Which couple varieties would you give the boot?(minus the cross which is my own creation). I can’t seem to get rid of any but I’m limited on growing space.
by Ordinary-You3936
17 Comments
PintRT
Have you ever grown Mikado before? I did for the first time last year but we only managed one ripe fruit.
It was a weird year in general with lower harvests than usual but still only one tomato was a bit disheartening. I left it off my list this year but I don’t want to give up on it just yet.
NPKzone8a
I grew New Yorker last spring and, despite the name and me living in Texas, it produced early and well. Determinate plant. Decent flavor.
Actual-Bid-6044
Keep Green Zebra and Berkeley Tie Dye. I remember not liking Prairie Fire but can’t recall if it was from poor germination or something else. I did grow Mikado at least once but don’t remember it well. I need to keep better records!
antepenny
I have embraced the hype over Prairie Fire and Berkeley Tie Dye this year, and they’re in the top 3 I’m excited to grow for the first time. (Most of mine are old standards not on your list.)
TdubbNC7
I didn’t really like honeycomb hybrid when I grew it last year. It produced but the taste wasn’t nearly as good as Sungold which is the other variety I grew
striped_violet
Green tiger is really good. Flavor profile, size etc is pretty different from green zebra (which I also like), so I wouldn’t consider those redundant in case you were wondering. Haven’t grown any of the others, but I only ever hear good things about thornburn’s terracotta. Sorry not helping with cuts!!
Popular-Web-3739
How many plants will you be growing and how do you trellis them? If you don’t currently do any single stem growing you could do at least some of your plants that way if only to trial them this season.
I have a very small garden but I use square foot garden spacing and vertical string trellising for my indeterminate tomatoes so I can grow more varieties. I still get yields that are plenty for my husband and I, and to share with neighbors. I’ll only be growing 9 tomato plants this year but if all goes well and it’s like other years, I’ll have plenty for fresh eating and to can for winter.
Davekinney0u812
Not answering your question but……..How many generations does your own cross have and are you still trying to stabilize the genes? If it’s early on, how many plants are you planning to grow to select the one you’ll seed save from for next year?
AProcessUnderstood
You’re stronger than me. I couldn’t choose.
Kyubi13
Aren’t sweetie and supersweet 100 pretty similar? I like super sweet 100, they’re producing a lot, and early, eventho the flavor is. Pretty good but it’s nothing. Special in my opinion, so maybe boot one of them?
AdAggressive2146
I grew Pink Berkeley Tie Dye last year and it was my favorite by far. Not sure if it’s the same as what you have but if so I would highly recommend.
TinyPantherAdjacent
Don’t get rid of any. keep them all and expand the garden 🙂
Carlson31
If you have sun gold go ahead and cut the honeycomb. It’s a fine tomato but not as flavorful as Sungold. Just meh for med
thefancyfarmer
I grew Prairie Fire for 2 summers but took it off my list this year. I dunno, it’s a solid cherry tomato, just nothing special taste-wise in my opinion. It did very well in my TN zone 7b area though. Thorburn’s Terracotta performed terribly, I only got a few fruits, but hot damn they were delicious.
False-Can-6608
I grew Bodacious once. I got a few very large tomatoes. But they were kinda mealy. Which is the thing I hate the worst in tomatoes. I don’t plan to grow them again.
Mikado. Not sure what went wrong there but I don’t think I even got one to try.
heliosythic
I haven’t figure out the right number of varieties yet for my garden (only second year growing, last year heat basically prevented any fertilization from happening except a handful of sun golds).
Currently I’ve got 1 each of a slicer (Black Krim), cherry(Sun Gold), and sauce (San Marzano) variety. Supposedly based on my research these are commonly known as “the best” so I feel no need to deviate from this small set. Dunno what I’m missing out on, imagine just different balances of sweet/savory/umami/sour? How do ya’ll choose?
moshgardens
I think prairie fire might be the most delicious tomato I’ve ever grown, I love it. Not a fan of thorburn’s terracotta- the flavor is super bland/watery, the color is odd and the tomatoes are all really small/misshapen/cat faced as sometimes happens with old heirlooms.
