2022 – Deciding which Tomatoes to Grow

At this time of year, I always have a problem deciding which tomato cultivars to grow. When I first started growing tomatoes and recording what I’d grown (a long time ago now it seems), I had plenty of space and an allotment so I grew lots of plants of lots of different cultivars (my record was 70 different cultivars). Now I’m down to a single 8ftx6ft greenhouse and some pots outside.

I’ve still got lots of seeds (I keep a few seeds from all the cultivars I grow) and my difficulty is therefore making the decision of which to grow. I can squeeze about 20 plants into the greenhouse (I know, that’s really too tight) and I’ve got space outside for more or less as many as I want but growing Indeterminate plants outside needs complex support which is easier in the greenhouse so I grow Determinate plants outside.

September 2021 – Greenhouse, still to come

I like to grow a mixture of Cherry, Standard & Beefsteak tomatoes and a mix of colours Red, Black/Brown, Yellow/Orange, (and sometimes Green). On top of that, I’ve got cultivars I like to grow each year (they’re my favourites) and I like to grow something new, preferably to compare with something else I’m growing so that there’s a direct comparison. So, here’s the start of the list for 2022:

Cherry

Oleron Yellow
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Brown Berry
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Red Berry,
Gardener’s Del.
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Orange Berry
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Green Grapes

Standard

Amber Coloured
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Black Plum
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Bloody Butcher,
Red Zebra
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Carotina
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None

Beefsteak

Marizol Gold
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Black Krim
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Pink Brandywine,
Mortgage Lifter
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Summer Cider
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Aunt Ruby’s German Green

Then the new ones:
Divinty (Red Standard); Indigo Cherry Drops
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Finally the Determinate ones:
ACE 55 (Red Beefsteak); Balconi Red; Kibits Ukranian; Koralik Red Cherry; Sandpoint
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Obviously the list is open to change, particularly in trying to work out which new ones to grow but its a start.