The 2025 tomato thread

[MontyDonsBlueScarf]

Looking for recommendations please!

I normally grow
a very early, usually Latah from Real Seeds
a couple of blight resistant mid sized - this will be the end of my Ferline seeds, the other will be Crimson Crush which is pretty much perfect for me
a large plum for cooking - for years this has been San Marzano Redorta from Franci.but I'm looking for a replacement. The taste and texture is great but they're huge and they take a long time to grow. I also get a lot of blossom end rot at one end and hard green bits at the stem end.

I'm looking for suggestions for a small, tangy, cherry type with excellent flavour and blight resistance, not too small as otherwise I get bored with picking them, and a replacement plum type. There are several likely candidates on the Real Seeds site but I'd like to hear about everyone's favourites.

I have an unheated greenhouse and live in the south of the UK.

Sorry I can’t help but wondered how you got on with your Real Seeds toms generally? We had several varieties from them last year including San Marzano that didn’t germinate.

Real seeds are normally very good, and when something else didnt germinate they said they would replace packet for me. Crimson Crush come in different sizes/types of tomato and for me they have been the only real blight resistant ones - so i stick with them. i've got an allotment so blight is real problem

I haven't bought from Real Seeds for a few years now, as I've just been saving seeds as they suggest. They were fine then but I don't have any more recent experience.

I've grown probably hundreds of different tomatoes over the years and I'm not sure any of the blight resistant ones would ever be at the top of any of my lists in all honesty.

My top large slicer is Dr Wyche's Yellow. Second is JD 's Special C Tex or any of the Wild Boar Farms ones.
My top Plum is Black Russian Plum but I cook with any or all of mine. This year in the worst year ever, I had the Large Plum from Franchi that kept on growing right til after Christmas.
My top medium is Green Zebra, next is Stonor's No 2, but I also grow a large range of this size and most are pretty good. Mars Round Green is nice - I find all the green tomatoes really lovely.
My top cherry is...oh my gosh this is hard because obviously it is Sungold but the skins are so tough and I've now moved over the Dancing with Smurfs which blows every other cherry tomato out of the water [apart from Sungold]. My other cherry is Green Grape which is bloody gorgeous. Black Cherry also from Franchi is a very good tomatoes, and Red Alert [determinate] for the sheer relentlessness of the season length. I think Maskotka is a blight resistant variety that is also not too bad tasting, and usually grow an early few of these to get going.

I've never heard of Dancing with Smurfs but am sorely tempted. How is it different from Black Cherry? I grew that a few years ago and I don't recall it being particularly remarkable.

It is one of the several generations of OSU crosses, which were sent out into the world as OSU blue but in my opinion, the only really tasty result. Everyone I've ever given them to raves about them.

https://www.tomatofifou.com/en/produit/osu-blue-p20/

Black Cherry I found the best when really ripe and with minimal watering, eat it too early and it is a bit insipid but when left a few more days is great. Not a patch on Sungold though. Probably the only F1 I have interest in.

I like Gardeners Delight. Boring, but good for salad and reliable for growing outdoors. And Sungold for eating straight off the plant.

I was wondering about Gardeners Delight. It always used to bey recommended for flavour, and I’ve always found it tasty, well cropping, and problem free.

I've found that Gardeners Delight has gone off in the last few years, any new seed doesn't have the same flavour. Sadly I don't have any saved from the past.

Which makes me wonder whether anyone would be interested in a seed swap? I have lots I won't be using this year (or indeed ever). I usually raise a couple of plants very early and then root the side shoots so I always have a lot more seed than I need.

@AlisonDonut you've sold me on Dancing with Smurfs now 😁

To be fair to Real Seeds, last year was the worst year for germination I've ever had. The worst year for growing as well.

Following for tomatoey plant ideas. I had great success with outdoor cucumbers last year.

Yes my cucumbers were epic last year, all that rain!

Last year was my first attempt at tomatoes ( I think MoneyMaker) they were so,so much nicer than anything I have bought .
Planted from seed they were slow to start , I did think " I should've bought plants" but they caught up .

