Does anyone know if you can buy or take seeds from store bought sugar drop cherry tomatoes? I like this variety because its very firm, with a nice intense tomato flavour and good balance between sweet and tart. When I google for seeds it seems there is a yellow/orange variety by that name, but I can't seem to find a red one. When I look on the package from the store bought, it just reads it is developed by a Spanish company, so I'm not sure if it is an heirloom or F1 hybrid. Does anyone know the variety and had success growing it?
by GTFO-my-Lawn
5 Comments
They are only available in the UK from what I see. They also are listed as a “yellow” cherry tomato. So that box might be a brand versus the actual “Sugar Drop Tomato”.
Links that I found.
[Sugar Drop Cherry Tomato ](https://share.google/kChgYsWkgY7G2FHxP)
[Sugar Drop Cherry Tomato Origin](https://share.google/PXhZVyGTQLwTw5ryZ)
“Sugardrop Tomatoes is a brand developed by Mark’s & Spencer, marketed for their intense and sweet flavor for grocery stores in the UK.”
When you have “branded” boxes like this…they can be packed with whatever variety of tomatoes is available and ripe for packaging at the time. They likely are not actual “Sugar Drop” and could be either a hybrid, open-air or commercial product.
You could grow the seeds but there is no way of telling what tomatoes you will be growing. No guarantee that the seeds will be true to the actual tomato you are eating.
My experience with planting grocery store seed is that heirlooms are usually labeled that, but I am in the US. I grew some Spanish heirlooms last season from grocery store seed and they did great.
When I plant seeds from hybrids, I usually get something close, but last year I ended up with three different shaped cherry tomatoes. They were all good (not as good, but still delicious) and the most prolific plant in the garden, but the first to contract a leaf disease. Once they contracted the disease, it wasn’t a matter of if, but when the rest got it. Many of my micro dwarfs were the last standing along with the Spanish heirloom.
It can take seven generations for a hybrid to break. Plant some, see what happens. If you get lucky use your original batch of saved seeds for as many seasons as possible before you start using what you save from the fruit in successive years.
Hey so the advice is to scrape out some seeds and put them in a jamjar with water in for a while (can’t remember how long) to ferment, before planting.
I’ve had terrific results from a black tomato bought from Waitrose, I scraped the tomato snot onto a bit of kitchen towel then forgot about it for a few months. I prised the seeds off, planted them, fantastic germination rate.
Maybe try both methods and write another post about it?
There is a red variety called Sugardrop – one word – that I see mentioned as growing in Spain for Tesco in 2009, but the shape is a little different than the ones in your picture. I’d certainly give the seeds from these a try if you have the room for a mystery plant!