For many years, 'Sweet 100' has been the standard by which all other cherry tomatoes are measured. But that hasn't stopped breeders from trying to develop new and better varieties.
We grew a number of other cherry tomatoes in our test garden. Then we rated these tomatoes against 'Sweet 100', judging them on sweetness, rich tomato flavor, and good sweet-tart (sugar-acid) balance.
The results? In a tasting conducted by our Garden and Food staff, two orange-skinned varieties ran neck and neck, with 'SunSugar' edging out 'Sun Gold' for first place.
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| Thomas J. Story |
| 'SunSugar' |
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Red-skinned 'Sugar Snack' received high praise as the third-place finisher. Cherry tomatoes are notorious for splitting before or right after they've been picked.
Some varieties, like 'Sweet 100', are more apt to split than others, like 'SunSugar', which was bred to be crack-resistant.
If you grow a variety that doesn't resist splitting, you can minimize the problem by watering evenly and sparingly and by mulching the soil to avoid wet-dry cycles.
TOP FIVE VARIETIES
The tomatoes below are listed in order of preference by Sunset's tasters. At the end of each description, the boldface letters indicate whether that variety resists or tolerates one or more of these common tomato diseases and pests: F (fusarium wilt), N (nematodes), T (tobacco mosaic virus), V (verticillium wilt).
All of these varieties need staking.
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| Thomas J. Story |
| 'Sun Gold'
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'SunSugar'. Vigorous, indeterminate plant bears long clusters of crack-resistant orange fruit with "rich, full-bodied flavor," as one panelist noted. 62 days from transplanting seedling to reaching maturity. F, T.'Sun Gold'. Vigorous, indeterminate plant produces long clusters of orange tomatoes with "fruity and sweet" flavor. 57 days.
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| Thomas J. Story |
| 'Sugar Snack'
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'Sugar Snack'. Vigorous, indeterminate plant yields lots of fruit with great tomato flavor. 65 days. N, T.
'Supersweet 100'. Prolific, indeterminate plant bearing "juicy, sweet" fruit is similar to 'Sweet 100' but resists diseases. 65 days. F, V.
'Sweet 100'. Very vigorous, indeterminate plant is a prolific producer of crack-prone fruit with good tomato flavor. 65 to 70 days.
SOURCES: The Natural Gardening Company (707/766-9303) sells 'Sun Gold' and 'Sweet 100' seeds and seedlings. Park Seed Co. (800/845-3369) sells 'Supersweet 100' seeds. Tomato Growers Supply Company (888/478-7333) sells 'SunSugar', 'Sun Gold', 'Sugar Snack', and 'Sweet 100' seeds.
