The Versus Thread

[HudsonValley]

I'm doing a couple of these -- Black Krim vs. Daniel Burson, Gold Medal vs. German Striped, Brandy Boy vs. Brandywine Sudduth's, Marglobe vs. Glovel (same parentage), and Black Pear vs. Japanese Black Trifele. With ripening several weeks away, I'd say that Brandy Boy will significantly outproduce Brandywine, but the other pairs are in dead heats. I look forward to the taste-tests!

I had wanted to try Prue vs. Amish Paste, but couldn't find my "dual-purpose" (paste/slicer) seeds back in April. Amish Paste was amazing last year. Finally located the seeds a few days ago, so they'll go on the list for 2018.

[jtjmartin]

Originally Posted by gorbelly

I have a current versus this year: large yellow cherries that are praised for great flavor.

Esterina F1 vs. Galina's

They're unfortunately in a bed that gets much less sun this year than in past years, as my neighbor's white cypress trees put on a lot of growth this past year for some reason. So their progress is slower than expected.

So far, Galina's is a larger, healthier looking plant and has more fruit on it. Esterina looked vaguely sickly for a while and shows signs of nutrient deficiency that none of my other tomatoes are showing. However, after I decided to fertilize both plants a little more frequently, Esterina seems to be ramping up production--each truss of blooms is larger than the last. First fruit on both look like they'll be blushing any day now. Can't wait to taste both.

I have Sungold growing right next to Esterina with Galina's in the next row - all similar conditions.

Taste: Sungold is the clear winner. Period. I'm not sure my teen daughter even knows that I grow the bowl of mixed cherries that magically appear. But, she picks that darker, orange Sungold out first.

I think that Galina's has more taste than Esterina. I expected a lot more out of Esterina. Next year could be different.

Production: Sungold and Esterina put out a ton of fruit for me - I get tired of picking them. Galina's has good production - but not close to the hybrids.

Result: Sungold is on my permanent grow list.

[Ricky Shaw]

Olive Hill vs Rebel Yell

Fruit is unripe at this point, but I will be matching the pink beefsteak potato leaf's, Olive Hill and Rebel Yell. I'm getting excellent sets on both, huge clusters of 10-12 blossoms on OH and trimming both back to 4-5 toms per cluster. The OH is a huge plant, grown two stem in a 10gal pot it fills a 24" Texas Tomato cage, the RY in a smaller 20" cage at two stem is smaller and rangier.

I'll post in the weeks ahead and hope for input from those also growing these varieties.

[Gardeneer]

Originally Posted by jtjmartin

I have Sungold growing right next to Esterina with Galina's in the next row - all similar conditions.

Taste: Sungold is the clear winner. Period. I'm not sure my teen daughter even knows that I grow the bowl of mixed cherries that magically appear. But, she picks that darker, orange Sungold out first.

I think that Galina's has more taste than Esterina. I expected a lot more out of Esterina. Next year could be different.

Production: Sungold and Esterina put out a ton of fruit for me - I get tired of picking them. Galina's has good production - but not close to the hybrids.

Result: Sungold is on my permanent grow list.

Production: Sungold and Esterina put out a ton of fruit for me - I get tired of picking them

Same situation here.

SG vs Esterina:

SG is sweeter and has more juice and with that lots of seeds. It also splits and. It is also smaller.

Esterina is bigger, meatier, WON"T split or crack no matter how long you delay picking. Next year I will plant just Esterina. Too lazy to pick tiny SG early.

[Cole_Robbie]

I don't like Sungold that much, either. I tried Ambrosia Orange this year, and I think it tastes better, no thick skin like SG.

This was my first year with Esterina. I think it's a great variety to sell. And it's not bad at all to eat, just not quite the blow-you-away flavor I'm looking for. I still have a few Ambrosia Gold to sample, haven't tasted them yet. I haven't finished searching for a yellow cherry I like the best. Chang Li is very good, but like all of the rest of the yellow cherries seem to be very dependent upon weather. Too much rain and they are mush. The other problem I have with yellow cherries is whitefly damage. It is so subtle that they still sell. But the fruit will never ripen correctly. Most people eat it before then and don't notice.

Leaving open the spot of plain yellow, my other similar colors in my cherry mix are White Cherry, Bosque Blue Bumble Bee, De Barao Orange and Juane Flamme.

[Tormato]

All my plants are looking good so far, so it's...

