What will you be using the Sungold for? I ask because I wound up growing Sungella this year against my will (an order at the greenhouse gave me the wrong plant). I would have said that they were very average except that they are really, really good on a a kebab. From now on I will be thinking about the uses I have for specific varieties when I plan.

Sungolds are great for salad, I'm considering growing a sunsugar next year as well as sungold again, I also want a black cherry. I've got to nondescript OP cherries that I won't be saving seeds from.

-Black Krim, OP (saved seed)OK, but I prefer Noire de Crimme and Black from Tula over BK and would consider Black Cherry as well

-Caspian Pink, OP (saved seed); I was not impressed

-Brandywine Sudduth, OP , why not?

-Moskvich, OP , I don't grow earlies anymore since I find the flavor isn't there as opposed to waiting a week or so and growing a midseason. YOu might consider Sophie's Choice as well as KImberly.

-Sungold, F1, I grow it every year b'c it's early, prolific and tastes great. And you might also consider the GWRipe Green Doctors, which is a cherry and many think is better than Green Grape.

-NAR, OP, despite the fact that I introduced it I think it's an excellent variety

-Indian Stripe, OP (saved seed), again, despite the fact that I introduced it I also think it's a great variety and manylike it even better than Cherokee Purple now of which it's a"version".

-Yellow Brandywine Platfoot, OP, also introduced the Platfoot strain, but I think THE best tasting large gold is Aunt Gertie's Gold, by far.

-Green Zebra, OP, sorry, I can't stand the taste

-Homestead, OP (saved seed), have not grown it

-Big Zac, F1, hmmmm, folks think they're going to get huge fruits from it but few do. If you're thinking of competition size fruits with an OP please consider Cuostralee, Large Pink Bulgarian, Zogola and the like.

I don't see any heart varieties at all and while they yield a bit less, the taste of most of them is outstanding.

Some good ones are:

Danko
German Red Strawberry
Kosovo
Anna Russian
Reif Red Heart
Nicky Crain
Anna Maria's Heart
Russian #117

.......for starters.

Carolyn

i might change my mind after i start getting tomatoes from the new varieties i planted this year.

last year there were several stand outs. Church, Russian Rose, Anna Russian, Aunt Gertie's Gold and Persimmon. we are growing all of those again this year. they are all heirloom varieties. And don,t forget the heirloom version of Goliath. Several years i have grown this tomato, i hsve had many that one slice would cover most of a dinner plate. and they taste oh so good.

in a early tomatoes we always grow Matina. they have very good flavor and were to always be the first tomato to ripen.

Until i can something to replace Supper Sweet 100's I will grow a few of them for garden candy.

This year we are trying several now varieties. they are German Giant, Thessaloniki, Opalka, San Maranzo and Bonny's Best.

Some day we might just have our selection more stable.

I put "real salt" on my tomatoes to eat. it is mined in Redman Urah. It is not refined and has a full spectrum of natural minerals.

WM

I second Carolyn's vote for Aunt Gertie's Gold. It's my favorite tomato. I get a big kick when I let them try a non-red tomato and it's sweet. The kids look at you funny when you tell them it's a tomato. Kellogg's Breakfast would be the another good one if you don't like them that sweet.

Opalka- the sweetest sauce tomato ever, very few seeds
La Roma- holds together on the grill, cut 3 slices 3/4" thick from each tomato and grill on high(450-500) 3 min./side
Cherokee Purple- always reliable, flavorful and disease resistant

Catman- in cincinnati I grow 60 plants and always grow 6-8 of each of these plus sungold and brandywine suddiths.

Lucky Cross, though not very productive, is an excellent tomato.

So far, Green Giant and Cherokee Green are the only greens worth the space.

Thank you all so far for the great advice. There are some varieties mentioned that I forgot to add to the list.

And thanks Carolyn for the comments on each variety I listed. Let me quote your post in blue and add my own comments in black:

-Black Krim, OP (saved seed)OK, but I prefer Noire de Crimme and Black from Tula over BK and would consider Black Cherry as well I'll look into the other two varieties but I am so far impressed with the flavor of BK. I forgot to mention I am already growing Black Cherry and saving seeds for next year as well.
-Caspian Pink, OP (saved seed); I was not impressed That's interesting...we all get different results I guess. I like this one so far, and I will probably grow it again next year.

