Opinions on these Varieties...

OllieKatt · May 19, 2015

My first year growing from seed and now I have 78 healthy seedlings of quite a variety, so I'm looking for opinions on any and all of them in terms of care, growth habit, successes and failures, and of course, taste:

San Marzano
Weissbehaarte
Cherokee Purple
Black Zebra
Black Krim
Giant Red Beefsteak
Ponderosa Pink
Sub Arctic Plenty
Great White
German Red Strawberry
Snow White Cherry
Tiny Tim

Thanks... Ollie.

Cole_Robbie · May 20, 2015

Cherokee Purple is probably the most popular heirloom tomato. I liked it; almost everyone does. I've had Great White and liked it a lot. I have Tiny Tim in a 1-gallon pot right now, and might transplant up a little, but I don't think it demands it.

flyfiishn · May 21, 2015

Ill give some opinions on the ones I have tasted and grown.

San Marzano- Pretty productive plant. Great canners, not a huge wow on taste but they produce very meaty tomatoes, with not as much gel and water like others so good for rich sauces.

Cherokee Purple- A must grow in my garden, its prolific as heck and just keeps producing good to excellent tasting tomatoes. The first ones of the year are usually fantastic. Continues to produce in heat for me, CA has a dry heat though, no humidity. Love this tomato.

Black krim- a little tougher to grow for me, sets a lot of bloom but get lots of aborted blooms per each viable tomato. Good taste, less resistant than some others.

Snow white- this is my first year with this one, it seems pretty spindly and leggy/thin as a plant but grows like a weed. haven't tried a tomato yet but plant is very happy albeit skinny.

feldon30 · May 21, 2015

Being in Ontario could mean a huge difference in how these varieties grow and taste compared to elsewhere in the country. More than few people have reported different results with dark/black tomatoes grown up north vs. in the South.

OllieKatt · May 21, 2015

Interesting feldon30... at the end of the season, I plan on writing up a full report for my own sake, and for anybody that will read it. I'll note the various flavours I encounter....

Zana · May 21, 2015

I've had dark/black tomatoes grown here in Ontario and also in various points south. Depends on the year too, but many will do quite well up here as they will farther south.

Best years I had with them were grown in containers on a concrete pad. The best year, I was pulling maters as late as the first week of November that year! And they were still quite tasty

San Marzano - meaty and good for canning, but not all that tasty
Weissbehaarte - just got the seeds, haven't grown it yet.
Cherokee Purple - a must in my garden annually
Black Zebra - only grew it one year, so far, and that year was hit by blight before I got to taste them
Black Krim - a must in my garden annually - and many times I've preferred it to Cherokee Purple
Giant Red Beefsteak - haven't grown it
Ponderosa Pink - only grew it one year, so far, and that year was hit by blight before I got to taste them; have seedlings started for this year
Sub Arctic Plenty - have grown it twice, good for short season gardening; not growing this year, but will grow again
Great White - have grown it at least 3 times and will grow again this year; not a strong flavour usually in my garden but depending on how you use it is worth growing....especially for sauces or salads.
German Red Strawberry - have the seeds, but haven't grown it yet.
Snow White Cherry - have grown it many times and makes a colour contrast if making a tomato salad of cherry and saladette maters; some years has been a bit watery, other times a crisper flavour
Tiny Tim - easy to grow, especially in smaller containers/pots (even upside growing/hanging containers); not a great taste in comparison to many, but good for salads or fresh eating in the garden

Gardeneer · May 22, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by OllieKatt

Interesting feldon30... at the end of the season, I plan on writing up a full report for my own sake, and for anybody that will read it. I'll note the various flavours I encounter....

You are on, OllieKatt

A lot of us don't come back and report./ review the choice.

I have also grown San Marzano, Cherokee Purple and Black Krim.
ONLY Cherokee Purple has earned its spot in my garden.

SM, had a lot of BER. BK had cracked/ green shoulders (not nice looking) and fruit size were on the smaller side than CP.

I have no experience with the rest of your choices.

Gardeneer.

OllieKatt · August 10, 2015

As the tomato season here in Ontario really starts to get rolling, I need to amend my variety list as a couple trades were not the seed as indicated.

First, my Giant Red Beefsteak tomato seed actually ended up being red cherry tomatoes of some undetermined variety... Ha! I expected big slicers and am currently eating lovely cherry tomato salads daily. They have mixed well with my Snow White Cherry and Tiny Tim cherry tomatoes.

Speaking of cherry tomatoes, the Black Krim seed I received has produced golf ball sized black tomatoes... these cannot be Black Krim can they? They look more like a Black Cherry tomatoes and have a really strong tomato flavour with a bit of a tough skin.

Anyways, I must admit that at this point, I'm inundated with a lovely colour contrast of cherry tomatoes with the Snow White Cherry ones being the sweetest.

Labradors2 · August 10, 2015

Cherokee Purple was fabulous, but stingy. I had one very early tomato, then I had to wait ages for more fruit. Last year I grew Indian Stripe, which is very similar but more productive.

I had fungal issues with Black Krim, but I loved the taste.

Tiny Tim is a spitter in my opinion.

My Snow White seeds were wrong and I am apparently growing Yellow Pear which is bland.

You might want to try Fish Lake Oxheart, a tasty red heart that was developed here in ON.

Linda

Cole_Robbie · August 10, 2015

Tiny Tim is a spitter in my opinion.

Mine too.