This year I'm doing another crop.
I put them at them bottom of the garden , we have an enclosed area that catches the sun. This year I;ll put them near the house to keep an eye on them and stake them better .
And I think taking some of them off to have fewer fruits .

Excited

Sorry to be cheeky, but here from Real Seeds (with a name change ). I don't usually hang out in gardening for obvious reasons, but spotted the secateurs thread & need some new ones myself.

Can I just say, we don't sell San Marzano tomato, so that wasn't us! Do give us a shout if you have any germination problems ever though, we'll happily replace.

I actually don't like San Marzano exactly for the reason you say OP, I've always found it very prone to blossom end rot. My personal favourite plum by a country mile if you don't mind the colour difference is Orange Banana - good flavour, doesn't have that plum tendency to blossom end rot, and very productive.

I've grown loads of real seeds seeds over the years and I just wanted to say, even with the plethora of options now I live in France, there was always such excitement in my house when you brought out your new catalogues and I could buy a job lot for the coming year. I am gutted I can't buy from you any more.

Hib@Seedycentral ,, lovely to see you! Lots of us are big fans of Real Seeds. You’re welcome to drop in and give advice whenever!

Thank-you @MereDintofPandiculation Truthfully I mostly try to keep my MN habit separate from work - particularly because I'm crap at remembering to name change.

And yes, sorry @AlisonDonut it's rubbish, but there we are.

Gardeners Delight has gone off in the last few years, any new seed doesn't have the same flavour. Probably explains things! My packet is a few years old. It takes a long while to get through a packet of tomato seeds 8 seeds at a time!

Thanks for the correction @Seedycentral!
Looked at our order list from you again and they were Moskvitch, Rio Gordo, Miel Fort, Orange Banana and Lotos. The San Marzano is from somewhere else.
We never thought to request replacements as we’ve always done well with your seeds. Last year was such a strange year growing stuff and we probably put it down to that but we’re looking forward to a fabulous new season including the tomatoes!

@MereDintofPandiculation if you have some flavoursome Gardeners' Delight, please could you save some seed for us for next year? I would love to get back to growing these.

@seedycentral do you still have a minimum order? I'm tempted by Orange Banana but that's all I need right now.

@AlisonDonut and @Seedycentral is the prohibition on sending seeds to the EU just on retail sales? If not, just thinking that I could have the Donut order delivered here with my Orange Banana added in, and then send the rest on. Not that I want to encourage anyone to buy even more seeds....

I need to get going on this. I keep thinking about it intermittently and then failing to order seeds. I’m afraid I usually do Sungold as they’re so reliable, but I really liked Indigo Cherry Drops when I took a punt on them a couple of years ago (black-blush cherry tomatoes, very flavourful).

I tend to grow Brandy Boy for beefsteak tomatoes as they taste great. Tried San Marzano once but found them disappointing. Orange Wellington were also an unexpected success.

Last year was awful for tomatoes for me, and I usually do pretty well with them. I grow in my greenhouse in grow-bags but the peat-free grow-bags are now so useless I’m a bit despairing of what'll happen this year ☹️

(Waves at @Seedycentral - another Real Seeds fan here)

Oh thank you for the offer, I have friends who could do that for me and do often get small amounts sent across, but it was the thrill of that order that I'd put in, knowing that my plot would be producing all the way through til spring. I used to love the routine and the growing seeds that were reliable and planning which ones to save from, and which ones to go in which bed. And if I got lucky, I'd get a sunny few days to plan it all out.

It all spins out of whack when you are finding new companies to buy from. And the randomness of what you actually get out the other side. I'm still really finding my feet on the suppliers over here.

@MontyDonsBlueScarf In principle, yes, but I’m late with my seed order and haven’t checked my stocks yet

yellow pearshape
as the name says it's yellow and pearshaped. sweet intense tomato flavour.

tigerella
slightly bigger snack tomato
orange with stripes
good flavour