Taste difference

[jamserg]

I tasted the same variety of tomatoes grown in the earthtainer and in the ground and the ones from the ground had noticeably richer taste than the ones from the tainer. I tasted Stump of the world and Croatian brandywine. Not sure at this point if it's an exception or the rule. Thoughts?

[Cole_Robbie]

I had the same experience with my Early Girls in a 5-gallon bucket. The tomatoes were not bad at all, and ten times better than anything else available to me. But as soon as the tomatoes from the garden came in, I was always reaching for those instead. Tomatoes from soil simply taste better, at least where I live. I have had backyard garden, soil-grown tomatoes in central Florida that were the absolute worst home garden tomato I'd ever tasted, probably due to the poor soil.

Then, after it got really hot, the bucket tomatoes went substantially downhill, to the point that I just let them die. They turned into the "all tough skin and seeds and bitter taste" tomato that I had read about being the product of many people's attempt at container gardening.

[tam91]

Mine seemed to taste the same, from my containers and compared to my friend's in soil. But I use topsoil and compost and/or manure and peat in 18 gallon containers.

[kath]

Last year I grew a Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye and a JD's Special C-Tex both in open 5 gal. containers and in the ground and I noticed a difference in taste, size and health of the plants. I found that I much prefer growing in the ground and am happy I'm able to do so. That was only one year, two plants and no tweaking of mixture, fertilizer, etc., though so it doesn't really mean much- just my experience last year.

[TightenUp]

will be trying an SWC cher purple vs a regular container cher purple. had some in the dirt but they are dead

[Father'sDaughter]

I have a Kimberley in a five gallon grow bag and one in the ground, so I'll be able to do a comparison with this variety, at least. Also, the one in the ground is caged and unpruned, and the one in the grow bag is staked and pruned to a single stem.

They are setting an equal amount of fruit (about 18-20 per plant so far) and both have about the same number of blossoms. Two of the tomatoes on the grow bag plant were picked on Monday at the not-quite-ripe stage and are finishing up inside. The tomatoes on the in-ground plant are showing little to no color.

It'll be interesting to do a side-by-side taste test once I get ripe tomatoes from both plants at the same time.

[lakelady]

I haven't done any comparisons between container of tomato plant A and in ground tomato Plant A, but the few tomato plants I do have in containers taste really good to me. I use a lot of compost in my containers. Maybe next year I can do a side by side with the same variety in both planting situations for comparison.

[PA_Julia]

I have a couple in containers with one of those being a mystery plant.
We will have to see I guess.


Julia

[zipcode]

What I noticed is that the complexity of the taste seems less in containers, but mostly they are much much sweeter than the ones in ground (unfortunately). The taste may seem less due to that sweetness that covers everything.

[venturabananas]

I've had the opposite experience. The fruit from the Black Plum in the ground have not been as good as those from the plant in a 15 gallon pot -- the texture and taste were totally different. I thought it might have to do with water, at least in part. My container plants dry out much faster, which I thought might lead to a more concentrated flavor and less mealy flesh. That's my current guess. I have a couple other varieties that I'll be able to do the same comparison with soon, I hope!

[Tania]

I have had opposite experience - my container grown tomatoes always taste much better and have more intense taste. Especially hearts! I use lots of compost in containers and very little of soiless ingredients.

[kath]

Originally Posted by Tania

I have had opposite experience - my container grown tomatoes always taste much better and have more intense taste. Especially hearts! I use lots of compost in containers and very little of soiless ingredients.

That may have been one of my many mistakes in growing container tomatoes, Tania. The first time I tried to follow the recipe for the SWCs because I was afraid of the mix being too heavy but I used sifted "fines" from wood mulch instead of pine bark fines.Not recommended- definitely not the same thing or a good equivalent. This year I went with a soiless mix alone, figuring I'd just fertilize frequently instead of adding compost.

[Tania]

Kath, My container soil is definitely very heavy, and by all standards is not something anybody would recommend to use, but it does produce very tasty tomatoes consistently

Another factor could also be that they are on a balcony where temperatures are usually higher than in the main garden, so perhaps this makes a big difference also.

[kath]

Well, Tania, I'm going to start some tomatoes and peppers in Jan./Feb. and put them in the greenhouse when they outgrow the growlights so I'll give the "heavier mix" a try. The temps in there get pretty high and we have a warmer climate here than you do, so I can move them out when it's good and hot!

Roughly what are your proportions of compost/soiless mix? I used ProMix BX this year.

kath

[Tania]

Kath, for a wheelbarrow of compost I put 1 gallon of perlite and 1 gallon of vermiculite, generous amounts of coffee grounds, and about a gallon of saw dust (usually cherry, oak or pine) from our workshop. Sometimes I add 2 gallons of peat moss, but this year I did not do it. I also add a cup of my home-made fertilizer mix based on alfalfa meal and various limes.