May 19, 2015	#1
OllieKatt Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2015 Location: North Bay, Ontario, Canada Posts: 8	Opinions on these Varieties... My first year growing from seed and now I have 78 healthy seedlings of quite a variety, so I'm looking for opinions on any and all of them in terms of care, growth habit, successes and failures, and of course, taste: San Marzano Weissbehaarte Cherokee Purple Black Zebra Black Krim Giant Red Beefsteak Ponderosa Pink Sub Arctic Plenty Great White German Red Strawberry Snow White Cherry Tiny Tim Thanks... Ollie.

May 21, 2015	#4
feldon30 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 5,346	Being in Ontario could mean a huge difference in how these varieties grow and taste compared to elsewhere in the country. More than few people have reported different results with dark/black tomatoes grown up north vs. in the South. __________________ [SIZE="3"]I've relaunched my gardening website -- [B]TheUnconventionalTomato.com[/B][/SIZE] * [I][SIZE="1"]*I'm not allowed to post weblinks so you'll have to copy-paste it manually.[/SIZE][/I]

May 21, 2015	#6
Zana Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Southwestern Ontario, Canada Posts: 4,521	I've had dark/black tomatoes grown here in Ontario and also in various points south. Depends on the year too, but many will do quite well up here as they will farther south. Best years I had with them were grown in containers on a concrete pad. The best year, I was pulling maters as late as the first week of November that year! And they were still quite tasty San Marzano - meaty and good for canning, but not all that tasty Weissbehaarte - just got the seeds, haven't grown it yet. Cherokee Purple - a must in my garden annually Black Zebra - only grew it one year, so far, and that year was hit by blight before I got to taste them Black Krim - a must in my garden annually - and many times I've preferred it to Cherokee Purple Giant Red Beefsteak - haven't grown it Ponderosa Pink - only grew it one year, so far, and that year was hit by blight before I got to taste them; have seedlings started for this year Sub Arctic Plenty - have grown it twice, good for short season gardening; not growing this year, but will grow again Great White - have grown it at least 3 times and will grow again this year; not a strong flavour usually in my garden but depending on how you use it is worth growing....especially for sauces or salads. German Red Strawberry - have the seeds, but haven't grown it yet. Snow White Cherry - have grown it many times and makes a colour contrast if making a tomato salad of cherry and saladette maters; some years has been a bit watery, other times a crisper flavour Tiny Tim - easy to grow, especially in smaller containers/pots (even upside growing/hanging containers); not a great taste in comparison to many, but good for salads or fresh eating in the garden __________________ Zana ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ There is a fine line between genius and crazy. I like to use that line as a jump rope. ~Anonymous (but I totally agree with this! LOL) Forgive and Forget? I'm neither Jesus or nor do I have Alzheimers. ~ Anonymous Until he extends his circle of compassion to include all living things, man will not himself find peace. -- Dr. Albert Schweitzer

August 10, 2015	#8
OllieKatt Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2015 Location: North Bay, Ontario, Canada Posts: 8	As the tomato season here in Ontario really starts to get rolling, I need to amend my variety list as a couple trades were not the seed as indicated. First, my Giant Red Beefsteak tomato seed actually ended up being red cherry tomatoes of some undetermined variety... Ha! I expected big slicers and am currently eating lovely cherry tomato salads daily. They have mixed well with my Snow White Cherry and Tiny Tim cherry tomatoes. Speaking of cherry tomatoes, the Black Krim seed I received has produced golf ball sized black tomatoes... these cannot be Black Krim can they? They look more like a Black Cherry tomatoes and have a really strong tomato flavour with a bit of a tough skin. Anyways, I must admit that at this point, I'm inundated with a lovely colour contrast of cherry tomatoes with the Snow White Cherry ones being the sweetest. __________________ "It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato." (Lewis Grizzard)

May 20, 2015	#2
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	Cherokee Purple is probably the most popular heirloom tomato. I liked it; almost everyone does. I've had Great White and liked it a lot. I have Tiny Tim in a 1-gallon pot right now, and might transplant up a little, but I don't think it demands it.

May 21, 2015	#3
flyfiishn Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2014 Location: Northern CA Posts: 80	Ill give some opinions on the ones I have tasted and grown. San Marzano- Pretty productive plant. Great canners, not a huge wow on taste but they produce very meaty tomatoes, with not as much gel and water like others so good for rich sauces. Cherokee Purple- A must grow in my garden, its prolific as heck and just keeps producing good to excellent tasting tomatoes. The first ones of the year are usually fantastic. Continues to produce in heat for me, CA has a dry heat though, no humidity. Love this tomato. Black krim- a little tougher to grow for me, sets a lot of bloom but get lots of aborted blooms per each viable tomato. Good taste, less resistant than some others. Snow white- this is my first year with this one, it seems pretty spindly and leggy/thin as a plant but grows like a weed. haven't tried a tomato yet but plant is very happy albeit skinny.

August 10, 2015	#9
Labradors2 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Ontario Posts: 3,890	Cherokee Purple was fabulous, but stingy. I had one very early tomato, then I had to wait ages for more fruit. Last year I grew Indian Stripe, which is very similar but more productive. I had fungal issues with Black Krim, but I loved the taste. Tiny Tim is a spitter in my opinion. My Snow White seeds were wrong and I am apparently growing Yellow Pear which is bland. You might want to try Fish Lake Oxheart, a tasty red heart that was developed here in ON. Linda