Colors muted this year
 

On the Benevento thread I posted an image of a pint of home-canned Benevento. Not labelled was a jar containing Copia and one containing Axoychka...all of which generally exhibit various degrees of rosy cores.

20 years ago I traded seeds with Bill Minkey for a variety he called "Chet's Italian Black"; what I grew was likely Tigerella or one similar. I liked it for the bold flavor and continue to grow it. I last saved seeds in 2018; I have plenty for next year, but may have to ferment then. But this year the stripes were muted.

Green Zebra growing in a friend's garden this year looks plain. Pork Chop, Rainbow Jazz Heart exhibit barely visible stripes, as did Marzano Fire. Maglia Rosa tastes good, but was plain. Green Tiger just developed a pale gold blush as ripening advanced.

Conversely, Sherkhan looks even more bold than Tatiana's pictures suggest, and Paquebot's "Martin's Super Roma" looks as good as ever.

Has anyone else noticed reduced...or enhanced color?

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Must be our weather in Minnesota this year, eyolf. I grew Rainbow Jazz Heart, Benevento (that looked like RJH), Marzano Fire, and a few other striped ones and they were all only faintly striped. Not much color on my black varieties either, except for Sunchocula. All still edible, thankfully.

eyolf,

Off subject - Do you ever check your PMs?

Always so busy recruiting.

Heat can really have an effect on tomatoes.
Was it really hot?

KarenO

My weather was cool and wet through late June and many things were a bit late. July and August were hot, but not much worse than any other year.

Last year, we struggled with drought, and yields were modest...but colors bolder. I grew two plain yellow varieties that generally yield a rosy blossom end...Azoychka and Gold Medal...both years and they were far less colorful this year.

Flavors were bolder and more intense on some last year as well...Isis Candy and Chocolate Cherry were repeats and seemed tastier last year. I replaced Brad Atomic Grape with Maglia Rosa and Green Tiger...both delightful but slightly less flavorful.

But that could be varietal.

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I want to jump in on this topic. Been growing Pink Berkley Tie Dye for quite a few years, and it has definitely changed over the years. Smaller, less definitive striping, and flavor not as good. Going to order new seeds from Wildboar and see. The change took place over quite a few seasons.

Kenny j, regarding the smaller less definitively striped fruit has your seed source changed?