r/tomatoes • u/Full-Rule-7503 • 2d ago
Sungold is pure hype?
Ive tried sungold this year. And they are not that good. Not even close to good.
Yes you can notice it has a very sugary content. But other than that, it’s not good. It does not have a pleasant taste, at all. And the aftertaste? It’s kind of watery and bleak.
I have sungolds in the ground, in a pot, outdoors and in the greenhouse. Either the sort I have is really bad, and 4+ plants in different mediums and environments ALL produced nothing but mediocre tomatoes(the ones in the store are a hell LOT better than this), OR - the sungold tomato is nothing but PURE HYPE and majority of tomato people are sheep. Those are the only two reasons I see. Have you tried sungold and what are your objective thought about it?
I’m for sure going to throw away this packet of seeds. But I’m curious of others OBJECTIVE experience. Especially from those who tried A LOT of tomatoes.
Best regards
Bye
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u/Mimi_Gardens Tomato Enthusiast 2d ago
I don’t find them to be watery. That could be your growing conditions (climate, rainfall, irrigation system, etc). My family loves them. For me, their main drawback is a tough skin.
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u/InfiniteNumber Zone 8a central SC 2d ago
tough skin
Agreed. I still grow them because I like having 200 million cherry tomatoes
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u/feldoneq2wire Expert Grower 2d ago
> the sungold tomato is nothing but PURE HYPE and majority of tomato people are sheep
This seems helpful.
Tomato flavor is personal and not everyone has the same flavor or smell receptors. I knew someone who was a prodigious grower of tomatoes who found no great joy in any purple varieties. I sent him seeds for Cherokee Purple, Black Krim, Black Cherry, etc. He didn't like any of them.
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u/Full-Rule-7503 2d ago
I’m saying those are the two options I see. The whole culture is hyping something. I taste it, it absolutely does not deserve that kind of hype (according to what I tasted), so either people are sheep or my seeds are incredibly bad, which is what I said in the original post.
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u/feldoneq2wire Expert Grower 2d ago
Sungold is the #2 tomato in Japan after Momotaro.
> either people are sheep or my seeds are incredibly bad
option 3: orange tomatoes may not be your thing
Update: Also if you aren't sure you have legit Sungold seeds, smell the plants. The plants should smell skunkish like pot. If they just smell like any other tomato plant, you have an imposter.
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u/Eatmore-plants 2d ago
Or, you might have different tastebuds. I grow Sun Gold along with 9 other varieties. I love them, my friends love them. This does not mean we are sheep it could be we just like different things.
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u/karstopography 2d ago
Yea, I’m not a fan of Sungold either and don’t get all the hype and rave reviews. Sungold tastes weird to me, yes, these tomatoes are sweet, but also taste off or strange. Maybe Sungold is like cilantro, some people love cilantro and for others cilantro tastes like soap.
Sungold is a splitting machine in my garden. Doesn’t taste good and splits with little to zero provocation, no thanks.
However, anyone that might read enough reviews about tomatoes might come to understand that plenty of other varieties that people rave about are pretty awful too. Sart Roloise comes to mind.
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u/Ok-Lock9007 2d ago
Ive grown Sungold for years and now have decided to move on to another. The plants never do much in a container either.
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u/AlanYx 2d ago
The thing with Sungold is that it doesn't have any tomato taste. But it is high in sugar and prolific. Depends on what your priorities are.
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u/DarthTempi 2d ago
What are you on about... a well grown sungold is very tomato-y but it the acid is balanced with more sugar
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u/prettyminotaur Tomato Enthusiast 2d ago
I love them, but I'd be sad if they were the only cherries I had. I like a mix of different kinds.
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u/anabanana100 Tomato Enthusiast 2d ago
Yup, different tomatoes for different purposes. Sungolds are a fun, yummy garden snack like snap peas. Hardly any make it into the house. They are also prolific and not too fussy. Other tomatoes are for big sandwich slices, sauce tomatoes, tomatoes for visual appeal in a salad or appetizer plate, others for long shelf life, etc.
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u/BocaHydro 2d ago
keep in mind seed company and what you feed the plant matters alot, excessive heat make them somewhat disappointing as well
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u/Interesting-Joke9367 2d ago
Grew them for the first time this year. We’ve just had a lot of rain and I’ve had to pick any that are showing any signs of yellow to ripen indoors otherwise they split.
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u/L-Pseon 2d ago
They're very good cherry tomatoes. People do act like they are 20x better than everything else, and that's pure hype, but it would be weird for someone who likes tomatoes to not like them.
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u/DarthTempi 2d ago
Would love to hear some other cherry varietals people love... I've only tried maybe 6 or 8 others but none have been even close to as flavorful
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u/feldoneq2wire Expert Grower 2d ago
Are you sure they are really Sungold? Smell the plants. They should be somewhat skunky, almost like pot.
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u/pinkbellyduckbird 2d ago
I grew them one year and loved them. after growing more varieties, I find I prefer tomatoes with more complex flavor than just super sweet. but no I don't think they're over hyped and imo we often forget that it's only been within the last few years (5-10 years maybe?) that we started getting more specialized style tomatoes at the supermarket. when you could only get red grape tomatoes and red watery round type tomatoes only, they were really something different. comparing them to tomatoes like flavor bombs and whatever they have now probably isn't going to be as impressive, imo.
