Gardeners know that homegrown tomatoes taste better than store-bought tomatoes. Gardener Scott discusses some of the science that explains why. (Video #476)
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/jan/27/out-of-flavour-why-tomatoes-have-lost-their-taste
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6895250/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1658077X2100059X
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0056354
https://www.techscience.com/phyton/v91n9/47710/html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7582891/#:~:text=The%20analysis%20showed%20by%20trend,in%20terms%20of%20increased%20sweetness.
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31 Comments
After eating the tomatoes I grew in containers, I'll never eat store bought tomatoes again! There's night and day difference in the taste. Since I don't use chemicals of any kind, I know they're really organic. I learned that even those in the stores labeled 'Organic' are sprayed after harvesting to keep them 'fresh' and looking wonderful for transporting and storage in the stores.
I always grow heirloom varieties, as well as growing them organically.
I had 2 black cherry tomatoes that were almost ripe. Was eagerly waiting to eat them. Unfortunately a squirrel beat me to them! GRRRRR. Now to try and figure out how to prevent them from getting the rest of my tomatoes, without having to resort to picking them early and letting them ripen inside instead.
I love the flavor of the Dad's Sunset tomato, and Sun Gold cherry tomato. Next year, the Martino Roma, Dad's Sunset, Celebrity, Black Krim, and Sun Gold will be my primary tomatoes. I will also be growing smaller varieties in my polytunnel, Parks Whopper, Jolene, Debut hybrid, and Early Girl Bush. The Super Sweet 100 did very good for me; it is super prolific. The Sun Gold had the best flavor of the cherry tomatoes I've grown. The Black Cherry tomato also did very good, and had good production. The Sunrise Bumble Bee sadly didn't do well for me. The biggest problem being pest and disease resistance. The flavor wasn't as sweet as I had hoped for, squirls ruined most of the harvest, and production was much lower than expected.
I'm sitting right now enjoying a Terra-Cotta tomato in a salad! New for me! The black cherry is another first and a hit! Thanks for breaking down what I always knew to be true! Nothing like that fresh garden taste!
It's been wet in ny early on but I hope it's less going forward so the matoes sweeten up…
I grew black cherry tomatoes this year on my kitchen deck in 5 gal. buckets. THEY ARE FANTASTIC. So sweet you can eat them off the vine. I highly recommend these.
When I was little, my grandfather had 3 acres under cultivation. When he got tired of my endless questions, he'd pick a tomato, wipe it on his shirt and hand it to me. The tomato was often the size of my face! When we went back to the house, there'd be tomato seeds on my face, in my hair, on my clothes, and my grandmother would ask in mock horror, "Norman, what have you done to this child?!" The taste of homegrown tomatoes carries with it evocative memories and most of them are good.
Great info Scott! I recently found your channel. Your information is spot on and I’ve been enjoying it.
I grew Sun Sugar tomatoes this year, which are a subvariety of Sungold that are less prone to splitting due to having thicker skins. However, I don't know if I did something wrong, as the Sun Sugars do not taste all that good. In fact, they taste as bland as store bought tomatoes. By contrast, the Super Sweet 100s that I'm growing in the exact same conditions are quite sweet. Is it the variety? Am I growing them wrong? Are they simply not ripe enough?
The tomatoes in the store are grown hydroponically and are bland watery blobs or picked so green and are ripened with gas to make them turn red, but are still green. The varieties are determinates so they can harvest all at once and to survive shipping.
I’m finding a lot of bad cat facing this year on new heirlooms I’m trying, but we had late frost and then drought. The other problem is the green shoulders and cores that make a lot of waste. I think I will go back to oxhearts and Brandywines for my garden. Paste tomatoes don’t seem to have much flavor. Yellow tomatoes have a cantaloupe texture and not very acidic. Sun Gold, Sweet 100s and grape cherries are clear winners with no cracking and keep well on the counter.
We all have different weather and soils and tomatoes will grow and taste differently everywhere.
I think your last statement is the absolute. The effort we put into our gardens is what ultimately makes everything we harvest so enjoyable. Just like being a farmer.
Us home gardeners often pick the tomatoes when they are ripe on the vine vs being picked when they are still green or barely changing color. Good info on all of the other reasons as well.
In my opinion, Sun Gold tomatoes are the best tasting tomato I've ever had. I honestly haven't tasted one that is better! This year I planted Super Sweet 100s, mostly to have a truly red cherry tomato in my garden. It's good and very prolific, so I'll grow them again.
Hi Scott.
Can you point us to this Chinese study that argues growing tomatos at 90 degrees is ideal ? I thought flowers will drop at that temperature ?
2 years ago watered mine every 3 days…no flavor. Last year, i barely watered, we had a drought, barely got any fruits. This year, plenty of rain, several varieties planted. Best flavor in the cherries. Ill mix those with my romas.
In your opinion, would it be a good idea to grow sunflowers and tomatoes together so that the tomatoes can grow up the sunflower stalks?
I want a greenhouse like yours so badly!!
Gardener Scott, di you ever use the leaves for salads or cooking. The leaves smell so delicious
I’m enjoying some sungold tomatoes while I watch. Super tasty
In my garden I have had better production from Amish Paste vs. San Marzano for sauce canning. When I have to buy tomatoes I always go with the organic variety. My grandma would call store bought tomatoes "Porcelain Tomatoes". 🤣🍅 Thanks for all the great info. 👍👍
This guy should read children’s books. He’s so pleasant
Yes my favorite is also sungold so good specially when I eat it from the plants, thanks for the information so interesting, I learned a lot about tomatoes today ,,,thanks 💕
🌶🌶🌱🌱🍆🍆🙏🙏
It's a great feeling now when I walk in the grocer to bypass the entire produce section. Saving big dough and eatin good in the neighborhood!
Love your choice of toms! Of course they taste better than the bland ones from the shops, but have you noticed that some `new ` varieties fail to inspire?
A question for you, Scott. I notice that you don`t sideshoot your indeterminate tomatoes as we are all advised to do. Have you expained why in a previous video, or can you tell us why in another one? Thanks.
I love the black cherry too. My husband says it doesn't taste tomatoey enough lol. Good thing I have " real" tomatoes growing too.
As someone who grew up in the 1960's & 70's… even though I did not care for the product, I just have to say the other line from the commercial. "Less filling!!!" 😀
Thanks- very useful. I will give itb a try!
I'm so happy to hear you say that your homegrown romas don't taste as good as your other tomatoes. I grew them this year for the first time, mostly only because I hadn't grown them before and I wanted to grow a determinate variety. They have grown well and the plants are healthy but I just don't like the flavor so I won't be growing them again.
Do you leave the mushrooms?
That is very interesting that tomatoes would like 90 degree temps. This year I am growing a variety that i always wanted to try. It’s Isis candy. I think I have found a new favorite.