-Brandywine Sudduth, OP , why not? That's exactly what I was thinking.

-Moskvich, OP , I don't grow earlies anymore since I find the flavor isn't there as opposed to waiting a week or so and growing a midseason. YOu might consider Sophie's Choice as well as KImberly. Thanks for the suggestions. I've read that Moskvich has exceptional flavor for an early variety. Might be worth a try...I'm still hesitant about this one.

-Sungold, F1, I grow it every year b'c it's early, prolific and tastes great. And you might also consider the GWRipe Green Doctors, which is a cherry and many think is better than Green Grape. I'll have to look into the Green Doctors. I'm pretty sure Sungold will have a place in the garden next year because of all the good I've heard about it.

-NAR, OP, despite the fact that I introduced it I think it's an excellent variety I had seeds for this one this spring, but none of them germinated so I'll be trying again next year.

-Indian Stripe, OP (saved seed), again, despite the fact that I introduced it I also think it's a great variety and manylike it even better than Cherokee Purple now of which it's a"version". I haven't tried CP because I've heard this one is better. Good flavor.

-Yellow Brandywine Platfoot, OP, also introduced the Platfoot strain, but I think THE best tasting large gold is Aunt Gertie's Gold, by far. AGG is another variety that failed to germinate this year, so I should be trying it next year. In fact, I don't know why I didn't remember to put AGG on the list and chose YBP instead. It will probably be AGG next year for me.

-Green Zebra, OP, sorry, I can't stand the taste I'm still hesitant about this one as well because of its disease proneness. Many say they like the flavor so I thought I would give it a try, also for a unique color to add to the garden.

-Homestead, OP (saved seed), have not grown it

-Big Zac, F1, hmmmm, folks think they're going to get huge fruits from it but few do. If you're thinking of competition size fruits with an OP please consider Cuostralee, Large Pink Bulgarian, Zogola and the like. Well, since it seems hard to find a good source of Big Zac seeds, I might as well skip this one and go for a better OP variety like you mentioned.

I don't see any heart varieties at all and while they yield a bit less, the taste of most of them is outstanding. I hadn't put much thought into heart varieties. I guess from what you say they're worth a try. I'll have to look into them.

--

johnny_tomato_seed -

So you say Aunt Gertie's Gold is sweet, and Kelloggs is not so sweet? When it comes to cherry tomatoes, I generally prefer sweet ones, but when it comes to beefsteak tomatoes, I generally prefer less sweet and more tomatoey ones. But because of how many people prefer AGG over other yellows, I think I'll have to give it a try anyway. And maybe throw in a Kelloggs as well just in case AGG is on the sweet side for me.

compost_pete-grower -

Thanks for mentioning Opalka. I forgot about that one and I definitely want to try it.

mulio -

Thanks for the input on greens. I am considering a green tomato for next year's garden and I want to have one of the best ones.

catman,
Some people say Sun Sugar is great like Sungold, except it is crack resistant. I don't have experience with either.

I can say that I'm growing Indian Stripe this year - all still green, but it set fruit under challenging conditions, has beautiful looking fruit, and was right next to a plant with weird fungus/mites/bacterial speck or something, but the Indian Stripe plant never contracted it. As you know, people rave about the taste. Can't wait til it ripens.

The ones I grew on your list are Sungold and NAR. I try to stay away
from hybrids, but I heard so many good things about Sungold. They
are the best tasting cherry in my garden. I planted Aun't Gertie' Gold
in a 5 gal container, but the tomatoes where not gold, but rose colored,
and tart. I will try it again next year. I recently purchased new
varieties of tomatoes, some of them carolyn recommends. Of course
I ordered too many varieties. If you want any let me know.

Linda

Linda - sounds like you didn't have a true AGG. Possibly stray seed or cross pollination. If you'd like to do a trade, I will be putting up a have/wanted list in the exchange forum once I get my list of varieties settled. Right now I'm still exploring new varieties.

