[chris23005]

Right, I have got my strawberries sorted, now for tomatoes!!

Firstly, I do NOT have a greenhouse OR an allotment - these will be grown against a south facing wall in my garden.

Secondly - I do not need my plants to give me a huge crop - there are only the two of us, plus daughter and son in law nearby.

Finally - taste is important - I would like them to taste like tomatoes, not the watery versions you get in the supermarket.

I am not averse to cherry tomatoes, but am thinking of something a little larger, that perhaps I could turn into "sun-dried" (hah! now there's a laugh!) tomatoes later in the year.

I know about Moneymaker and Gardeners Delight - what tomatoes have you grown and loved, which don't take a lot of "babying" and will grow outdoors quite happily?

[Jodie A]

Beams Yellow Pear, a small tasty sweet peardrop sized fruit.  A quick fruiter, and not F1 so seeds may be saved.

The only thing that plays with my head is the fact the fruit is yellow.

[mumofstig]

I like growing Red Alert, an outdoors bush tomato with fruit a bit bigger than a cherry, but not huge.  Always crops well for me 

[chris23005]

Ooh, Red Alert gets a very good write up - I might try that one this year. No space for more than one variety at a time, but maybe gold tomatoes will get a chance next year!!

Many thanks!

[tosca100]

All my surplus tomatoes go outside, some do well, some don't, I grow what takes my fancy but find Sungold very good, heavy crop of orange cherry toms, tgerella did ok last year but were too acid for me. This year I have some Koralic, a bush cherry developed to grow outside and resistant to blight. Like you, there is just the two of us, but I cook surplus toms and freeze in bags for winter sauces and soups,and become the best buddy suddenly of people at work wanting freebies!

[hamstergbert]

I had some Roma plum tomatoes outside last year and they generally did OK, some locations around the garden better than others (but even the ones in the less favourable fill-in spots produced something worthwhile).  A lot later ripening, claro, but they are after all primarily a cooking tomato and helped boost the volume of Val's green tom chutney brewed up!

Those properly sheltered ripenend fine and were ace for passata etc and although supposedly primarily a cooker they were still better than supermarket ones when treated just as everyday salad toms.
 Growng them again this year as an extra.

[Ropster]

last year i did
sub arctic plenty. hardy plant but toms not the best
falcorossa, cherry plum . did fine outside nice taste
garden pearl. again did fine loads of cherry toms
shirley . great normal sized tom tasty and plenty on
moneymaker. horrible

[andtiggertoo]

On a previous thread shirley was recommended many times.

[gardgydja]

For cooking and freezing I will always grow "Black Plum", a russian variety that copes well with a shorter summer. I will have them for the third time this year. They crop very heavily and very long and are meaty and tasty and make lovely rich dark red sauces. You can also eat them in salads (at least we do!) This is not a great picture but you can see a few of them in the basket, they are a bit of an odd colour but you get used to it!

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3105491&l=c459208d11&id=671661438

[compostqueen]

I always do outdoor toms but they do get blight these days. Never used to 

I like Tigerella as they don't split and are good with a full English  A proper Gardeners Delight from Real Seeds is one I always grow, and a cooker such as Roma or Marmande. I did several from Real Seeds last year which are more suited to our tempertures, such as Aurora and Azoycha. I grew Santiam, Oregon Eleven, gosh loads of varieties - all outside. Some did get blighted foliage but as we'd moved house and I didn't have time to bother with them, they just got left alone to get on with it and they seem to recover and produce toms.  The GD from Real Seeds was the least affected 

[andtiggertoo]

gardgydya, do you keep your own seeds for the next year. the black plum look really nice I might have a go with them myself, but I already have a few different types on the go this year must remember them for next year.

[gardgydja]

Yes I do keep my own seeds if I have hand pollinated the plants inside the mini polytunnels. I could post you some seeds for next year if you remind me!

[andtiggertoo]

Thx very much, that's so kind

Do non F1 tomatoes have to be hand pollinated if they are going to come true, I was thinking of saving some from my fruits this year, as the ones i am trying tended to just have just a few per packet.

Also how do you store them over winter, just in paper packets or do they need to be airtight ?

[kermit]

Grew red alert outside (in Scotland!) last year with great success - heavy crop from our large tubs at south facing front of house.  All this, even in a cruddy summer.  Having said that, the taste didnt impress me much (maybe the weather?) so going back to tumbling toms, 100s&1000s and other cherry hanging basket varieties.

[JayG]

I'd like add a vote for Red Alert; very quick off the mark (helps beat the blight!) and lots of them.

Maybe not the very best flavour but better than Gartenperle which I thought were a bit woolly although it might have been a bad year for them (struggling to remember the last good year!!)