Do Home Grown Tomatoes Taste Better?

on October 12, 2022

There has been a common complaint for many years that store-bought tomatoes that are produced on a mass basis have very little flavor. So do homegrown tomatoes really taste better? And what is the reason why?

Homegrown tomatoes definitely taste much better than store-bought tomatoes and there are several reasons for this. The first is that most commercially produced tomatoes are picked green and then ripened artificially using ethylene which means sugars don’t develop properly. The reason this is done is because of several economic factors which are reduced growing times and the unripened fruit is better suited for transportation which means less spoilage.

The second reason why tomatoes do not taste as good is that they are produced using hybrid seeds which have been modified to optimize for physical appearance, not flavor. A relatively recent study by the University of California has identified the specific gene called GLK2 that turns off the photosynthesis machinery in the chloroplasts of commercially produced fruit.

This same gene has been cultivated for up to 70 years because it coincidentally also improves the consistency and appearance of the tomatoes producing a blemish-free product which is what major supermarkets want.

Why Do Cherry Tomatoes From The Supermarket Taste Sweeter?

The complaints about the quality of supermarket tomatoes generally extend to the ones that are referred to as slicing tomatoes, however, if you purchase cherry tomatoes from the supermarket you will find that they are significantly sweeter than the slicing tomatoes and you may be wondering why.

The main reason for this is that cherry tomatoes in general produce sweeter fruit irrespective of the variety. Additionally, these smaller tomatoes are usually individually packaged in protective plastic containers which means that they transport more readily than the larger tomatoes.

As a result of this cherry tomatoes are generally picked later in the season than slicing tomatoes which means that the sugars in the tomato will develop to a much greater degree improving the flavor.

Can You Use Tomato Seeds From Store-Bought Fruit To Grow Tomatoes?

It is definitely possible to use tomato seeds from store-bought fruit to grow your own tomatoes at home and most people will be able to attest to this if they have a compost heap because it is very common for tomato plants to appear from homemade compost.

However, there are a couple of significant downsides associated with producing tomato plants from store-bought tomatoes. As mentioned above the slicing tomatoes that are sold in grocery stores generally have very poor flavor so if you grow them at home you will get lovely-looking tomatoes that are almost flawless in appearance but have very little flavor. I know this from first-hand experience because I let tomato seeds from my compost grow for one year and that was what was produced.

However, if you are going to save tomato seeds it is best to save them from the cherry tomato varieties that are offered in the supermarket as they will produce a much better result for you. However, I would generally recommend that you try visiting seeds now because they have a really wide range of heirloom tomatoes seeds that can be collected every year without a problem. To check out the range click on the link below.

What Is The Best Tasting Tomatoes To Grow?

You will find that there are literally thousands of tomato varieties available all over the world so you may be wondering which is the best variety to grow at home and which has the best flavor. As a general rule, I would recommend that you select tomatoes that are relatively small as I tend to be much sweeter.

In terms of the particular varieties that I would recommend that are relatively common and proven to be highly rated in independent flavor tests, I would suggest that you try Tommy Toe which was the winner of a taste test conducted in Australia by the biggest seed company approximately a decade ago. This particular variety is a red cherry tomato variety that is relatively prolific

The other one that I also highly recommend that you try is black cherry, which is a dark-colored circular cherry variety, and also tigerella which produces fruit that is somewhere between a cherry tomato and a slicing tomato in size and is relatively sweet.

Additionally, tigerella also has the advantage that it is one of the highest-yielding tomatoes producing up to 40lbs of tomatoes on a single plant and it is also one of the earliest fruiting varieties as well producing fruit in approximately 80 to 90 days.

How To Grow Tomatoes At Home

If you do want to enjoy the very best of produce obviously you need to grow your own tomatoes at home which can be extremely rewarding. Tomatoes themselves are frost-sensitive plants which means that you can only plant them outside once any risk of frost has passed.

To ensure that you get the tomatoes as early as possible in the season most gardeners tend to plant seeds around 6 weeks prior to the last frost because this will ensure that the seedlings are ready to go out into the garden at the earliest possible moment.

If you are growing tomatoes at this time of year you will need to start by filling a seed tray with a good quality seed-raising mix. When filling the tray it is important to firm the soil into the individual cells within the seed tray to form solid plugs. This is beneficial because it will make it easier to transplant seedlings later on and reduce root disturbance.

Once the soil is in position then place 2 seeds per cell into the soil at a depth of approximately half an inch and water the seed tray. This will typically take around 7 to 14 days to come up and will need to spend at least 5 to 6 weeks in the seed tray before they can be planted out into the garden. If both seedlings come up can we recommend removing the weaker of the two seedlings to ensure that you have one plant per cell.

To maximize the rate of growth it is a good idea to place the seed tray in a relatively warm location that gets plenty of sun.

Transplanting Seedlings Into The Garden

Once the plants have reached a sufficiently large size and any risk of frost has passed the plants should be put out into the garden in a location that gets at least 6 to 8 hours of sun per day. The seedlings should be spaced approximately 1 1/2 to 2 feet apart to ensure that the plant has plenty of room to develop.

In terms of soil conditions the plants generally prefer relatively nutrient-rich soils that have good drainage so it may be necessary to add an additional bag of compost before putting the seedlings into the garden bed.

The next important thing to do is to put a support structure in place. Many people use things like tomato stakes or a tomato cage, however, I generally find that they are not tall enough to maximize the growth of your tomato plants which can reach up to 8 to 10 ft tall if the support structures are sufficiently tall.

The ideal structure to use is temporary fence paneling because it is easy to erect, strong, durable, and will support several tomato plants simultaneously. However, irrespective of the support structure that is used you will need to tie the tomatoes to the structure to keep them upright.

Looking After Tomato Plants

Once the plant is in the ground the next important step is to ensure that you consistently pinch out any side shoots. These side shoots are the little shoots that grow at a 45-degree angle between the main stem and existing lateral branches. If they are not pinched out you will end up with a whole heap of foliage and not much fruit so it is important to keep on top of this when growing a plant.

Apart from pruning the main job is to ensure that the plant is watered regularly and as the plant gets taller it is tied to the support to ensure that the plant remains upright.

Typically, after a period of time, the tomatoes will produce small yellow flowers which will eventually set fruit, and typically you can expect to get fruit approximately 80 to 120 days after the seeds have been planted.

To ensure that you get as much fruit as possible it is important to pick the fruit as it appears. However, at the end of the growing season, it is important to remove the top of plants approximately 4 weeks before the first frost of the season. The reason for this is to ensure that the plant focuses on ripening the fruit that is already on the plant rather than producing new fruit which will not ripen.

Generally, even if you do top the plant, you will end up with a whole heap of green tomatoes that you will need to remove from the plants at the end of the season. These tomatoes can be ripened by placing them on a windowsill in a relatively warm location.