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Sweet tomatoes
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Posted by veryzer (My Page) on Sat, Feb 6, 10 at 18:51
| I don't really like tomatoes (I know I'm a cretin), but my wife loves them. I want to grow a few varieties for her this year and am looking for suggestions. She's never met a tomato she didn't like, but she particularly enjoys one with some sweetness in the mix.
All suggestions are appreciated. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Sweet tomatoes
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| Giant Belgium from Tomato Growers Supply. Those are really sweet as far as tomatoes go. I grew them last year because they were a freebie with my order. Some people apparently make wine out of them. |
RE: Sweet tomatoes
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| Keeping in mind that taste is subjective and can vary from garden to garden. For me the majority of the heart varieties are on the sweet side, like Anna Russian and Ukrainian Heart. If you want something out of the ordinary I would suggest Green Doctors, a green/amber cherry that is very sweet and tasty. Damon |
RE: Sweet tomatoes
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| A few years back I grew a wonderful small beefesteak called Redfield Beauty, it was simply delicious, more mellow than tangy and just sweet enough to be pleasant but not sugary. |
RE: Sweet tomatoes
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| Trudi has mentioned Redfield Beauty and I agree it's sweet and is about the same as Eva Purple Ball, better known; actually I have a hard time telling the difference between the two. I'd also add Sandul Moldovan, Pink Sweet, Bulgarian #7, Large Pink Bulgarian, Omar's Lebanese, to name a few more. Someone mentioned using Giant Belgium for wine perhaps 20-30 years ago and that's been taken up by many folks, especially some seed sites but reality is that almost ANY tomato variety can be used to make tomato wine if one wants to. And yes, Giant Belgium is on the mild side. Carolyn |
RE: Sweet tomatoes
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- Posted by anney Georgia 8 (My Page) on
Sun, Feb 7, 10 at 9:30
| I wonder if your wife would enjoy these, Monomakh's Hat tomato? They're a Siberian heirloom, described this way in the link: =====
They are so delicious with a honey-like sweetness that makes one have cravings to keep eating and eating. Big, huge and wedge or heart-shaped, raspberry-colored treasures... [Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds]
===== Don't know if Baker Creek folks are given to hyperbole much, but they sure piqued MY interest! I went to the Tomato Exchanges forum to see if anyone has any seeds they might want to trade! |
RE: Sweet tomatoes
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| Annie, I've tasted the M Hat one ( too lazy to try to spell it, LOL) and I didn't find it to be exceptionally sweet at all. I didn't grow it myself but it came in a box of fruits from a friend in a southern state as a treat when my season here in the north was over. Folks do like that variety, but I don't think b'c it's sweet. When I look at some of the SSE listings for it I see the following adjectives given for taste: very good, excellent, sweet, but sweet was not said by every person who listed it. I'vr always said that taste is so darn variable as grown in different places with different conditions that the only way that anyone will know if, in this case re sweetness, is a trait, is to grow it themselves. Relying on seed catalog blurbs or the words of others just isn't all that meaningful, although like many others I will post my opinions about a variety as to taste as experienced by me. Baker Creek is no different than many other sites that do tend towards hyperbole. After all, they're selling something. The highest level of hyperbole I've ever seen is at Marianne Jones website ( mariseeds) and she knows it and she knows that b/c I and others have also told her that but she just can't help herself. LOL And I should say that Marianne and I have known each other for at least 15-20 years via SSE and are friends. The least amount of hyperbole I've seen is with the tomato listings at Sandhill Preservation and also at Southern Exposure Seed Exchange when Jeff McCormack still owned it. Carolyn |
RE: Sweet tomatoes
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| I would plant a variety in case some don't work out. I have always grown tomatoes but usually bought the plants locally. My first heirloom took all summer to produce very few huge tomatoes. So I went back to hybrids. Since I got broadband and got on the forums, I got interested in OP tomatoes from seed. I found that many are very easy to grow and taste great. So try several kinds - earlies, small, medium as well as large. |
RE: Sweet tomatoes
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| Yup, if you believe the seed catalogs and whats printed on the package there is no such thing as a bad tasting tomato, low production tomato, or disease prone tomato. I would like to see a vendor actually say this is a spitter, don't waste your money or garden space on it, we just hope someone will buy it so we don't get stuck with it. |
RE: Sweet tomatoes
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| Thanks for all the input! |
RE: Sweet tomatoes
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| I would grow: Any tomato that suits my growing conditions. Wet vs Dry. Container vs hydroponic. Also...
Try a variety..grow a Red tomato and also a Cherry, a Yellow Heirloom, and maybe a Black kind for comparable interests. I am partial to the Blacks and Pinks... but I read that some people have allergies to the Blacks. |
RE: Sweet tomatoes
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| Re: Commercial seed companies. Not only does every tomato have the best flavor and production, it is amazing how many of them are "Rare." LOL In my experience, it seems that pink tomatoes and bi-colors are almost always on the sweet side. Some of my favorites: Big Rainbow
Blue Ridge Mountain
Caspian Pink
Crnkovic Yugoslavian
Hillbilly
Marianna's Peace
Marvel Stripe
Rhoades Heirloom
Soldacki
Striped German |
RE: Sweet tomatoes
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| From my limited experience, I would also agree pink tomatoes tend to be sweet. Brandy Boy is good (yes, a hybrid!) Also maybe try Green Giant... it was delicious for me last year, a nicely sweet taste that wasn't bland but also not too acidic. And you're not a cretin, you're very thoughtful to be growing vegetables for your wife that you don't even like yourself! |
RE: Sweet tomatoes
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| Thanks Vikingkirken. I hadn't thought of it that way. Well, after reading these comments and looking at previous posts, I've come up with the following list for my three varieties: Sungold (early and sweet)
Crnkovic Yugoslavian (my wife is from Montenegro)
Cherokee Purple (seemingly everyone raves about it) It seems like a decent variety (given # restriction). So what do you all think? Any warnings? Should all three be within the compass of a newbie's abilities? Thanks again. |
RE: Sweet tomatoes
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| I dont think that there is a such a thing as "sweet" tomato. Most tomatoes have acid in them (vitamine C, for one which is acid). So actually what they call "sweet" is less sour. I have had yellow tomatoes that had been less sour than red ones. |
RE: Sweet tomatoes
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- Posted by anney Georgia 8 (My Page) on
Thu, Feb 11, 10 at 6:13
| veryzer Your list is fine! I hope your wife enjoys them! |
RE: Sweet tomatoes
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- Posted by kandm 8b coastal alabama (My Page) on
Thu, Feb 11, 10 at 6:32
| Kellogg's Breakfast is a very sweet orange tomato. |
RE: Sweet tomatoes
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| I agree with kellogf breakfast and the giant pinks. Also orange banana, which is incredibly sweet. |
RE: Sweet tomatoes
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| There's a grape variety called 'Jelly Bean' that is my favorite and very sweet. I crossed it 2 years ago with roma and now have an unstable variety that makes pear and grape tomatoes that are sweet and meaty. I didn't get very many seeds for this year because there are so few seeds. |
RE: Sweet tomatoes
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| I grew Jelly Bean last year and they were bland, small and not a lot of production--especially since they are a cherry type (curant?). I also grew Sweet Millions and these were super sweet, very tasty--like candy almost and I got lots of them! It may all be dependant on the growing conditions, I really don't know. Theo |
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