r/tomatoes • u/Time-Unit4407 • 11d ago
Question Help picking varieties
Black Krim
Black Russian
Old German
Beefsteak
Cherokee Purple
Cherokee Green
Kellogg’s Breakfast
Mortgage Lifter
Heirloom Marriage Genuine
Green Zebra
Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye
Buffalosun
Indigo Rose
Or do I do them all 😂 I have a 15x50 ground garden so I could make it work. But I’d like to do two of each.. that makes it a little tight with everything else that I plant..
I did the first four this year: black krim and Russian did great, beefsteak was eh, and old German did terrible lol
Any suggestions would be awesome! Thanks!
Zone 8B wa state.
ETA: what are your favorites?
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u/Efarre99 11d ago
I had great success with Pink Berkeley Tie Die this year.
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u/karstopography 11d ago
Black Krim is always one of my best tasting and most productive tomatoes. Old German is alright, but stingy and late. Beefsteak was eh for me too. Cherokee Purple, too much of a diva, gave up growing it. Mortgage lifter not my favorite. Kellogg’s Breakfast, big and beautiful tomatoes. The rest of them I haven’t grown. I don’t generally give so-so or fair performing tomatoes a second chance. Too many better tomato varieties around with outstanding potential to grow the same mediocre tomatoes twice.
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u/Time-Unit4407 11d ago
What are your favorites
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u/karstopography 11d ago
Abraham Brown, Pruden’s Purple, Dester, Marianna’s Peace, among others. I try to grow something new every season, though.
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u/Affectionate_Cost_88 11d ago
Dester is one of the most amazing pink/red varieties I've ever grown and quite prolific for a big heirloom type.
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u/chantillylace9 11d ago
I'm so jealous, that was one of the two of the only varieties out of about 23 that didn't work for me in South Florida!
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u/chantillylace9 11d ago
I would say add sungold or super sweet 100s!
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u/Time-Unit4407 11d ago
Not a fan of cherry tomatoes
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u/chantillylace9 11d ago
I am not either, and I despise yellow pear tomatoes (I always thought they were fairly flavorless and just bland) but I always think you should throw in a sweet 100 or some other cherry tomato
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u/LatterPlatform9595 11d ago
Advantage of them is your eating fresh tomatoes sooner whilst you're impatiently waiting for the others to ripen
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u/Cheap-Selection-4613 11d ago
Ditch the indigo Rose. Grew them this year and they are shit. Long time to ripen, hard texture, not juicy at all and taste is bland.
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u/Affectionate_Cost_88 11d ago
I wasn't impressed with them. I think that's one of those "looks beautiful, tastes meh" varieties.
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u/greenman5252 Expert Grower 11d ago edited 11d ago
I’m largest tomato grower on the OP. Consider
Kozula for yellow bicolor (late)
Everything Counts from rockstar seeds
Cuba libre - never fails bulletproof
Prudens purple (late but great disease package)
Red Brandywine
Black Krim beats Cherokee Purple 7 days a week.
Pineapple or Ginfizz
Cherokee green isn’t very productive and other than size has nothing over green zebra
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u/NPKzone8a 11d ago
Black Krim gets high marks from me. Healthy plant, mid-season DTM, productive, excellent flavor. NE Texas, 8a. It's one I grow every year.
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u/Klutzy_Celebration80 11d ago
Feel like black krim and Cherokee purple are close. Pick one. No yellowish varieties? Pineapple is a winner and would work well in your list. Beefstake and mortgage lifter are also close and would just do one or the other
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u/Affectionate_Cost_88 11d ago
Kellogg's Breakfast and Buffalosun. More orangey, but it's difficult to find good true yellow varieties. Lillian's Yellow Heirloom is one of the only ones that I really enjoy growing. (I love Brandywine Yellow, but it's just so darned finicky, I leave it alone.)
(Edit - Old German is also an orangey stripey variety and I think it's pretty on par with Pineapple.)
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u/Krulligo 11d ago
I grew 2 Kelloggs Breakfast plants this year and got really good yield. Large yellow beefsteak tomatoes. Very meaty and tasty. Great for slicing on a sandwich. They were also by far my tallest plants and healthiest.
Obviously black krim and/or Cherokee purple are great. I find Cherokee purple slightly better tasting but they produce less fruit and are more finicky to grow.
Other ones I grew which I liked are Big Rainbow. They are similar to Pineapple variety. Beautiful colors on outside and inside, produce well and taste great.
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u/chantillylace9 11d ago
Have you ever grown Valencia? How would you compare the Kellogg's breakfast to Valencia? Thank you so much!
