The Perfect Tomato

[Urban Fox]

Every year I enjoy trying out new tomato varieties in my search for the perfect tom. I'm sitting here with all my seed catalogues trying to decide what to buy.

Sadly I have only limited space - I can fit 12 plants comfortably in my small garden. So, I tend to grow 4 varieties per year (3 plants of each) I know it is going to take a while before I find my top ten favourites. But then you have to be patient to be a gardener.

So, far I have truly fallen in love with Costoluto Fiorentina - it makes the best roast tomato soup. and the green ones have produced a good supply of chutney.

I do like sungold -but they do tend to split too easily.

please can you recommend your favourite salad tomato. Taste is more important than yield. ...and preferably ones that don't split too readily.

many thanks

Christina

[richardwil]

My Mum loves Roma which she grew from plants I gave her the other year. Last year she had a bad crop due to blight and lost them all, but the toms in her greenhouse fared much better than mine. They were Shirley as I usually get a good crop of nice tasting Toms from these.

Never really compared the taste to others though on a big scale test.

Cheers

[PLUMPUDDING]

The two you mentioned are among my favourites, for a salad tomato I like Kenilworth King George from the Heritage Seed Library, and Eva's Purple Ball is a most beautiful larger deep pinky red one with a good flavour. I can send you a few seeds to try if you let me have your address. I do grow them in the greenhouse though, so don't know how they would manage outdoors.

[Johnboy]

Harbinger would be my choice for the all round Tomato. Seems that the seed is hard to get nowadays but it really is well worth growing.
JB.

[Chantal]

I love Costaluto Fiorentino but not as an outdoor tomato. Because they are a ribbed variety and I have to spray against blight, it's a nightmare trying to get the tomatoes clean. The spray collects in all the nooks and crannies and I really don't want to eat Bordeaux Mixture!

As for Roma, I too lost the lot to blight last year as being a bush tomato it was impossible to spray adequately.

I can recommend San Marzano (available from Seeds of Italy) and it's various progeny. It has fabulous meaty tomatoes for cooking, makes the best passata and because it's a cordon is easy to spray. I'd not be without it.

For salads I have a real fondness for Tigerella and also grow Golden Sunrise for a bit of colour variety.

[Tigger]

Harbinger is free this year from T&M if you buy any other 2 packets of seeds. Either of which is half price at the mo.

[Chris]

Hi

For me there is no such thing as the perfect tomato - but I do have an idea of perfect tomato crop which has to include several varieties to suit different tastes and occasions. My staple varieties are Shirley, Sungold, Gardeners Delight. Golden Sunrise, and for outside tubs Tumbler. Recently I have added Tigerella. Each year I try out a new one - Amaral was the 2009 experiment and was so generally liked that it has been added to the list. I'll try one or two others this year.

I try something new each year and hope to learn a bit more.

[Johnboy]

Hi Tigger,
Thanks for information. Harbinger has been very difficult to get of late.
I don't know when it was first introduced but during WW2 it was probably the only Tomato we grew. It ripens outside very readily.
JB.

[oldherbaceous]

Good morning Johnboy, if my information is correct, 1910 was the year it was introduced making it 100 ears old this year.
And still as good as it was then, i would have thought.

[Johnboy]

A very good morning to you OH,
Thank you for the information. I knew that Harbinger had been around quite a time.
JB.

[Tigger]

I'll send you some Harbinger seeds JB.

[The Mouse]

Hi there.

As this is a tomato-related question, I though I might as well slot it in here!

Can any of you tell me how early I can sow tomatoes that are going to be raised in an unheated greenhouse?

The greenhouse hasn't actually arrived yet, but hopefully it will be en route within the next few days. It's only a small one, but I'm so excited!

[realfood]

Sun cherry Premium F1 is similar in size and taste as Sungold, but without the splitting.

[Nature's Babe]

I like Tigrella too, and the year before last i bought a punnet of mixed heritage tomatoes in the local supermarket, I saved the seeds, my favourite was a dark / light green striped tomato, the light green turned golden when ripe, the colour was a talking point, and they were a good size, productive and delicious, and seemed resistent to blight. No idea of the name but I have some spare seeds saved if anyone would like some.
I also grew tomatillos for the first time, they don't get blight , I preferred the green to the purple type, and they have a lovely sharp sweet balance when ripe, fried I prefer them to tomatoes.

[alan refail]

Hi there.

As this is a tomato-related question, I though I might as well slot it in here!

Can any of you tell me how early I can sow tomatoes that are going to be raised in an unheated greenhouse?

The greenhouse hasn't actually arrived yet, but hopefully it will be en route within the next few days. It's only a small one, but I'm so excited!

Morning Mouse (The)

Just so your post doesn't get lost...

I grow all my tomatoes in the polytunnel (unheated of course). All being well I will be sowing in three weeks - 8 March - as I usually do. They will be in the propagator and continue on some bottom heat after potting on until they are to big to fit. Then they have to take their chance, being covered with fleece whan it's too cold.

Hope this helps, and gets you some more replies.

Alan