best flavoured tomatoes - Page 2

Oh, how lovely!  I'll warn the builders to expect a tired tortoise - we can put him up for a day or two (I've got plenty of Cos lettuce in the garden) and then when he's recovered he can start his journey back home. 

Sorry folks!

Your schoolgirl Latin will come in handy. Italia Post only employ tortoises with degrees in Classics.

I like Rosada and Sungold but Sungold do tend to split.  The seeds of Rosada are very expensive but I have found it is possible to save the seeds from previous years quite successfully.

When Hugh-Fearnley Whittingstall did his taste test the winners were Sungold, Santa, Brandywine, Nectar and Odoriko.

Sungold, Brandywine and Santa are available from Thompson and Morgan. Simpsons sell Nectar.

I'm not sure about Odoriko. If anyone comes across it, I'd be grateful to know where I can get seed. I DL'd the RHS veg. seed suppliers' list and they DO list it, and say there is one UK seed supplier in 2012, but for some reason that's all the information you get!  Further Google searches have been fruitless - literally!

I've grown Sungold and Brandywine in previous years and can definitely recommend them for flavour.

This year I'm growing red, yellow and black cherry tomatoes only. I can't tell you what variety they are because I sowed them from seed I saved from a supermarket punnet!

ChapelGirl2 wrote (see)

This year I'm growing red, yellow and black cherry tomatoes only. I can't tell you what variety they are because I sowed them from seed I saved from a supermarket punnet!

It will be interesting to see what you get. The supermarket toms are (usually) hybrids so your fruit will (probably) be the first generation undoing the hybridisation. First generation crops usually resemble the parent tom without being exactly the same. The second generation is where the gene pool really starts to unravel.

PS. You're right about Odoriko. Plenty of seed companies in the States stock them. You might have to order from the US.

I grew Sakura last year and they were brilliant - tasty and prolific cherry tomatoes with  no hassle. All I had to do was feed and water and remove side shoots. In return I had more tomatoes than I knew what to do with. (Drying and packing in oil preserves them well.) However, only one problem - I couldn't find any seed this year and had to go back to Sungold and Gardener's delight. They were good, but not as good as Sakura.

Definitely "Sungold".  Every year I try other varieties but have yet to come across one that beats it on taste!!

I love the Ferline tomato, so juicy and tasty.  I also like all the plum tomatoes, great for salads.

Years ago, I had an old uncle who grew delicious toms, called Eurocross I believe. I've never seen them since but my were they good!  I don't go for large, beefy tomatoes or cherry types.  Any suggestions?

Is it not true that the soil is as important as the breed of tomato?  My uncle swore by horse manure. (I hope that doesn't sound too rude). 

A tom lacking natural taste will lack taste no matter how good the soil. Good soil is obviously important to the plant's growth but, ultimately, a tomato is at the mercy of its genes. Horse manure is an excellent soil conditioner.

I grown an italian plum tomato "Astro" this year, and it'ts been really succesful, and prolific, the taste is really good almost sweet,it  has a firm dry texture ideal for pastas but really good in a salad when layered with thinly sliced onions and Basil, seasoned with Black Pepper and sea salt and drizzled with a good quality olive oil, will definitely grow more of these next year

Yes, Astro is a hybrid San Marzano, one of the many. Ideal for sauces. Have you had any Blossom End Rot problems?

This is my 2nd year growing Gardeners Delight for free, i used the seeds GW gave away last year in the magazine and saved seeds from them to grow this year, with 100% germination success and lost a few at the beginning, i have lots of plants with trusses and trusses growing in both greenhouses, one at home and the other at the allotment, i had so many plants i gave some away and have about 5 in the back garden which haven't ripened yet as there been very little sun ans warmth but there is no sign of blight and plenty of young fruit. I have eaten about a dozen so far which were delicious and sweet but have to save what is ripe at the moment for tomorrows local allotment society show where i won 2nd prize last year with my garderners delight. I grow these because they are hassle free and give abundant crops, working full time and having a garden and an allotment to tend on my own, I dont have much time for things that need a lot of care and molly coddling to grow. when i retire i will have a go at some other varieties as mentioned in this thread but the Gov have added another 6 years to my working life so it wont be until May 2020. 

Have just spent a couple of hours sorting out the greenhouse and still have a few Brandywine left trying to save some seeds, i wasnt so successful at it last year. Then the sun came out and the greenhouse turned into a sauna and i looked a sweaty wreck. Have had a shower so nice and clean whilst typing this you will be pleased to hear. Lost all my cherry toms and all the odds and soda i put on the allotment.

Did you bag the flowers before they opened, Maud? Or do you not have other varieties nearby?

I think I might have a shower too. On my wife's orders.

Went to Wyevales yesterday and got a packet of tom seeds from the Italien collection. 3 different types Cuor di bue, San Marzano 2, Costoluto. Only cost 50pence in their sale. So hoping they will do well next year.

Cuore di Bue (it literally means Ox Heart) is a very popular tom here in Italy. I swapped some tom seedlings with my greengrocer, Marco, who grows his own. He gave me a Cuore di Bue plant grown from his own saved seeds. Crossed seeds in this case, unfortunately. The plant produced a couple of Ox Hearts and a lot of smaller variations. Not bad flavour, though.

Which Costoluto is it, Maud? C. Genovese and C. Fiorentino are the two main ones. They're both heavily ribbed. In fact Costoluto means just that, ribbed.