Mortgage Lifter is a typical large somewhat mushy pink tomato. It is not too bad, but if you want a lot of flavor, you can do much better. Box Car Willie, Cuostralee, or Neves Azorean Red would be good red slicing tomatoes. Daniels, Taps, or Brandywine are good large pink slicers.

Blush, Wow, Dr. Carolyn Pink, Black Cherry, and Camp Joy are cherry varieties any one which would be better tasting than ss100.

Big Mama is marginal in my climate. It might work for you in NY. I've grown it and liked it, but it wouldn't be a first choice. San Marzano, Rio Grande, Heidi, and Picardy are other good possibilities for sauce/juice.

DarJones

TY fusion power.

There are just so many tomato varieties out there its crazy! Ive been studying pepper varieties for the last year when i get time to do so and i havent put much time in researching maters.

Thx for yer advice.
Jim

Hi, Jim.

I'm a fool for alliteration, so just had to respond to your post. Have only grown the SS 100 and would heartily recommend Sun Gold in its place. It is sweet but also fruity and is truly the best snacking tomato that I have ever grown here in the great PNW. If you have kids or others who turn up their nose to tomatoes, Sun Gold is truly a threshold drug.

Wish I could grow hot peppers. Most years we don't have nearly the heat or the number of sunny days to ripen them.

Regards,

Rain

We grew Sweet 100 and Sungold one year and Sungold won the flavor test with a harvest to match. It is a staple in our garden.

As for slicing tomatoes, there are so many and taste really is subjective. We grew Kellogg's Breakfast here last year and it was pure joy - a large orange beefsteak. We also enjoyed Paul Robeson, Black Prince, and Cherokee Purple. We are growing Brandywine Sudduth Strain and Rose this year as it has been said that Rose rivals Brandywine - will be interesting doing that taste test.

I use whatever tomatoes I grow for sauce and the flavor is amazing. I've tried paste tomatoes twice, San Marzano & Amish Paste, and threw out most of them due to blossom end rot which is common in paste tomatoes. The ones we did get didn't have the same great flavor we get from the heirlooms.

It is hard to pick just three tomatoes. I am growing 15 varieties this year and there are just two of us. One thing I realized last year with all large or cherry tomatoes, was that there wasn't much for snacking or for one person to enjoy. So, we added in a few of those this year - Bloody Butcher & Stupice.

I think your choices are great� I�m interested in your hot peppers. What do you grow? I�m a big fat wimp, but always interested in other peoples� growing experiences.
1. Mortgage Lifter (Slicing): I think is a much better choice than a brick hard hybrid like what is widely available. I�ve not grown it, but if you are used to big beef or early girl, you are in for a taste treat. I am a fan of a ripe, soft, tomato and I think this falls into that category. If you�re looking for other suggestions � which I�m not sure you are I can suggest a few but Mortgage Lifter seems like a great choice.
2. Super Sweet 100 Hybrid (Snacking and Salads): I think is a fine choice. There are ones I like better, but snack/salad tomato like this one is a good choice.
3. Big Mama Hybrid (Sauce): I�ve not tried this either. I am a bit persnickety about sauce tomatoes because there are so many out there that really have a no taste what-so-ever and I think there are some better choices out there that will give you a good amount of tomatoes, have less seed/juice, that taste good. Again, not tried this one, but I am skeptical. I have had great luck with Opalka. It is a wonderful tasting tomato that looks like a pepper! Might interest you! It also can be a salsa, salad, snacker, saucer, slicer that is scrumptious and succulent!

Good luck. I have a seed and am happy to SHARE.

Thx for yer responses. I think i will have my tomato seeds in my germination box sometime next week. I know its gonna be about 12 weeks til i can transplant outside but i have some flourescent lights ill use to get em started. Cant wait to start growing some produce, its been a long winter.

Here's a link to my pepper growing thread if yer interested.
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/pepper/msg0215582617704.html?18

Jim

I haven't tried any of the varieties you listed, but I'll second the recommendation for San Marzano. I tried San Marzano Redorta (a larger, and supposedly better tasting, San Marzano), and it was one of the best tasting varieties out of about 80 that I tried. Although my growing conditions are probably different than yours, so you might have different results. And it sounds like you're getting a pretty early start. I'm planning to wait until about 6-8 weeks before transplant time, since that seems to be about optimal. At least for me. I use soil blocks, so I don't have to worry about them getting root bound. But I wonder if it does them more harm than good, sitting around waiting to be transplanted, with no room to grow (unless you keep potting them up). Not to mention the extra work involved. And if you're using lights, the extra expense for bulbs and electricity.

Here is a link that might be useful: a link to a San Marzano Redorta description

There are lots of Mortgage Lifter types out there - do you know what strain you have?

Since you already have your seeds started for this year, for next year I'd second DarJones (fusion power) on the Dr. Caroline Pink cherry - we absolutely love the taste and they are nicely prolific.

We don't grow specifically for sauce, I just cook up whatever is coming out our ears from time to time (and considering that I grow a rainbow of colors, some of my sauces have a weird color!), but I do know that on a lot of the Italian cooking shows they tell you to always try to get San Marzano tomatoes if you can, so they must be pretty good!

Good luck with your garden.
Edie