I should mention that I prefer sweet cherries, so that is what I am interested in most, but I welcome all opinions!

I tried Black Cherry last year after hearing great reviews. Was very disappointed in the flavor. This year I'm doubling my planting of Sun Gold. Haven't tasted another cherry that comes close to that sweet fruity flavor.

Try Anna Aasa. I won a tomato taste-off last year with it.

"Isis Candy" should fit the bill if you like sweet. I think they taste best when all hint of green is gone from their skin.
"Sugary" is a sweet pinkish grape and the vines stay manageable.
I saved some seeds from store bought "Santa" tomatoes on a tip from Dr. Carolyn in a previous post that Santa F2 seeds produce true 90% of the time and that has been my experience as well. I used to buy the seeds years ago during the short period they were available and really like them.

I like sweet cherry tomatoes too. I grew Black Cherry last year and will never grow it again. Any one of my Sungold's out produced all four of my Black Cherry's and the Sungold's tasted ten times better.

I also noticed that Black Cherry is mentioned often in the thread "What won't you plant again" in the Vegetable Forum.

Gardener's Delight and Sweet Million.

Dave

I think I am going to go with these:

Sun Sugar
Sweet 100
Super Sweet 100
Gardener'S Delight
Sweet Million

From reading here, this is the list of those that seem to get top ratings along with Sun Gold.
Black Cherry
Sun Sugar
Sweet 100
Super Sweet 100
Isis Candy

What are your opinions on these varieties? Are there any others I should check out? How about whites and greens - are they worth trying?

******
Not top ratings as I see it and others see it as well at several message sites where I post and I've seen you only post here at GW, and no problems with that.

I think many folks, especially those just starting out grow the same cherries b'c someone else did and b'c they don't know about the hundreds and hundreds of other worthy cherries.

And now you're saying you're going to go with the following;

Sun Sugar
Sweet 100
Super Sweet 100
Gardener'S Delight
Sweet Million

OK, four hybrids and one OP.

But then you asked initially about whites and greens. So it looks like you really wanted to grow several colored cherry tomatoes and you've ended up with almost all red ones.

At the risk of taking some flack from some here and you as well, but I'm a big Girl and can handle it, LOL, I'm going to list some varieties by color that I know many like and that means Black Cherry as well, which has gotten rave reviews elsewhere.

REDS

Gardener's Delight, aka Sugar Lump is good and also
Camp Joy, aka Chadwick's Cherry, and also Mountain Magic F1 which has lots of disease tolerance for south FL, and many many more, too numerous to mention.

PINKS

Amish Salad, Pink Ping Pong, a larger cherry, and many more

GOLDS, Galina's is a must with PL foliage

ORANGE, Sungold F1 itself is the BEST IMO, but others as well

BLACKS, Black Cherry or Kazachka (Chocolate Cherry and Brown
Berry not as good IMO)

GREEN WHEN RIPES, Green Zebra Cherry ( not related to the variety Green Zebra), Green Doctors or Green Doctors Frosted

Whites ( not white, range from ivory to pale yellow to a deeper yellow depending on the degree of foliage cover, the UV and the specific variety), some of the ones bred by Joe Bratka such as Snow White, Rabbit, Ghost, etc., Dr. Carolyn ( no I didn't name it) which was derived from Galina's and has some of those good taste genes from that variety

MULTI-COLOR ones

Isis Candy, also bred by Joe Bratka but splits badly for me, but more interesting to me are two oval ones bred by Fred Hempel and I'd descibe them as shades of different pastels and their names are Blush and Maglia Rose, both of which I've grown and both of which are offered by Seeds of Change.

So just a few varieties to consider instead of growing primarily red cherries.

Carolyn

Thanks for the detailed response Carolyn!

I think many folks, especially those just starting out grow the same cherries b'c someone else did and b'c they don't know about the hundreds and hundreds of other worthy cherries.

Yes, that is me. I find that when I can identify the most popular, I tend to agree.

But then you asked initially about whites and greens. So it looks like you really wanted to grow several colored cherry tomatoes and you've ended up with almost all red ones.

I would grow them all if I had the space, but with limited space, I have to narrow it down. I find it helpful to read as many opinions as I can and then try to sort through the info to reach a decision.

Mountain Magic F1 which has lots of disease tolerance for south FL

Sounds like a good choice. I wonder why TGS doesn't list that as a cherry tomato?

So just a few varieties to consider instead of growing primarily red cherries.

Thanks again for all your help!

Linda at TGS doesn't list it as a cherry tomato probably b'c it's a bit larger than a standard cherry and she lists Pink Ping Pong in the same section of midseason varieties and also says 2 oz fruits for MM F1 which some cherries are.

And I had said above that Pink Ping Pong also was a bit larger than a cherry.

If you look in the cherry sectio at TGS you'll find:

Jolly, at 1.5 oz, and for most of them in the cherry section she doesn't give the fruit size in weight, but often describes the dimensions in inches.

Carolyn

My TGS catalog just dropped on the floor and when I picked it up it was at the yellow section where I found several other cherries.

So not all cherries will be found in the cherry section. They can be found in the early, midseason, etc., sections as well as listed under the different color sections.

So that should further answer your question.

Carolyn

thanks, I will peruse the whole site.

Carolyn, I've eaten "Italian Ice". I was wondering the story on that one... Some people seem to have issues with F1 and some have issues with Burpee's. I don't want to make assumptions as to why. I was wondering if the other whites are sweet as is the "Italian Ice"? I was just wondering the true scoop.

