Heirlooms Vs. Hybrids?

13 years ago

Hello gardeners,

I'm a newbee here, joined on Fri. but not new to gardening, been at it for 30 some years. I see on the tomato forum that many members are enamored to the heirloom varieties, especially the Brandywines. My question is: is there anyone except me who grows and enjoys some of my favorite hybrids ie. Better Boy, Superfantastic, and a new found favorite the last 3 seasons, 4th of July? Don't get me wrong, I'm not doggin' the heirlooms in fact I admit that this year I have 2 each of Mule Team, Hillbilly, Mortgage Lifter and Homestead. This is my first year for the heirlooms and am looking forward to seeing what kind of production, taste and DTM,and will definately be saving seed on the ones I like for next year. The Brandywines supposedly are the best tasting tomato ever, is thier taste sweet and mild, or bold and acidic? My personal preference is a tomato so acidic that it will almost make your jaw aike! That is what I get with the Better Boys and Superfantastics, and most seasons have ripe tomatoes by July 4th and continue to produce right up till the 1st frost in early Nov.

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Comments (8)

dickiefickle
13 years ago
yes check some postings
digdirt2
13 years ago
Yep many here also grow hybrid varieties and many of them are standard recommendations when folks ask about favorites. ;)

Brandy Boy gets lots of good reviews as does Supersonic and Sun Gold. Some swear by Early Girl and Lemon Boy.

Personally I prefer Jet Star for it's consistent production and usually have a couple of Big Mamas and Viva Italia mixed in also for canning sauce. Tried Fourth of July 3 years and then decided it wasn't worth the space in my garden.

But when it comes to flavor as a slicer for a BLT I'll take one of my many heirlooms every time. ;)

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Favorite hybrid discussion
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trudi_d
13 years ago
I think most people on this forum grow both heirlooms and hybrids. Brandywines are just a "family" of tomatoes, there are so many OPs beyond them with great flavor and productivity too.
spiced_ham
13 years ago
My mouth quickly gets sore if I eat acid tomatoes so I have to stay away from many hybrids and heirlooms too. Brandywine (pink potatoleaf) does not have an acid bite that I can remember. I would say that it is somewhat sweet, and just has a little bit of a different flavor than most others, which sets it apart but not necessarily above other good tasting varieties.
azruss
13 years ago
I grow what tastes good to me. Period.

Usually the OP's are on top flavor-wise (Aker's West Virginia won the Blue Ribbon this year), but the hybrids Big Beef, Ramapo, Moreton and others have a welcome spot in my tomato garden. I think next year I'll give Jet Star a try. Tried Supersonic this year with seed from a trade and found it very prone to sun scald. Not certain if it was the real deal, Supersonic F1. Might try again next season with purchased commercial seeds. My Brandy Boy's all died!
soonergrandmom
13 years ago
jcheckers - You may have trouble with Brandywines in OKC. It is hard to get any production from them in the Oklahoma heat. I am growing both hybrids and OP varieties this year and the only one I am seeing problems with is Pink Brandymaster. It has set fruit but the leaaves are beginning to yellow, and not just the lower ones. I am wondering if it will make it through my summer.

I like acid tomatoes also, but there are some that are not high acid that I find wonderful. I planted several Black Cherry plants this year and the first one that I put in the ground is over six feet tall, so looks like it is going to be a monster plant. I really like the taste of Black Cherry. I also like Sungold which is another cherry that almost taste like fruit to me. Until a few years ago I didn't even like cherry tomatoes, but now that I have found such good ones, they will always have a place in my garden. In addition, they keep producing while some of the larger ones take a little summer vacation in our heat.
aixia
13 years ago
Yep, I do mostly hybrids, with the occasional heirloom/open-pollinated for fun. My favorite so far has been Juliet, but this year I'm trying Brandywine for the first time. I don't know why it's supposed to be such a low producer, mine's setting fruit like crazy! I've also got a Better Bush this year just for kicks, which is chugging along well, though looks incredibly runty next to the Juliet and Brandywine. (It's supposed to be tiny though, no worries, it just looks funny.) I've also got one volunteer this year, probably from a Juliet dropped on the ground last year, so we'll see how that one turns out.

My future plans include Cherokee Purple, Indian Stripe, and Sun Gold. All the recent talk about Black Cherry is making me curious about that one too. Maybe next year...
catman529
13 years ago
I mostly grow open pollinated varieties but this year I had to try Sungold because of all the amazing things I've heard about the flavor and production. I've got several open-pollinated ones this year that I chose carefully, some saved from last year and some new to me. Brandywine is one of the new ones, can't wait to try it - I've spotted the first BW fruit this year about the size of a nickel. One thing I like about open-pollinated/heirlooms other than flavor is the fact that you can save seed. However I might try saving seed from my Sungolds to try and grow out and stabilize it (yeah I know a lot of tomato growers do this in hope of finding the perfect OP version of Sungold)