1884 Strawberry Wedge
vs
Anna Maria's Heart
vs
Anna Russian
vs
Aunt Sophie
vs
Bangladesh Heart
vs
Belize Pink Heart
vs
Berkeley Tie Dye Heart
vs
Bill Jenkins Oxheart
vs
"Bleeding Heart"
vs
Bobbie
vs
"Brad's Black Heart PL"
vs
Bychie Myod
vs
Dad's Mug
vs
Donskoi
vs
Dwarf Golden Heart
vs
Eagle's Beak
vs
Everett's Rusty Heart
vs
Fish Lake Oxheart
vs
Giant Lemon Oxheart
vs
Granny's Heart
vs
Greenbush Italian
vs
Hartford
vs
Heart of Compassion
vs
Herodes
vs
Iraqi Heart
vs
Joe's Pink Oxheart
vs
"Kellogg's Breakfast Heart"
vs
Kukla's Portuguese Heart
vs
Lescana Heart
vs
Linnie's Oxheart
vs
Marek's Pointy Heart
vs
"Medusa"
vs
"Miss Scarlet In The Kitchen With The Knife"
vs
Mom's Heart
vs
Nima Dorinei
vs
Orange Minsk Heart
vs
Orange Strawberry
vs
Rebecca Sebastian's Bull Bag
vs
Reif Red Heart
vs
Sen Say
vs
Spudleaf 117
vs
Sylvan Gaume
vs
Tsesarevich
vs
Ukrainian Heart
vs
Ukrainka
vs
Wes
vs
White Oxheart
vs
Wolford's Wonder
vs
Work Release Paste
vs
Zore's Big Red

All may not be hearts, they may not be spelled correctly, names in " " are not considered stable (neither am I), and there are several other varieties not listed that may produce hearts.

[Nan_PA_6b]

Like hearts much, Tormato?

Nan

[MissS]

Originally Posted by Nan_PA_6b

Like hearts much, Tormato?

Nan

He has been known to call himself "Dr. Love Apple".

[PureHarvest]

2017:

KBX vs Brandywine Platfoot vs. Orange Jazz:
Flavor winner: BW Platfoot by a full length. KBX and OJ tied for second. Production: OJ by a mile. Summary for me: Grow BW Platfoot for personal enjoyment, OJ for production to sell.

Brandy Boy vs. BW Sudduth's: BW by a full length.
BB was disappointing in flavor and production so far.

Cherokee Green vs Chef's Choice Green:
Found both of these are not for my taste. Tastes like eating fresh grass clippings with a tomato slice (flavor-wise, not texture wise). Yes they were fully ripe. Took forever to ripen too. Most crack prone types I am growing too.

Mrs. Maxwell's Big Italian vs. Crnkovic Yugoslavian:
Mrs. Maxwell by 3 lengths. My top flavor winner of the season by far. Large fruit, no cracks. Excellent texture/juice. Yugo are not producing that much and are all baseball size. Flavor was darn good though.

Cosmo Volkov vs. Chapman:
It's official, I just don't like red tomatoes.

[MissS]

Thank you Pure Harvest for your reviews. I am a BW lover so this makes me happy. I have never tried a Brandy Boy, but I want to.

[Tormato]

[QUOTE=Nan_PA_6b;654115]Like hearts much, Tormato?

Nan[/QU

[Cole_Robbie]

This year, having a lot of sick plants that have only made a few tomatoes per plant, I have noticed low yield to be a very beneficial factor in flavor.

[Ricky Shaw]

I will be planting Mrs. Maxwell's Big Italian next season. Thank you for the reviews PH.

[Nan_PA_6b]

Tormato,
Nan

[gorbelly]

Originally Posted by jtjmartin

I have Sungold growing right next to Esterina with Galina's in the next row - all similar conditions.

Taste: Sungold is the clear winner. Period. I'm not sure my teen daughter even knows that I grow the bowl of mixed cherries that magically appear. But, she picks that darker, orange Sungold out first.

I think that Galina's has more taste than Esterina. I expected a lot more out of Esterina. Next year could be different.

Production: Sungold and Esterina put out a ton of fruit for me - I get tired of picking them. Galina's has good production - but not close to the hybrids.

Result: Sungold is on my permanent grow list.

I like Sungold, but it's not my favorite. I may put it back in the rotation in the near future, as it's popular with the neighbors.

The first 2 Esterinas came ripe this week. They had a great texture, meaty but nice and juicy. Skins weren't tough. They were definitely on the sweet side and a bit mild, which is not my favorite, though I certainly have family members who like that. They may improve with later fruits, though.

Galina's is still green. But it's really loading up with fruit. So far, it has more fruit than Esterina and is growing more vigorously.