Tomatoes 2020

[digitS']

Does anyone have a recommendation for a yellow tomato?


This is Lemon Boy - I believe it was the first year I grew them in 2014. And, have had them in the garden ever since.

@marshallsmyth was the person who prompted this. I had avoided Lemon Boy because, if there is one thing that I may not like about tomatoes it's acidity. Why would I want a tomato named Lemon anything?

They were quite small that year and usually quite a bit larger but they are prone to skin cracking. I always have other yellow choices in smaller sizes but do appreciate a big slicer at times. Lemon Boy was a very early hybrid and there's reason for it to still be around but I'm wondering if there have been improvements in tomato varieties that I'm missing out on. BTW - I have grown quite a few heirloom yellows and they have all had some problems. A good flavor etc. of a yellow is what I have come to expect, not lemons!

Steve

 

[Zeedman]

I have grown quite a few heirloom yellows and they have all had some problems.

That is my experience also.

I've grown quite a few that I would categorize as "true yellow", and still have seed for most of them... but for the most part, I wasn't fond of their flavor. "Yellow Brandywine" was OK, but not exceptional, and not very large (and the seed I was sent contained several crosses). "Southern Pride" is a medium-sized indeterminate slicer, but is juicier than I like, and a very poor keeper... many rotted on the vine. Another yellow paste, "Cudo Sveta", was flawless & pretty, but tasteless. I have fond memories of eating "Yellow Pear" from my uncle's garden, but my tastes have changed since then, and I wouldn't grow it now.

I haven't quite given up on the yellow tomatoes yet. "Yellow Pasta" is a determinate, highly-productive yellow paste which I may re-visit if I can find an effective way to process the small tomatoes. It produces a large amount of tomatoes in a small space, and based upon its flavor, I think it might make a good yellow ketchup. It also has a short DTM, @digitS' , so it might be successful in your climate.

And there is one I have yet to grow ("Willie's Garden") that shows great potential. I observed it during a visit to SSE's Heritage Farm several years ago; it was a bad year, and many of the tomatoes around it were severely diseased. Willie's Garden had some diseased foliage, but the large, somewhat heart-shaped tomatoes were unblemished, and plentiful. Of course, while those are all good traits, only a trial can determine if the flavor makes it worth growing.

I've had better luck with some "gold" tomatoes (which look more like orange to me). "Roughwood Golden Plum" is a decent gold/orange plum-shaped paste tomato, fairly meaty, good flavor, and high productivity. My only problem with it is its very dense leaf cover, which provided rodent cover when the plants were unsupported... which really is more my fault than the tomato's. I'll trellis it next time.

 

[Artichoke Lover]

@Zeedman are you going to start the 2021 rendition of this thread? It’s getting close to when we start tomatoes here in the south and I’m looking forward to seeing which ones everyone is growing this year!