Growing from seed is usually more reliable, although sometimes there are errors or stray seeds. If you grow open-pollinated varieties and save your own seeds that's a good way, although there is a 5% chance of getting something slightly different due to a bee cross.

Linda

Growing from seed has its own set of problems and drawbacks and for those growing only a few plants it likely isn't worth those problems. While the "unexpected variety" can be a disappointment it is also only an issue for those growing a few plants. If one has 25+ plants, enough to make growing from seed worthwhile, then any unexpected ones are just another plant among many.

When buying plants, mislabeled ones can be a common issue at the big-box sources, much less so from a reputable nursery. So the real question is why buy an Early Girl to begin with? Given EG's reputation the unexpected variety is likely a much better tomato. ;-)

Dave

@digdirt2,

Well, Early Girl is indeterminate, while most plum tomatoes are determinate. For someone growing just a few plants that can be a disaster if part of the yield is compromised somehow. I've planted 4 Romas this year and have about 10 fruit on each plant due to various issues, most of them my own fault. Plus the squirrels seem to like them more than the others this year. But even in my small raised bed and containers, I've got Sun Sugar, Rutgers 250, and New Big Dwarf which are doing much better now that most of the early BER is over with. The cherries in particular are going gangbusters and they are everybody's favorite.

But if I only had one plant and got 10 tomatoes, well, I'd be pretty disappointed (actually I had something like this happen before I started doing some serious research into what I was doing)

Dave, thank you for your input. I'm in Western ND, we plant no earlier than Memorial Weekend. It is a short growing season and big-box are the only sources for plants; Menard's, Wal-mart. The Early Girl is good for a short growing season and I want a medium sized tomato to put in a salad. Marketing always describes a Wonder-Plant. Can you tell me what Early Girl's reputation in the real world is?

In this case, the unexpected variety is a Roma tomato, a paste tomato. In a salad, it doesn't have a lot of flavor and chewing into that thick skin is pretty disappointing too. I only have 12 plants but it is the whole crop, and the whole season, that are yielding a much less than expected return. I don't buy tomatoes in the market, the 12 plants give me the only tomatoes I'll be eating for the year.

In the past, when starting from seed, I raise about 50 plants. I plant the 30 best plants in the space for 12 and thin down to the 12 healthiest plants. Each day before Memorial Weekend these 50 plants have to be put out in the morning and brought back inside at sunset. That goes on for a month. I don't mind the work too much, but I've not worked with this Early Girl too much. Can it disappoint a grower's expectations too, like mislabeled plants?

@borisI don't know if these plants are determinate or not, I'm
getting some now, with 100s more to come. Maybe they will all ripen at
the same time. They are paste tomatoes is all I am certain of. In the
photo, what do they look like to you? They just can't be Early Girl
tomatoes I think.

They definitely look like Romas to me, and I'm pretty sure they are supposed to be determinate.

@boris

Romas are determinate so I'll be getting 100s of a
variety I didn't want all at the same time. That's too bad. It is
still fun growing tomatoes though.At a minimum, I'm never buying tomato plants from a big outlet again.

There are indeterminate Roma types as well, but you should be able to tell fairly easily if they are det. or indet. I'm not sure what Early Girl's reputation is but I find them to be an excellent tomato both for taste and productivity (I like the "Early Girl Bush" version). I do have a good reference as I'm growing at least 10 beefsteak types, many of them popular heirlooms like Brandywine, Black Krim etc.

I save my own seeds for just that reason and it's not a big deal to do, but growing them from the start needs some effort. Once I decided upon my 3 fav heirloom varieties some 20 years ago I kept the seed to insure against unpleasant surprises. Last time I got baited and switched at the nursery was with pepper plants.

Yes there are any number of indeterminate paste/plum varieties and as vgkg said even indeterminate Romas. But the fruit in your photo is not consistently shaped as one finds Roma to be. To further complicate the issue growing conditions and pollination problems can often affect fruit shape and when the different shapes are on the same plant that is often the cause.

EG has a rep for being a blah tomato that is not nearly as early or as productive as it is marketed to be. It rides along on a very outdated reputation.

Some swear by it but often that is because of their limited exposure to other varieties. For a short growing season slicer's there are many better varieties, many earlier than EG, but yes you'd have to grow them from seed. Jetsetter, Gregori's, Kimberly, Fireworks, Matina to name just a few.

Dave

I would have said it's less likely, after all someone could have just 'put the tag back in the right one' at the store with starts. This year I got a seed pack of which had a variety, Black Plum, which wasn't on the label and isn't even offered by that seller. Delicious and productive however...

@Dave

I looked up the early varieties you mentioned. That Matina sounds interesting to me. It's an heirloom and open-pollinated. I could just save its seed for the next season. No chance for mislabeling that way. Like vgkg says they do.

https://njaes.rutgers.edu/tomato-varieties/variety.php?Matina

Reviews on the Early Girl are split. Many call it a blah, supermarket, not so early tomato. Others rave about its flavor but are usually mostly impressed with its production. Now these mislabeled paste tomatos I have, those are "blah" for sure. I'll bet Early Girls have a wonderful flavor compared to them.

Funkyhat above received mislabeled seed and still came out with a great plant. I wish my adventure turned out that way.

Early Girl is an old variety. I grew it in the 70's when I was still a kid at home. My mother requested we grow it as it was early, high yielding and the tomatoes were just the right size for her to can them up as whole tomatoes canned in tomato juice (her favorite).

Do I grow Early Girl any more? No. I think it is a bit tart and very seedy. I have better varieties to grow. Not knocking it as it is good for those with a short season. The yield was great.

I had to laugh at your story of buying Early Girl plants and getting paste tomatoes. Similar situation with me. I saw some Golden Jubilee tomato plants for sale a few years ago at Home depot. I didn't really need them but I like the variety so much I bought two plants. They turned out to be paste tomatoes! Horrible to eat in my B.L.T. So I canned them up. They actually were tasty as a canned tomato. I used them for making stewed tomatoes or spaghetti sauce.

After that endeavor, I am fearful of ever buying tomato plants again. I now grow my own and usually even save my own seed on heirloom varieties. Easy to do and far less expensive than buying the seed.