Tomato Cultivar Trial - Marion County

1998 Purdue Extension-Marion County Master Gardener Tomato Cultivar Trial

Twelve different tomato cultivars (varieties) were compared in 1998 in a trial conducted at St. Augustine Home for the Aged, 2345 W. 86th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46260. The project was planned by Steve Mayer, Extension Educator-Horticulture, Purdue Extension-Marion County, 6640 Intech Blvd., Suite 120, Indianapolis, IN 46278.

Although many Master Gardeners and others helped with the project, special thanks goes to Master Gardener Jim Weaver for the extra work harvesting tomatoes, recording the data and tabulating the results.

Ninety-six tomatoes were transplanted on May 30, 1998. Four plants were grown in each variety plot and each plot was replicated twice. All plants were fertilized at planting time with a complete, low nitrogen fertilizer (6-24-24) and sidedressed two additional times. No fungicides or insecticides were applied because of the garden location. Only one cultivar, Floramerica, exhibited severe disease infection, but overall production was not hindered (second highest producer).

Plants were not watered after mid-August. Harvest occurred from July 30 to September 26. All usable tomatoes were included in the data. A taste test was done at an Extension Master Gardener meeting on September 14, 1998. Thirty-six people participated in ranking the best three tasting tomatoes out of the dozen by tasting one sample of each. Table 1 ranks the tomatoes in order of most votes for best taste of the twelve cultivars.

One fourth of the participants felt that Ultra Sweet tomatoes tasted the best. Tomatoes which ranked well in total votes for the top three tomatoes for taste were: Ultra Sweet, Ultra Magnum, Big Beef, Floramerica, and Red Sun. Table 2 lists production information. Tomatoes are ranked according to most production by weight.

All tomatoes produced fairly well except for Carnival and Big Beef. The largest tomatoes were produced by Ultra Magnum and Red Sun. First Lady and Early Girl tended to produce the smallest tomatoes.

Table 1. Best Tasting Tomato.
Rank	Cultivar (Seed Source)	#1 Best Tasting Tomato Total No. of 1st Place Votes	Best Tasting Tomato Total No. of Top 3 Votes
1	Ultra Sweet (Stokes)	9	15 (tied 1st)
2	Ultra Magnum (Stokes)	7	15 (tied 1st)
3	Floramerica (Tomato Growers Supply Co.)	5	10 (tied 3rd)
4	Improved Early Girl (Tomato Growers Supply Co.)	4	09 (4th)
5	Big Beef (Johnny's)	3	14 (2nd)
6	Jet Star (Tomato Growers Supply Co.)	3	07 (5th)
7	Better Boy (Tomato Growers Supply Co.)	2	06 (tied 6th)
8	Red Sun (Johnny's)	1	10 (tied 3th)
9	First Lady (Johnny's)	1	06 (tied 6th)
10	Carnival (Tomato Growers Supply Co.)	1	01 (8th)
11	Celebrity (Tomato Growers Supply Co.)	0	06 (tied 6th)
12	Daybreak (Johnny's)	0	04 (7th)

Table 2. Most Productive Tomato (Lbs. Per Plant).
Rank	Cultivar (plant habit, days to harvest & disease tolerance)	Average Total Production		Average Tomato Weight (pounds)
Rank	Cultivar (plant habit, days to harvest & disease tolerance)	(pounds per plant)	(tomatoes per plant)	Average Tomato Weight (pounds)
1	First Lady ( I, 65, VFFNTA)	19.7	70	0.28
2	Floramerica (D, 70, VFFA)	19.1	51	0.38
3	Ultra Magnum (I, 68, VFT)	18.0	39	0.46
4	Better Boy (I, 75, VFN)	17.9	42	0.43
5	Jet Star (I, 72, VF)	17.8	52	0.34
6	Ultra Sweet (I, 62, VFT)	17.8	55	0.32
7	Red Sun (D, 72, VFFNT)	17.6	38	0.46
8	Improved Early Girl (I, 52, VFF)	17.3	79	0.22
9	Daybreak (D, 65, VFFAL)	16.9	46	0.37
10	Celebrity (D, 70, VFFNTA)	16.7	42	0.40
11	Carnival (D, 72, VFFNTA)	14.6	36	0.40
12	Big Beef (I, 70, VFFNTAL)	12.5	33	0.38

PLANT HABIT: I=Indeterminate ("vining" or "climbing"), D=Determinate ("bush-like").

DISEASE RESISTANCE OR TOLERANCE: V=Verticillium Wilt, F=Fusarium Wilt (race 1), FF=Fusarium Wilt (races 1&2), N=Nematodes; T=Tobacco Mosaic Virus, A=Alternaria Stem Canker, L=Grey Leaf Spot.

NUMBERS IN COLUMN TWO: Refer to days from transplanting to harvest as reported in the seed catalogs.