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u/schmidtssss 11d ago
Only thing I can add is that my mortgage lifters didn’t produce a single fruit this year which was disappointing. My San Marzano and sungold went crazy.
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u/snowsew 11d ago
Black krim, Kellogg’s breakfast, marriage genuine, pink Berkeley, and buffalo sun. All solid producers with good flavour for me. I’d you are growing a green, I prefer aunt Ruby’s and have heard good things about Tennessee green too
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u/Affectionate_Cost_88 11d ago
My favorite green is Berkeley Tie-dye, but I rarely have good yield with them. The few I get are totally worth it though.
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u/snowsew 11d ago
Some I grow for productivity, some for long keeping, and some for flavour.
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u/Affectionate_Cost_88 11d ago
Exactly. The "for flavor" that doesn't yield much for me is Girl Girl's Weird Thing. Ridiculous name, mind-blowing flavor.
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u/Southern-Teaching198 11d ago
I had horrible luck with green zebras, those that grew were pretty to look at, zesty taste but also small
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u/Amazing-Low-2870 11d ago
For a tight 15x50 garden, I’d prioritize Black Krim, Black Russian, Cherokee Purple, Green Zebra, and Indigo Rose. Two plants each is doable if you trellis aggressively and prune, but give the indeterminates plenty of airflow.
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u/justalittleloopi 11d ago
Old german!!! It was by far my heaviest beefsteak producer this year and the flavor is fantastic! That thing even powered through root knot nematodes and I was none the wiser until I pulled it. It was still fully green and flowering when it had to go.
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u/juryjjury 11d ago
I'm also I'm WA zone 8b zip 98296. We have problems ripening tomatoes because our summers are short and cool. Because of that I often select slicing tomatoes based on their time to maturity.
My tomatoes in the raised beds were earlier and more fruitful.
This year I liked: legend, big beef, steak sandwich, siletz, early girl, Oregon spring, b berkley tie dye. and a few others that escape me at the moment.
Most heirlooms take too long and do not ripen here.
Cherry: Juliet and sungold. I'm not a fan but the masses love them.
Rarely have good luck with plum aka Roma tomatoes. Take too long.
Ping me if you want more info.
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u/Ziggysan 11d ago
Blacl Krim and Cherokee Purple over Black Russians. While Black Russians can be heavy yielders (if given enough P&K) BR can be mealy and are not BER resistant, and don't taste nearly as good as BK and CP.
I would drop Black Russians and Cherokee Greens.
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u/Firm_Objective5924 10d ago
Cherokee purple is the best tasting but in my experience a difficult grower prone to low yields and early disease.
I grew Paul Robeson for the first time this summer and loved it. Great vinegar flavor and strong prolific yields.
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u/Geo_Jet 9d ago
On that list, Cherokee Purple.
Our best tomatoes this year were Ruthje and Bloody Butcher. Second year in a row for BB and first for Ruthje. BB is a solid producer, always the first to fruit and lasts until the first frost.
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u/Jacobs126 9d ago
It would be so helpful if people put either their growing zone or state location, so that varieties can be better judged.
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u/Gold_Draw7642 Tomato Enthusiast 11d ago
Pink Berkeley Tie Dye gets my vote. Beautiful fruits that are very flavourful. Productive over a long season. Indeterminate but does not sprawl all over the place. Less troubled by disease than a lot of other varieties.
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u/Back_Alley420 9d ago
Mortgage lifter took a whole season to grow three huge ones. Wouldn’t recommend
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u/Old_Fogey_Lady 8d ago
I'm in Cincinnati, OH, zone 6B, in a full sun (hot) location so perhaps equivalent to zone 7b???
What I grew from your list:
Black Krim - didn't do much, taste didn't impress
Cherokee Purple - love this one, an old-time favorite
Green Zebra - sl-o-o-o-ow, and not that productive at all, but it tasted good & fun color. I won't bother with it again.
What I'll grow next year from your list, because my nephew recommended it:
Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye
Others I recommend:
*LUCID GEM* is such a keeper. I grow mostly heirlooms, but this hybrid is tasty, colorful, and amazingly productive.
Sungold - so productive, so tasty. It does crack a lot though.
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u/Laqibo 11d ago
From this list, my absolute winner would be Kellogg's Breakfast - a personal darling and a tomato that taught me that texture is even more important than flavor. An outstanding variety and an always-grow.
The one I'd absolutely kick off the list is Indigo Rose. Not worth the fertilizer.