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Old April 10, 2019   #1
Scooty
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Default Esmeralda Golosina - thoughts?

Seeing as we have another late frost here il Zone5b (snow today) , been pondering starting some more seed and I remembered that I grew out EG in 2016 after getting it from a TMV SASE offer.

I know that quite a few people have grown out Esmeralda Golosina. I'm wondering what everyone thinks? My own experience --- rather mild sweet. I thought maybe it was an off year and tried it again in a greenhouse, same results. I liked it much better than Gail x Everett's Rusty F5, but I didn't think EG was a world apart.

I'm wondering if maybe this is just one of those things where there's another strain circulating or it just favors a really hot climate (noticing a lot of people complimenting it from Florida, though NarnianGarden claims its good in Finland)

I had an email exchange a few years back with Lee @ J&L who bred EG, and we were trying to come up with an explanation. He grows sungold every year as a reference, and so do I. However, he also practices water restriction, which I don't necessarily.


(brix readings in 2016)
some of Lee's results
sungold - 8
esmeralda -9
sugerdrop -10.5
danube - 10

my results
sungold - 10
esmeralda - 5-6

Last edited by Scooty; April 12, 2019 at 02:18 AM. Reason: clarifying numbers are brix readings, spelling
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Old April 10, 2019   #2
ginger2778
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Scooty View Post
Seeing as we have another late frost here il Zone5b (snow today) , been pondering starting some more seed and I remembered that I grew out EG in 2016 after getting it from a TMV SASE offer.

I know that quite a few people have grown out Esmeralda Golosina. I'm wondering what everyone thinks? My own experience --- rather mild sweet. I thought maybe it was an off year and tried it again in a greenhouse, same results. I liked it much better than Gail x Everett's Rusty F5, but I didn't think EG was a world apart.

I'm wondering if maybe this is just one of those things where there's another strain circulating or it just favors a really hot climate (noticing a lot of people complimenting it from Florida, though NarnianGarden claims its good in Finland)

I had an email exchange a few years back with Lee @ J&L who bred EG, and we were trying to come up with an explanation. He grows sungold ever year as a reference, and so do I. However, he also practices water restriction, which I don't necessarily.

His results
sungold - 8
esmeralda -9
sugerdrop -10.5
danube - 10

my results
sungold - 10
esmeralda - 5-6
Are your numbers flavor on a scale of 1 - 10?
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Old April 10, 2019   #3
Scooty
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Ooops .... they are brix readings. Editing first post to clarify.
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Old April 12, 2019   #4
peebee
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I grew EG last year and also gave several to friends to grow. No one wants to grow it again. Sure, it was sweet--no doubt about it. But very prone to moldy mildewy leaves, and most importantly, to me the sweetness was very one-dimensional. No real flavor. Bland but sweet.
We all grew it in both southern and northern CA. I grew in 2 different locations, at home and in the office garden. Coworkers complained about the taste, thinking they were Sungolds as usual. I thought I could fool them .
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Old April 12, 2019   #5
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I bagged my blossoms for EG, and I'm pretty sure if there was some cross I'd see it in the second year. Maybe it's just one of those things where zone 5b doesn't quite match with whatever EG needs. I probably could give it another go in socal, but your comments suggest I should just stick to my new favorite - brad's atomic grape.
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Old April 12, 2019   #6
NarnianGarden
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Thanks for quoting me, Scooty.. I must admit I had all forgotten about EG's flavor! There has been many varieties after that and it just had not stuck with me.
Cannot remember much if it had mildew problems, possibly. But it did grow vigorously and was productive.
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Old April 12, 2019   #7
Scooty
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NarnianGarden View Post
Thanks for quoting me, Scooty.. I must admit I had all forgotten about EG's flavor! There has been many varieties after that and it just had not stuck with me.
Cannot remember much if it had mildew problems, possibly. But it did grow vigorously and was productive.
Oh, it was very vigorous and productive here as well. Just didn't get the expected sweetness.
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Old April 12, 2019   #8
ginger2778
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Mine were quite sweet. Green Zebra is also sweet here and most say it's tart.
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Old April 12, 2019   #9
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How big is EG fruit supposed to get? Is it prone to splitting at all?

Mine were about ping pong sized and some split, but we had a lot of rain both years.
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Old April 12, 2019   #10
KarenO
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I think Bosque green cherry is quite a bit better. Really great flavour if you wait until an amber blush appears. Both quite late for cherries imo though. I have patience for big tomatoes but not
as much for cherries
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Last edited by KarenO; April 12, 2019 at 03:34 PM.
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Old April 12, 2019   #11
Scooty
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How's it compare to atomic grape?
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Old April 13, 2019   #12
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I'm growing Brad's Atomic Grape for the first time this year since I've read so many glowing reviews about it. So I for one can't make a comparison.
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Old March 7, 2020   #13
gratefulseeder
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Default Esmeralda Golosina - thoughts?

I would have to say the reason Lee’s brix counts were higher than yours is due to water restrictions on his tomato crop. I practice the ‘dry-farming’ technique to conserve water and to increase the brix in my tomatoes and other crops. The plants and yields are really effected, though. But you won’t get a more intense or sweeter flavor from a tomato with any other growing technique. The carbohydrates (sugars) are diluted more when they’re irrigated and less when they’re not. This will greatly effect the brix count readings.
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Old March 19, 2020   #14
nyrfan
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I grew Esmeralda Golosina for the 1st time last year, from Scooty's 2017 crop.


The flavor was great: sweet & balanced, IMO. I will be planting seeds from that batch again this year along with some from the 2018 seed crop.
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