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Post by daylilydude on Feb 2, 2017 4:51:24 GMT -5
We all talk about how much we luv luv luv tomatoes, but I was wondering if there was anything you could change beit seeds, gel, things like that... what would it be?
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Post by paulf on Feb 2, 2017 10:00:24 GMT -5
Some folks lump tomatoes into one big category making it sound like a tomato is a tomato is a tomato. Most years I give presentations or lead discussions on gardening in general and it seems to gravitate to tomatoes specifically. The differences between varieties, types, colors textures, etc. opens peoples eyes that previously thought a tomato is a....
The reason I have become a tomato grower is because of the variation. I continue to strive to find the perfect line-up so that every tomato no matter the size, shape, color, texture, race or religion...oops that's from another story...are all pleasing to the palate, nice to look at, grows perfectly without disease and all that other stuff.
So, nope there is not much I would change. I have grown maybe 500 different varieties in the search for the perfect year and the perfect tomato garden. There are still maybe 5 or 6 thousand varieties to try, so don't change anything until I get my list perfected. Ask a crazy person a question and get a crazy answer...every time.
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Post by spacecase0 on Feb 2, 2017 12:12:51 GMT -5
if I were breeding tomatoes, I would try to limit the amount of jell in them so I can make sauce with them easier but I suspect that there are already types like that out there.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Feb 2, 2017 22:09:08 GMT -5
There's something about that gel in them that makes them not only taste good, but add flavor to other foods. Cooks Illustrated did an article on this years ago, and I said "that's why I always like those juicy tomatoes so much!" Of course, there are many other flavor components, many of which taste bad, but this explained to me why those paste tomatoes, and those dry ones, bred for shipping, just don't seem to have as much flavor.
I grow a lot of cherry tomatoes, mainly because the large tomatoes, after the heat stops them from producing, take a long time to come back, as they have to grow for a long time, then ripen, while the cherries are much quicker.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Feb 3, 2017 9:31:06 GMT -5
I have to agree with both spacecase0 and pepperhead212 : For sauce making, I want as much meat and as little gel as possible. But for fresh eating, the gel provides a lot of flavor, and often a flavor counterpoint. Some of my favorite fresh eating tomatoes have a sweet meat and a slightly tangy gel, so you get a more complex flavor experience. That's one of many why I (like paulf ) can't pick just one favorite tomato! However, there is one thing I would change about all tomatoes if possible: more resistance to leaf and fruit diseases! The problem is that in the real world, getting the genes for resistance to all of those diseases involves tradeoffs, usually in flavor, and sometimes in size, yield, or earliness as well.
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