Jon, I have major issues with many Burpee offerings but I won't go into that other than to say that I don't believe half of what Burpee says about anything nor the uniqueness of what the offer, espacially with tomatoes.

I have less problems with F1 varieties, but NOT Burpee varieties. And that's only b'c I prefer growing OP's over F1's for personal reasons.

I'm so anti-Burpee, and yes I know the owner, George Ball, I threw out my catalog when it came so had to go to Google to find out about italian Ice F1 and that's how I found out that it was a Burpee variety,

Not having tasted Italian Ice I can't really answer your question, but I have grown quite a few other so called white cherries as you saw from my post above, and yes, given great weather some of them are on the sweet side.

Sorry I can't be more helpful.

Carolyn

Carolyn, don't be sorry. You are everyone's "go to" tomato person and you have helped immensely on many things even if we don't thank you enough. I lurk here as much as anything and have read a lot of great advice from you... Thank You!!

I grew both Sun Gold and Sun Sugar last year and although SG was tastier, the SS was a lot more prolific. My Black Cherry tomato had really tough skins...perhaps it was the growing conditions? Makes me rethink growing them again this year...

I love Chocolate Cherry. Last year I slow roasted them, marinated in olive oil, touch of rice vinegar, oregano and garlic. Out of this world, IMHO.
Keski

I would add Anna Aasa to your list. It is very good and I won a tomato taste-off with last year.

I have both SUGERY and SUNGOLD for the first time this year and love both of them.

Well I just came back from Tomatopaloza and tasted many tomatoes of every kind.

As far as Cherry Tomatoes my wife and I both preferred one called "Mexico Midget".
A very teeny tiny little tomato not much larger than the eraser on a number 2 pencil, I mean iddy bitty.
But great flavor just short of actually being sweet with a very good tomato flavor. Plant supposedly grows quite large, over 8' and can have like 1000 tomatoes on it.

The best thing I tasted there was actually not technically a tomato but a "Ground Cherry" similar to a Tomatillo and was called a "Cossack Pineapple"
That was tasty, VERY tasty.

I am definitely growing one each of these next year.

The best actual tomato I tasted there to both my wife and I was the Cherokee Green.
Pretty decent crowd there this year.
We just dropped by for about an hour to taste.

Here is the Cossack Pineapple

Here are a few shots of Tomatopaloza.

I have about 30 healthy cherry tomato seedlings in my kitchen window facing south, Although it is minus 20 at night outside we have had gloriously sunny weather recently. The important thing for getting plants that are not thin, weak, long and straggly is that they get enough light. I sow as soon as the long winter darkness is over. That is also why I move them around so they are always where it is sunniest. When it is dark I put them under the stove lamp which I have lit as long as I am up. Just before I go to bed I put them back in the window so they will get all the light that is possible from dawn onwards.The day before yesterday I sowed some more to test a new method to ensure strong plants. Instead of sowing the seeds in a full pot you put a little soil in the pot and sow the seeds near the bottom of the pot. As the seedlings grow up you add a little soil around the stem successively until the seedling reaches the top of the pot. I placed the seeds over the radiatior but so far they have not come up. It is too early for that yet. I collected these seeds from last year's bumper harvest. The name of the tomato is unknown to me. The plants I was given last year come from a tomato which dropped on the floor in a supermarket which my Kurdish friend was given when she asked if she could have it. The tomato plant grows tall and very wide. You do not need to take away suckers from it. The tomatoes form in clusters like grapes but have the shape of a plum and are much bigger than grapes. They are red when fully ripe, sweet and prolific. Cherry tomatoes are more nutritious than medium and large tomatoes and easier to cultivate. I have therefore stopped bothering about other sizes. Also I prefer the taste. Since I got much better results last year than when I used commercial fertilizer I am using urine diluted 1-10 water this season too. No-one but myself need eat the tomatoes as I tell everyone how I have fertilized them. I have never had such delicious tomatoes before. Consequently I am using urine diluted 1-20 for most houseplants and 1-30 for orchids and nopoxalchia cactus and houseplants that should only be given weak fertilizer solutions. I am very pleased with the results.

I have grown my tomatoes with the method EdwinR is trying for many years and start them in 16 oz. clear plastic cups so I can see the root system. As they grow, you just keep adding soil and they turn out with terrific root systems and not at all leggy. I don't use additional lighting at all -- just sunny windows. Also, I don't start my standard sized tomatoes until April 15th.

If you have sunny south-facing windows, you don't need extra lighting for tomatoes or peppers.

I have to defend the Black Cherry. Not sure why people are getting poor tomatoes. I would suggest buying seed from the best possible source. I got mine from Tomato growers Supply 3 years ago and have great results. They taste great. I also like sweet tomatoes. I've never grown Sungold, but from everything I've read, Sungold is the only better cherry. This silly little plant produced over 1000 tomatoes.

I have a little greenhouse up here in cold Alberta and grew black cherry last year and it was the biggest, tastiest, sweetest cherry we grew. Not as many fruit as other cherry plants but still enough to be happy and give away. It's skin was was not thick and it did easily split. I'm growing it again. I usually grow 6-8 varieties of cherries and 2 sweet million plants is all we needed for red as they literally produce a million. Haven't tried sungold but trying golden honey bunch and a few others. Will check back when I have some feedback.