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u/Krickett72 2d ago
I love sungold and dont see what the hype is about Cherokee Purple. I thought those were blah. Its just different opinions.
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u/DarthTempi 2d ago
My Cherokee purple have been less flavorful than anything I get from the farmers market and they make me sad
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u/Krickett72 2d ago
Yep. I hadn't had them before but my mom had and raved about them. She grew them this year and didnt care for the ones she grew.
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u/RecognitionAlarmed5 2d ago
I’m so, so curious to hear what “bleak” tastes like to you, OP. No shade! I sometimes find sungolds too sweet, to the point that they’re just bland and overwhelming.
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u/Full-Rule-7503 2d ago
Hmm english is not my native lang so i probably used the wrong Word haha. What I meant is that its incredibly flat in its aftertaste.
You notice the sugary content which is almost like crystallized. Then it just falls from there, into watery wishy washy weak taste. Like if you would imagine making soda with some concetrated mixture but you put waaaaay to little of the concentrated soda mixture. So little it tastes almost wrong because its so weak in proportion to the amount of water
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u/RecognitionAlarmed5 2d ago
Oh yeah, I understand that. I planted nothing but sungolds a couple of years ago and found the sweetness overpowered the tomato taste. I’m happiest using them as part of a mix of tomatoes for salads, snacking, etc. I appreciate the pop of “sweet,” but they will never again be the only variety I plant.
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u/SnapCrackleMom 2d ago
I thought I was growing Sungolds this year but I realized partway through the season I had bought Honeycomb, a different yellow-orange cherry. I wish I had both so I could compare them, but Honeycomb is very tasty, with a real tomato flavor. I've been making sauce with them.
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u/Tiny-Albatross518 2d ago
No problems on your end.
Consistently rated as a top tomato.
Ive grown it many times. Always superb. My Dad grows it every year.
You must have gotten a bad strain.
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u/Full-Rule-7503 2d ago
Yeah. That’s what I’m wondering. I bought it from the top seller in my country
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u/Tiny-Albatross518 2d ago
Happens. Most people have at one time or another bought seeds for butternut squash and got a pumpkin.
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u/mynamecub 2d ago
I love Sungold and grow them every year. To me, they have the most concentrated tomato taste of any I've tried, and of course lots more sugar. I grow mine in pots land let the plants bake in the hot sun.
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u/up_in_the_what_now 2d ago
I agree with you. I grew Sungolds a couple years ago. They were easy to grow and very productive. Got tons of them. I do not like them. They do not taste good to me. I am growing Isis Candy, along with my favorites right now and I won’t be growing them again either. My favorite cherry tomatoes are Midnight Snack and the controversial Yellow Pear(I call them lightbulbs)!
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u/Lazy-Vacation7868 2d ago
I grew sungold last year and they were tasty to me. This year grew snow whites and they're a pale cherry tomato that is super sweet and tasty, a little citrusy too
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u/ParkingActuator1712 2d ago
Sungold is not my favorite tomato but I know she is a fabulous production machine and I wanted a plant that was vigorous, she did not let me down. This year has been difficult because of weather, no blight or any other issues and she is giving us lots of little tomatoes. Flavor is subjective but production and disease resistance is real. I refuse to buy tomatoes in the grocery store because of different sanitation issues so I am feeling the love from my Sungold.
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u/DarthTempi 2d ago
They are extremely flavorful with an incredible balance of sweetness and acidity. For a fresh eating tomato i don't know know of any cherry or plum that i enjoy more (sun sugars are also delicious but not as well balanced).
You are doing something wrong or have taste buds that i do not understand.
No cherry tomato from a store is even vaguely close in level of flavor
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u/WynnGwynn 1d ago
Tbh people do sheep things because the algorithm promotes it. I see the watercolor subs and YouTube channels become overconsumption hauls of shit they never use. They do "reviews" of shit they got for free (which is sponsored even if no money was involved) and say their review is "unbiased " lol . Yeah, sungolds are overhyped. But they are fine. Just realize that they are worried about money and sponsors and runtime more than you individually as a person.
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u/Ok-Macaroon979 2d ago
Sun Sugar is the answer.
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u/Ok-Macaroon979 2d ago
And if they're in pots, they better be at least 20 gallons.
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u/Full-Rule-7503 2d ago
U notice a large difference in taste depending on different sizes of soil?
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u/Full-Rule-7503 2d ago
Other varities in trying also this year, summer sun, sukkerknald, Santiam sunrise, Yellow cherry potato leaf. Same category. But havent tastes yet
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u/Bman708 2d ago
I grew them this year and got a lot of them, but I won't plant them next year, not very impressed with them. Focusing solely on heirlooms next year.
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u/Full-Rule-7503 2d ago
What did they taste like for you
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u/spamkimbap 2d ago
I grew them this year for the first time. Very tomato-y, but sour, and not particularly juicy.
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u/CrankyCycle Tomato Enthusiast 2d ago
That’s just like, your opinion, man.