Here's a link to a picture of both AGG (in right hand) and Kellogg's Breakfast (in front). I would say half my friends really like the less sweeter Kellogg's Breakfast and half like the super sweet AGG more. So I have to grow both. AGG taste like a super juicy apricot is the only way I can describe it. AGG is more orange while KB is more yellow. AGG is extremely prone to cat facing and lower in production, I find.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tomato/msg072229471444.html?5

If I do one of the "Sun" cherry varieties, I think i'm probably gonna go for an heirloom. I imagine it will be something i'll want to grow at least 1 or 2 plants of for years to come. Catman: Let me know what you hear about the orange/sweet cherry varieties.

johhny_tomato_seed -

sounds like KB is gonna win over AGG for me. But I might grow AGG as an extra just out of curiosity, because of all the positive reviews about it.

I honestly can't understand Aunt Gertie's Gold being described as sweet.

I got it from Chuck Wyatt and I was the first, I think, to list it in the SSE Yearbook and have beem growing iot for many years. Many folks list it in the Yearbook and I don't think anyone calls it sweet, and that's actually one of the reasons so many of us like it.

I understand that taste is personal and subjective, but I wanted to speak up to say that actually I think this may be the first time I've seen AGG described as sweet. ( smile)

Carolyn

I was not impressed with Homestead in my garden this year. It's not on my 2010 list at all. If you want a good determinate try New Yorker or Rutgers.

Thank you Carolyn. I'll def. be trying both AGG and Kellogg's next year.

azruss - my Homestead is either semi-determinate or indeterminate. Homestead isn't considered a true determinate. I'm not 100% sure if I have the true Homestead, but whatever it is, it's a good red slicing tomato. Nothing fantastic about it, just a good tomato flavor. I might not grow it next year in my own garden, but I'll probably at least grow some seedlings to give away.

Well for me my list is always changing, and this thread has helped shape it a bit; at the moment I plan on:

Aunt Gerties Gold
Black Cherry
Indian Stripe
Opalka
Sudduths brandywine or Cowlick's Brandywine
Aunt Rubys german green maybe, maybe not
NAR Neves Azorean
Noir de Crimee -1 Indian stripe and BFT take precidence
Yellow Out Red In: late, SD, solid 6 oz. globe, tart, the best of the keeping tomatoes from sand hill
Mortgage Lifter - didn't make it to plant out

So far from this years garden I plan to grow again
Black from Tula 2 if I can manage space
Sungold is great but I might give Sunsugar a shot
Rutgers x 2 w/ room to sprawl, had some already, lots more coming soon.
Marianna's peace had a few, very good for bruschetta, lots more coming

Jury still out on
Vinson Watts
Willard Wynn
Green Zebra
Morado

Won't be growing
Early Ssubakus Aliana
Old German will need a huge turn around to get another shot, only one not to set fruit
Roman Candle
Roller Coaster
Russo Sicilian Toggeta - my straw bail failures probably aren't fair to judge. I don't think it's worth saving seed from, but maybe seed from another source some day.

I've got 15 toms this year, but I think 11 or 12 will be a better fit next year, not as much growing space doing away w/ the straw bales and have to keep some yard for the kids and the dog.

W/ room for maybe 12 plants, why do I have over 20 that I want to grow already? This year I had 16 choices didn't plant out green pineapple but gave it away. I had 38 plants make it to grow out time, a kill 2 weeks before plant out helped because I did have about 30 varieties to choose from.

burpee's delicious
porterhouse

I haven't been gardening for too long, so I can't really contribute much to this conversation. If there is one interesting one that I have tried that hasn't been mentioned, it would be the Peacevine cherry tomato. It produces very small red cherry tomatoes abundantly. And it starts producing a bit earlier than other cherry tomato types. I like the flavor, though I'm no expert on tomato flavor.

homegardener - even a beginner's opinions are worthwhile; if you've grown it, you can say something about it. Research helps a whole lot. I'm only on my 2nd year of growing tomatoes, but I've done so much research that I can say a lot about varieties I haven't grown...only thing I can't say about them is my opinion on how they grow and taste for me (obviously).

cat... I'm referring to Homestead 24, which is a determinate. Wish I could say mine had good tomato flavor--definitely not the case here. Very average, unfortunately

Thanks, catman. :)