Discussions

What’s everyone’s favourite species of tomato plant. Going to purchase mine this weekend don’t know where yet but will be looking around. Which ones do you find that have the most consistent luck with for yield and taste? I looked for that result online and it came up with a plant called Camona Tomato which i’ve never heard of and they probably don’t have around here anyway.

Do you want them for eating fresh, or canning? Making sauces etc? Do you want them ready all at once, or for the plant to keep producing until freeze up? Do you mind pruning them or do you want bush type?  
 
If I want them for canning and making salsas and stuff, my go-to is plain old roma or an Amish paste. Roma is determinate, meaning it will make a bush that requires no pruning and will set and ripen all it's fruit at once. Amish is indeterminate, and will require staking and pruning, but will keep producing over a longer period. I have also planted some San Marzano this year.  
 
For an eating tomato, I love Black Krim, which is, as the name suggests, a black tomato. I'm also growing Anna Russians this year - my parents grew them past year and they were fabulous. I kept some seeds and started some this year.  
 
If you like cherry tomatoes, it's worth trying to find Sweet Cherry Greys. They are indeterminate, and will grow 10 feet or more if you allow it. We got hundreds and hundreds from a single plant last year. It has consistently been one of my favourites for years now.

I am planting them mostly so I can eat them. Don’t care much about making sauces or tomato juice for that matter. Just want to slice them and eat them. The heirloom brands I did not do so well in my garden but I always try one brand every year. Brandywine did well one season but not the next which could be a lot of factors such as climate and soil composition. Early girl and better boy always grow but not much yield. Not a fan of cherry tomatoes. Just looking for some different brands that people have tried and had success with.

Sub arctic maxi is a great consistent garden variety and tiny tim works great in containers , Roma is good in garden, very heavy yielding, a little slower to ripen.  
Due to calving and seeding my garden usually goes in later than most and I find that Sub Arctic Maxi suits me well, ripens and yields well , has good taste and I freeze lots of them too.  
 
Edited by Farmergeorge, 2021-05-20 12:20:38

You'll probably want a determinate type then. My experience has beem that the majority of heirloom ones are indeterminate, which stretches out their productivity and need pruning and love to get the most production out of them. Determinates take the effort out of it.  
 
Beefsteak is another very reliable type, and it's considered a heritage type. They can and will produce monster tomatoes but are very fleshy and awesome for sandwiches. I find Brandywine so hit or miss.

Doing Roma again this year. We got a great harvest last year(6 plants). Ripen did not happen all at once, nor did they fruit at once. I did prune into later summer to get the plant to focus on those that were fruited already.  
 
Gave dozens away, harvest lasted us all of late fall until this week and we eat tomatoes almost daily basis.  
 
Edited by Iceman69, 2021-05-20 17:13:31

Like some on else said Roma is more for sauce and canning.  
For eating I like the OX heart, tried them one year by accident and loved them. They need a longer season to get ripe but worth the effort. Meaty and great baked.  
Also, like Kellogs which is a yellow with loads of flavour but cannot find plants in Brandon.

Always gives me a good crop, with lots off sun and watering.

I've always planted  
Celebrity  
Super Fantastic  
 
If you can find Amana they are the best tasting orange tomatoes!!  
Black Krim, Abbysmum you are so right, they're extra tasty!  
I also started seed from Rainbow Blend, i planted them last year and got a good amount of tomatoes, they are a heirloom tomato that comes in various colours, large size too!  
 
Good luck everyone! Hope that everyone shares their bounty