Looking over my tomato seeds it seems I am unintentionally running a cherry tomato trial this year.
New varieties:
Honey drop
Mission mountain tomato grex
Galina
Scarlett star fire
Piennolo del Vesuvio
Rosa di benevento
Rebel star fighter prime
Heaven Oregon
Amish gold
Magic bullet
I'm considering buying a refractometer this year to check brix levels in the leaves, and adjust with compost, compost tea, and possibly brochures in the soil. have you ever done this? if so, can you tell a difference in the taste of the tomato?
Get one. You won't regret it. I played around with stem juices etc. But I most use it a harvest time to see how my palette differs from the brix level.
I have one. I have never used it though. Since you mentioned it I will try it this year. I am a believer in Albrecht style of soil balancing.
I'm mostly using on fruit and recording data just to see where things are at. A quantifiable measure of fruit/veg quality. Ive found that variety plays the biggest factor on brix level. I have not been able to increase brix by adding amendment s of any kind.
🤔 interesting. I will play around with it. I have found the closer my soil is to balanced the better most things taste. But that could just be subjective bias. I’ve noticed it a lot with radicchio, when I first put the garden in it was too bitter to eat, now it is bitter of course but also has a sweetness that can be eaten raw.
Yeah my thinking is that the quality of the soil and the brix level changes together but it just takes time. Low time preference gardening! There is no such thing as a free lunch... ;)
not brochures, biochar
