Amish Paste. Here I much prefer San Marzano but I have very different growing conditions and much longer growing season than you do.

Yellow/Oranges - there are several cherry varieties that would work with your short season but most all of the full size fruit in that color family are late season 85-90 days. Dagma's Perfection is one exception I can think of, though there may be a couple of others, that "might" work for you and is quite good IMO. It is a bicolor and 72 days.

In your pinks list the Earls Faux and Giant Belgium surpass all the others tho I have never grown Pantano Romanesco.

Bicolors - see Yellow/Orange comments above. Same problem.

Reds - of the 3 you list NAR and Boxcar Willie would be my choices. I did CY 3 years and wasn't impressed with them here in taste or production.

Blacks - I can't help you there. Tried several and don't care all that much for any of them although if I had to pick one it would be Cherokee Purple.

If all else fails - flip a coin. You can't really go wrong with any of them as long as they fit within the confines of your growing season. :)

Dave
fran_always
13 years ago
Pantano Romanesco is not pink. It is red. Great all purpose tomato that grows on huge vine (8-10'). Worth growing.

If you have the seeds of 150 varieties, you probably liked them at one time (unless you unherited those seeds). So, why not be adventurous, and grow what you haven't grown yet? By next year, you may have some new favorites that you will want to grow again.
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mnwsgal
13 years ago
Pink Caspian is a favorite and always finds a place in my tomato patch. Box Car Willie has done well and will be in my garden again this year.

I may be the only person not liking Black Cherry. Maybe I need to give it another try. I'm trying Sungold this year.

There are just two of us and I don't do any canning or much freezing. I like to try many new varieties each year, just for fun. Stump of the World impressed me last year, not lots of tomatoes and late but oh, so yummy.
highalttransplant
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks guys!

Dave, I agree with you that paste tomatoes don't seem to have "great" flavor, but when making sauce having a few in the mix, thickens the sauce up much quicker. I usually use a mix of various beefsteaks with a few paste tomatoes thrown in for texture.

Fran, this is only my fourth year of growing tomatoes, and a lot of the seeds were acquired through seed swaps and trades, so I've only tried a few of the ones that I have seeds for. That's why I'm having so much trouble deciding what to grow.

Mnwsgal, since both you and Dave mentioned Box Car Willie, I think I'll definitely add that one to the list. I have seeds for Stump of the World, and it sounds yummy, but I'm just wondering if my season is too short for that one. I usually have to stick with ones that are 85 DTM or less.

With so many to choose from, I almost feel bad growing things that I've already grown before, so maybe I'll keep my top 2 or 3 from last year, and the rest will be ones I haven't tried before.

Thought I would get them sown this weekend, but it is taking a lot longer than I had hoped to come up with a growlist...
remy_gw
13 years ago
Stump of the World is great tomato and should do fine where you are. I get better production out of it than most of the other beefsteaks you mentioned. You also seem to have taste buds similar to mine(love Black Cherry, KB is ok, etc.) so I think you would be very happy with it.
I also love Carbon.
Remy
donkenzie
13 years ago
If you like to makes sauces, you have to try Cuore de Toro!
highalttransplant
Original Author
13 years ago
Don, that's one that I don't happen to have seeds for already.

Here's where my list is so far:

Amish Paste
Black Cherry
Black Krim
Box Car Willie
Carbon
Caspian Pink
Earl's Faux
Giant Belgium
Indian Stripe or Cherokee Purple
Neves Azorean Red
Striped German

Okay, there's room two more, three at the most. So I'm down to deciding between the following:

ONE ORANGE OR YELLOW - Gold Medal, or Orange Strawberry, or Persimmon, or Valencia

ONE MORE BI-COLOR - Hillbilly, or Marvel Stripe, or Old German, or Pineapple

ONE MORE PINK - Lancaster Pink, Pantano Romanesco, or Stump of the World

Thought about flipping a coin, but don't have one that has three or four sides, Hahaha!
thisisme
13 years ago
For paste and salsa I heard great reports on Juliet. Its a small indeterminate paste type tomato that supposedly tastes great and is very prolific. I can't say from experience though as this is my first year growing it.
thisisme
13 years ago
Thought I would post a description for Juliet in case you have not heard of it before.

Tomato Juliet
Whether you call them grape or cluster Tomatoes, these sweet, 1-2in shiny red fruits are the ideal garnish for a salad, platter of meat and cheese, or basket of bread. Hybrid 'Juliet' was a 1999 All-America Selections winner and is resistant to both Alternaria (Early) Blight and Late Blight. Indeterminate. Fruits ripen early, about 60 days from transplant.

I read that they are great eaten fresh or in salsas or in paste. Also people like to eat them boiled or roasted too.
austinnhanasmom
13 years ago
Bonnie - I have a large black beefsteak, Midnite in Moscow, I can send. Not sure why I never sent this the other day...The production was not overwhelming, and it was a late season variety, but the flavor made it worth the wait.

I have another black that is slightly larger then a golfball - maybe between a golfball and a baseball sized, Dana's Dusky Rose. I have never grown such a prolific non-cherry.