Re: honeycomb – I’d recommend it if you’re prone to cherry tomatoes splitting, it has a thicker skin that’s resists splitting. If splitting isn’t an issue, I agree with other commenters – swap out for sun gold.
17 Comments
Have you ever grown Mikado before? I did for the first time last year but we only managed one ripe fruit.
It was a weird year in general with lower harvests than usual but still only one tomato was a bit disheartening. I left it off my list this year but I don’t want to give up on it just yet.
I grew New Yorker last spring and, despite the name and me living in Texas, it produced early and well. Determinate plant. Decent flavor.
Keep Green Zebra and Berkeley Tie Dye. I remember not liking Prairie Fire but can’t recall if it was from poor germination or something else. I did grow Mikado at least once but don’t remember it well. I need to keep better records!
I have embraced the hype over Prairie Fire and Berkeley Tie Dye this year, and they’re in the top 3 I’m excited to grow for the first time. (Most of mine are old standards not on your list.)
I didn’t really like honeycomb hybrid when I grew it last year. It produced but the taste wasn’t nearly as good as Sungold which is the other variety I grew
Green tiger is really good. Flavor profile, size etc is pretty different from green zebra (which I also like), so I wouldn’t consider those redundant in case you were wondering. Haven’t grown any of the others, but I only ever hear good things about thornburn’s terracotta. Sorry not helping with cuts!!
How many plants will you be growing and how do you trellis them? If you don’t currently do any single stem growing you could do at least some of your plants that way if only to trial them this season.
I have a very small garden but I use square foot garden spacing and vertical string trellising for my indeterminate tomatoes so I can grow more varieties. I still get yields that are plenty for my husband and I, and to share with neighbors. I’ll only be growing 9 tomato plants this year but if all goes well and it’s like other years, I’ll have plenty for fresh eating and to can for winter.
Not answering your question but……..How many generations does your own cross have and are you still trying to stabilize the genes? If it’s early on, how many plants are you planning to grow to select the one you’ll seed save from for next year?
You’re stronger than me. I couldn’t choose.
Aren’t sweetie and supersweet 100 pretty similar?
I like super sweet 100, they’re producing a lot, and early, eventho the flavor is. Pretty good but it’s nothing. Special in my opinion, so maybe boot one of them?
I grew Pink Berkeley Tie Dye last year and it was my favorite by far. Not sure if it’s the same as what you have but if so I would highly recommend.
Don’t get rid of any. keep them all and expand the garden 🙂
If you have sun gold go ahead and cut the honeycomb. It’s a fine tomato but not as flavorful as Sungold. Just meh for med
I grew Prairie Fire for 2 summers but took it off my list this year. I dunno, it’s a solid cherry tomato, just nothing special taste-wise in my opinion. It did very well in my TN zone 7b area though. Thorburn’s Terracotta performed terribly, I only got a few fruits, but hot damn they were delicious.
I grew Bodacious once. I got a few very large tomatoes. But they were kinda mealy. Which is the thing I hate the worst in tomatoes. I don’t plan to grow them again.
Mikado. Not sure what went wrong there but I don’t think I even got one to try.
I haven’t figure out the right number of varieties yet for my garden (only second year growing, last year heat basically prevented any fertilization from happening except a handful of sun golds).
Currently I’ve got 1 each of a slicer (Black Krim), cherry(Sun Gold), and sauce (San Marzano) variety. Supposedly based on my research these are commonly known as “the best” so I feel no need to deviate from this small set. Dunno what I’m missing out on, imagine just different balances of sweet/savory/umami/sour? How do ya’ll choose?
I think prairie fire might be the most delicious tomato I’ve ever grown, I love it. Not a fan of thorburn’s terracotta- the flavor is super bland/watery, the color is odd and the tomatoes are all really small/misshapen/cat faced as sometimes happens with old heirlooms.
Re: honeycomb – I’d recommend it if you’re prone to cherry tomatoes splitting, it has a thicker skin that’s resists splitting. If splitting isn’t an issue, I agree with other commenters – swap out for sun gold.
Also a big fan of super sweet 100.