Best tomatoes for SF bay area

Let me know your recomendations for the best tasting varieties. Thanks Avigen

Hi!

I live on the other side of the Bay from you. I usually get seed from Seeds of Change and some varieties that I've had success with include, Oregon Spring Bush, Tigerella, Yellow Pear, and a new one this year I am particularly pleased with Silvery Fir Tree.

Both Oregon Spring and Silvery Fir Tree are smaller bush tomatoes which probably could almost go without staking. Silvery Fir Tree has particularly attractive fine foliage and already well on its way to producing fruit for me this year.

As far as I know, the general rule of thumb for us is cherry, pear or smaller fruited early varieties will do well. I always pick the ones labelled around "60 days". We just don't get enough heat for beefsteak or other larger, longer season varieties. I've never tried Roma or other paste tomatoes.

Erik

PS. Sorry I didn't notice this thread until now!

This message was edited Jun 15, 2005 10:54 AM

Sun Gold cherry tomatoes, hands down the best tasting, and the dead easiest to grow. Renee's Seeds packages them with a couple of other varieties in a nice little packet for a few bucks.

Thanks for the recomendations. The first year here in Alameda I tried a set of Heirlooms which looked great but generally didn't taste that way. I'm thinking that the problem was the lack of heat that you mention. The first year crop included: Brandywine (tasted good but mealy), green zebra (very good but rapidly killed dead by v-wilt in the area, now grow it in pots), Cherokee Purple (OK not amazing but disease got it too), Tigrella (OK, not great re: taste, but very hearty and prolific), Paul Robson (Good taste and hearty, medium prolific, very late), Matts wild cherry (very hearty but microscopic tomatoes, taste is so-so), Aunt Rubies german green (so-so flavor but prolific and hearty), Black Krim (good taste, VERY prolific and hearty), Black Brandywine (OK, not great, not prolific), Zapotec pleated (pretty good taste but pretty late and somewhat v-wilt sensitive), Black prince (v-wilt killed it), green grape (v-wilt killed it) and black plum (nothing to write home about and late).

The following year I did mainly early hybrids and a few heirlooms: Early girl (taste is good if you ripen on the vine completely otherwise so-so, prolific v-wilt resistant and early), Dona (very similar to early girl re: taste but more v-wilt sensitive), sungold (taste is great, somewhat v-wilt sensitive and not that prolific in my yard), Early cascade (mid season, not early, defines the words prolific and hearty, NO taste what so ever), Stupice (disease resistant, not as early as early girl, taste so-so), Thessaloniki (mid to late, very good flavor, OK resistance to v-wilt). Of all of the heirlooms I've tried here in Alameda, Thessaloniki is the one that I would recomend most highly for a pink followed by Black Krim for a black. Paul Robson is OK too. For an early pink I would go with early girl.

This year I'm doing a hybrid vs heirloom face: in one corner I have early girl, celebrity, and big beef and in the other I have carbon, Black Krim again (this time up against a hot fence, hoping for still better taste), caspian pink, cosoluto genovese, green zebra (in a pot), and Greek Asemina (from Annie's annuals). We'll see how it goes. Avigen

I am not a tomato lover, but grow them for my wife & her quilting buddies. Hands down, the favorite has been Juliet http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/40127/index.html
Sunset does reviews This year it is just cherry tomatoes http://www.sunset.com/sunset/garden/article/0,20633,733736,00.html
They have more info on tomatoes at http://www.sunset.com/sunset/categorysearch?searchOrigin=homepage&query=tomato&Submit.x=0&Submit.y=0
My is on a South facing wall and the plant is virtually a perennial

My Mom swears by her 'Ace'. Get's one every year. She has tomatoes well into December! She lives in Campbell.

K