"Instead of a sweetness, they are almost tart, with little true tomato flavor."

So very many things can affect tomato flavor. I see that you have just registered as a GardenWeb member today, so I have no idea what your gardening experience is, so we'll start with the basics as far as your soil nutrients. Get a soil test! There is no point in us guessing what might be wrong with your soil. We aren't there. We can't even guess. We don't know your location or zone, which can be very useful when trying to assist someone. (You can edit your profile to show that information.)

However, it sounds to me like you may be slicing into those babies too early. Do they have just a bit of give to them when you squeeze them gently? Tomaotes are not supposed to be rock hard like the ones you find in most grocery stores.

Betsy

The soil in so Cal is notoriously alkaline (unless amended) and I suppose we have little chance of achieving reasonable pH. (Honestly, I haven't tested pH since I bought a house over 20 years ago.) What matters more is that the soil is loose and nutritious. My own composted soil, which gets only vegetable matter from my kitchen, is LOUSY for purposes of nutrition. The horse manure compost I use at our public garden plot is wonderful; I never add chemical fertilizers.

After some 15 years of growing tomatoes, I say it's important to get good genes in the plant; keep me away from Early Girl. But success is 70% nurture, and 30% nature, IMHO.

Keep your leaves off the ground, so they don't get infected and chewed by tiny creatures. Cull disease, but leave dead leaves on the plant to cast shade on the green and ripening fruits, so they don't get sun scald. Tomato plants prefer dry (but not desiccatingly hot) air, notwithstanding their popularity in the eastern USA. Bright sunshine and temps in the 60s and 70s are fine. Above 90, the pollen is killed and the flowers won't pollinate successfully; you'll have green plants, flowers, and no fruit.

Much depends on your climate, your timing, your location, and your micro-climates. There is too much to say, in one thread. Eventually, it all seems like common sense.

Beginners will enjoy hybrids best, for their yields are huge.

Tell us where you live, and we can help you more.

I'm with Betsy, on the point that you didn't ripen your fruit adequately. Harvest before the birds peck the fruit, and let ripen in a cool place in your house, for days or even more.

Betsy, I would also like to know more about soil test etc. how do I do a soil test? is this something I can do at home with DIY kits?

behlgarden,

There are home kits you can purchase that will give you some basic information on your soil. They will test the pH, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium content of your soil. Depending on your skill, visual accuity (you have to judge the color of a liquid against a chart after you have processed your samples), and how you gathered your samples, they MIGHT give you a ball park figure on those items.

However, the results you get are often notoriously inaccurate.

For instance, do you have hard water or use a water softener? Those will affect the accurracy of the average DIY soil test kit.

For not much more than the cost of the DIY kit (roughly $20, if I recall correctly) you can get a much more accurate soil test. Contact your local Extension office and they can tell you where you can have your soil tested. They may even offer the service themselves. You can also let your fingers do the walking, or Google soil test with your city or county name and state and you should get a listing of places that can test your soil for you.

BTW, a good lab can give you much more than the pH, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium levels of your soil. Which is a good thing since tomatoes don't live by NPK alone. Most labs will be able to tell you the levels of sulphur, calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese, copper, zinc, boron, molybdenum, aluminum and possible contaminants. They can explain to you what the test results mean to your garden and what you should do to correct anything that is out of whack.

I hope that helps.

Betsy

I have to wonder, why do you immediately ask for a soil test?
seeing as how the original poster only has two plants, i would guess that they are in containers, or a raised bed.
if that is the case, i wouldn't think a soil test is necessary.

Scotty66,

Because the original poster said "I suspect nutrients in the soil, but don't know where to begin."

So, if he suspects nutrients in his soil, that would be the place to start. Pehaps I should have asked if they were in containers since that is a whole different game, but I took Ted at his word.

And having just 2 or 3 tomato plants does not necessarily mean growing in containers. My mom has grown two tomato plants in the ground every year for more than 10 years. This year she has really gone all out though. She is growing 3 tomato plants!

Betsy

Try watering them with salt water to see if that sweetens up the fruit if the plants are still producing. Don't use more than 1/3 of a cup of kosher salt to a gallon of water, maybe less.

To add some context, I haven�t done a comprehensive soil test, but have confirmed that PH is within normal range. Not sure of the comprehensive soil test as many of the kits that I�ve looked up on the web fail to have much positive said about them.

I live in Portland, OR, a region with a climate not always conducive to tomato growth. Nonetheless, I�ve had some success in the past with varieties like Early Girl, Better Boy, and Celebrity, but have not had much success with the beefsteak varieties, most likely due to the northwest climate and sometimes short growing season.

So, I got a little more ambitious this year and tried something new. The Brandywine that I planted is a grafted plant, spliced onto the rootstock of a heartier, disease resistant variety. Bingo, the health and production of this plant is remarkable in my experience here in Oregon, but the flavor is a disappointment. Maybe the grafting process is the issue, I don�t know, but since my other plant, the French Carmello, is also rather bland, I suspect something else.

On the bright side, I tried a topsy turvy with a grape variety and it has produced a lot of very tasty fruit.

Ted