Tomato Taste – Large Varieties – (answers to quiz at bottom of page).
I sometimes get emails asking: “Why is the taste of my large tomatoes disappointing – what have I done wrong to cause this to happen?”
We’ve had an amazing amount of sun lately and would therefore expect our large tomato varieties to taste very good.
The truth is that some large varieties will always taste bland when compared to cherry varieties, no matter how much sun they’ve had.
Cherry tomatoes taste sweeter and more intense than larger tomatoes, by comparison the large tomatoes sometimes seem watery and bland tasting.
Brandywine and Caspian Pink are two traditional beefsteak varieties that are considered to be among the best for taste. Neither can match the taste of any red cherry variety that I have grown.
Which large varieties have you found to be the best for taste? Please leave your thoughts in the comments later on the website.
Watering In Hot Weather
Although over watering may cause a watery taste, in this hot weather, we have no choice but to water our container plants at least twice each day.
Keeping the soil from drying out helps the large varieties avoid blossom end rot – especially when grown in containers and grow bags.
As soon as the soil becomes dry, the flow of calcium to the fruit is interrupted and the dark patch appears on the underside of our tomatoes.
These days I grow all my large varieties in reservoir systems – the one beefsteak variety that I grew in a large pot, has been affected with blossom end rot (BER) on every tomato – and it was watered twice each day.
Avoiding BER In Hot Weather
The fact is that it is very difficult to avoid BER when growing large varieties in containers and grow bags.
Fortunately, not one tomato grown in a Quadgrow Planter or Oasesbox has been affected by BER – the reservoir systems are the best way to avoid BER in hot weather – without a doubt!
Cherry tomatoes aren’t usually affected by BER, so we can grow them in containers without reservoirs. If the soil becomes dry on the odd occasion, it isn’t so important.
So to sum up, it is best to grow cherry tomatoes in containers and grow bags, but if we want to grow large varieties, without the possibility of BER, we should use reservoir systems.
Here’s a quiz based on the information above.
Which plant goes in which container?
Varieties:
- We have three Gardener’s Delight plants
- Three Big Boy F1’s
- Four Crimson Crush
- Four Tumbling Toms
Containers:
- A Quadgrow Planter
- A set of three Oasesboxes
- One grow bag
- Four large pots
Now match the plants with the containers – remember that we want to avoid blossom end rot!
Answers will be on the Newsletter website, for week twenty, later today.
I hope all of your tomatoes taste great!
Regards,
Nick
Quiz answers:
Three Gardener’s Delight in grow bags
Three Big Boy F1’s in Oasesboxes
Four Crimson Crush in Quadgrow Planter
Four Tumbling Toms in large pots
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