[garddwr]

Mine are really tasty this year after being over watered whilst I was away The plants don't look to healthy but an abundance of toms !

My theory is that it is down to the watering.  The year before last I grew Black Cherry and they were amazing.  Last year I grew them and I had to ask my neighbour to water them for a long period and he flooded them.  They were tasteless.  This year, with correct watering, they are fantastic.

So for me, good compost, proper feeding and watering according to need are key. 

What compost and feed do you use Ice ?

[DD.]

I used compost from the cheapest growbag available, emptied into pots, and Doff feed as that was also the cheapest available! Best crop from the greenhouse in years, albeit a bit late in ripening this year.

[Ice]

Same as Dave but I use a half decent compost and Tomorite, 'cos I is posh.

I've never used poop, but am going to add some next year so I can keep improving.  Thanks Trillium.

[ruralbob]

Same as Dave but I use a half decent compost and Tomorite, 'cos I is posh.

I've never used poop, but am going to add some next year so I can keep improving.  Thanks Trillium.

Thats what I used.

Would the fact they were green for so long (between the sunny spells) have something to do with it?

Also do cherry tomatoes ripen and yield quicker because of them being smaller.

I am new to this hence the questions

cheers

Jim x

[Brambles]

No matter what variety of  tomatoes I try, I ALWAYS plant some boring Moneymaker... they never let me down!   This year as well as Moneymaker, I planted Costoluto Fiorentino and Roma VF as they were free with a magazine I bought...  The Costoluto Fiorentino were AMAZING flavour, huge fruits, though weird shapes... the Roma VF were plum toms, completely tasteless...  I planted in ordinary soil... outside...  As I had a really mad, busy summer they were all sadly neglected and got very little water from me, hardly any nipping out and I had the biggest and best crop for years!!!!   (I do live in the South of England though)... but JUST LUCKY this year!!!!

[shokkyy]

Also do cherry tomatoes ripen and yield quicker because of them being smaller.

Yes, much quicker. I've been picking red Gartenperle cherries and SunGold for several weeks, Red Alert (bit bigger) for a few weeks, but the bigger varieties (Roma cookers, Legend, Alicante) are only just turning red. I think it's nice to do an assortment, cos you can pick the little cherries early and often for eating in summer salads, with the bigger stuff coming in at the end of summer. But if I only grew one variety, it would have to be Gartenperle. Lovely taste and an early and massive crop. I've made sauteed toms, baked toms, sundried toms, tom soup, as well as a lot of salads, and I've still got a couple of kilos in the freezer.

[Trillium]

Roma toms might not have much flavour because they're mostly a saucing tom. Their drier texture makes sauce faster since you're not boiling off excess water as with other toms, and you'll be adding seasonings anyway.
I grow Romas every year for sauces, as well as juicy heritage toms for fresh eating. Anything left at season end gets sauced down, even if it has to boil for hours and spin my electricity meter out of control. 

[garddwr]

Same as Dave but I use a half decent compost and Tomorite, 'cos I is posh.

I've never used poop, but am going to add some next year so I can keep improving.  Thanks Trillium.

I use tomorite too ! I emptied normal multi purpose Westland compost this year and there was an improvement compared to last year's cheap J arthur bowers grow bag emptied shallow pots and wilko feed .... until my neighbour over watered    Seems familiar with all of us I think ! 

I'll pay the extra few pounds next year too I think and maybe try some doff.

Do you remember which brand your compost was ?

[DD.]

Mine were actually Westland grow bags which were on an offer.

[Totty]

Its been my first year growing toms, three varieties in my greenhouse (Shirley, Roma, Golden Sunrise) To be totally honest i was very dissapointed witht them all. I did get some mildew which made me knock them back a bit, but over watering may have led to the weak flavour in them all.
 The Gardeners Delight planted outside at the allotment on the other hand are amazing, sweet and a little bit sharp. They were all planted in deep holes with some grass clippings added then something called 6x. More or less neglected them then. I think maybe the grass clippings hold some moisture meaning less need to water and the 6x is a concentrated manure. Recommended.

Totty

[shokkyy]

Its been my first year growing toms, three varieties in my greenhouse (Shirley, Roma, Golden Sunrise) To be totally honest i was very dissapointed witht them all. I did get some mildew which made me knock them back a bit, but over watering may have led to the weak flavour in them all.
 The Gardeners Delight planted outside at the allotment on the other hand are amazing, sweet and a little bit sharp. They were all planted in deep holes with some grass clippings added then something called 6x. More or less neglected them then. I think maybe the grass clippings hold some moisture meaning less need to water and the 6x is a concentrated manure. Recommended.

Totty

I've never got on well with greenhouse toms. Mine all get chucked outside and they thrive there. If they're in containers you obviously need to keep watering regularly, but the ones in the beds only get occasional watering and they all do really well. They get a tomato feed when I remember, which isn't all that regularly, and they didn't get anything but a bit of BFB when they were planted. My Romas, Legends and Red Alert in the beds outside are like triffids.

[1st time veg grower]

This is my third year growing Tomatoes and despite some setbacks (all the rain up here and a distinct absence of sun, boytris in the plastic greenhouse resulting in me chopping lots of infected bits off, blight hitting some of my outdoor ones in the last couple of weeks, this week some of the fruit on some of the remaining plants outdoors suddenly splitting when I can't see a reason for it...) this has been my best year - have actually got some red (and yellow) ones!! If this happens again then I might start worrying about taste etc (and after this year I do plan to grow some other varieties) but this year I'm just so pleased to have some that are ripe to eat and cook with and not just going to end up in chutney!

[CZ Silhouette]

The last couple of years I've added a handful of chicken pellets in the compost & have found the tomatoes to be a lot tastier. Even the Roma have been full of flavour & have been used in salads. I'm still feeding once a week with liquid tom food as well.
Had a very good crop this year to the point where I'm making chutney with ripe toms as I've got a glut.
The only downside this year is the skins are very tough to the point where I can peel them without putting in boiling water. My cucumbers have had the same thing, so I'm putting it down to the weather this year.