I also have a cherry that I think tastes better then a Black Cherry - Black Zebra Cherry - lol. Maybe only 5 varieties have made my regrow list, and this is one. (another is Earl's Faux - year #3 for me!! also Midnite in Moscow, year #2)

email me if you want to try these and I'll mail them out now - or I'll share next time we swap (although you may have to remind me, since I know I'll forget)

Deb
seysonn
13 years ago
Talking about "paste" tomatoes; I tried San Marzano last year. It was poor in production, size, flavor..etc.
Like DAVE said, great tasting tomatoes will make great tasing sauce/paste. Worried about spending time and energy to reduce it ? here is a give away method:
(1) Dice your mators, blend (2) boil briefly (3)Strain to get rid of the pulp/seeds. (4) Pour into a bag made of medium tightly woven cloth.and leave it in a strainer,(or hang it from a tree branch in the shade); so the water(Almost clear/light red juice) runs out.You want the juce? collect it.
I stop it at a stage that is good for spagetti sauce. You can leave it longer to get a real thick paste.
This is a PERFECT energy/time saving method to make tomato paste. To me, the amount of tomato is not an object as I get a lot of them and want to give away and no one seems to be interested. So I make my sauce/paste from just about any kind of tomato that I have.
tom8olvr
13 years ago
Sorry I don't have a suggestion for an orange, but..

Bicolor - I would highly recommend Golden Cherokee. I have never had luck with bicolors - they rot before I know they're ready, or they are so late that I get nada. This one was pretty good in my garden.

I have gone with several of Remy's suggestions - and if he suggests Stump, I'd go with Stump. I think one of my favorite pinks is Earls Faux (grew the first time last year, and I was wildy impressed with it) you already have that on your list.

Oh, if I could suggest a black: Brad's Black Heart has been a favorite in my garden for a few years now (this came from Remy also).

Brads BH can also be used for sauce... the seed/meat ratio is quite lovely.

Oh, I've known and grown several pastes and nothing comes close to the flavor of Opalka (it's worth it to not consider it not being as prolific because the taste is fantastic). Last year I tried Romeo and it had lovely large tomatoes, but was not prolific for me (2 tomatoes!!). Several have urged me to give it another try though.

Good luck on your quest - and I have seed for the suggestions I've made :)
girlbug2
13 years ago
Pineapple is my all time favorite bicolor. That's what I would recommend.
highalttransplant
Original Author
13 years ago
Beautiful tomatoes there, Tom8olvr!!!

I have to say, you guys are a bunch of enablers, LOL! I told my husband that instead of helping me narrow my selection, you guys keep adding to it : )

... and no, I don't have seeds for Golden Cherokee or Brad's Black Heart yet ...
tom8olvr
13 years ago
I know, I wasn't helping by suggesting more tomatoes. I just have never had luck with Bicolors. (I tried Pineapple and Big Rainbow) I swore off bicolors, but then someone gave me Golden Cherokee - and I tried it - reluctantly. It's really a fine tomato. I am in Z5.

Brads Black Heart just keeps getting better every year. It was added to my permanent list right away. I really recommend it highly. I wish I had a picture of it cut, its a lovely one.
slo_garden
13 years ago
Of those that you asked about orginally:

Sweet Horizon (Rosalie's) is my favorite orange and one of my top five of all tomatoes. It starts producing early and continues until late in the season. The flavor is complex and bold. Love it!

Caspian Pink is a good pink. Sweet and flavorful.

Crnkovic Yugoslavian (a pink, BTW) has excellent flavor and is high yielding.

NAR and Carbon have fabulous flavor but both were really low production for me.

Black Krim has never done me wrong--good flavor and reliable.
slo_garden
13 years ago
I forgot bicolors. Of those that you mentioned, I like Hillbilly the best. Other favorite bicolors:

Ananas Noire (could be considered a black)
DeWeese Streaked
Orange Russian 117
Rhoades Heirloom
highalttransplant
Original Author
13 years ago
Just labeled my cups that I'll be starting the tomatoes in tomorrow, so there's no going back, LOL.

Wanted to say "Thank You" to everyone that tried to help me finalize my growlist!

Drum roll please ..........

THE LIST:

Amish Paste
Black Cherry
Black Krim
Box Car Willie
Carbon
Caspian Pink
Earl's Faux
Giant Belgium
Cherokee Purple
Neves Azorean Red
Striped German
Persimmon
Hillbilly
Pineapple
Stump of the World
Sweet Horizon
New Big Dwarf
highalttransplant
Original Author
13 years ago
Acckkk!!! I'm having a bit of a panic attack. I just went through my entire tomato seed box, and no sign of my Earl's Faux seeds that I harvested in '09! I did find the seed packet of the trade I started them from, but it only has 5 seeds in it, and it's dated '07. What are the chances that I'll get germination? If anyone has fresher seeds to share, I'd be happy to send an SASE.

Bonnie
misss
13 years ago
Your seeds should be fine. Most will be viable for 10 years. If you are in doubt just sow a little more seed.
sandysgardens
13 years ago
As misss stated, your '07 seeds should be just fine and you should get good germination. I've gotten pretty much the same germination rate using tomato seeds that are 5-7 years old opposed to 1-2 years old, so again you should be fine.

I have Earl's Faux seeds from this past falls harvest so if all fails let me know.

Sandy
karendee
13 years ago
I might just steal your list and order some seeds for my zone 5 garden. lol

This thread has been real helpful for me. I am drooling thinking of all these yummy tomatoes.

I wintersowed a bunch now I might have to try some under lights. Even though I am not very good at growing under lights. lol

some that i now need to find...
Brads BH --those pics made me want them
Earls Faux
Pantano Romanesco
Stump of the World
ok really I want them all...

tom8olvr those pics were great, yummy looking too!

Karen

Too many choices - HELP!

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