Cordon varieties
We grew two plants of each variety, recording the overall yield across the growing season, the average weight of an individual fruit (in brackets) plus the total number of fruits.
Akron
Claims of high and sustained yield were confirmed in this trial. This is an F1 hybrid slicing tomato with good staying power. Flavour A bit pappy, but pleasantly sweet, with little acid. Very juicy but a bit bland.
Yield 3.9kg (85.1g), 46 fruits
Gardener’s Delight
A well-established and reliable cordon cherry tomato. Produces moderate and steady yields of large, cherry-style fruits.
Flavour A mild but pleasant balance between acid and sweet. Juicy flesh and thick skins.
Yield 1.5kg (17g), 90 fruits
Black Cherry
An eye-catching cordon variety, producing a steady supply of large cherry-style fruits. Quick to mature.
Flavour Good depth and balance between sweet and acid. Very juicy, with thin skins. Very pleasant.
Yield 2.7kg (22.7g), 117 fruits
Honeycomb
A new F1 hybrid cordon that claims less skin splitting than ‘Sungold’ (verified in this trial). Long trusses of mid-sized, orange, cherry fruits. Flavour Sweet, with more acidity than ‘Sungold’, similar in looks but slightly less sweet in comparison.
Yield 1.8kg (11.3g), 162 fruits
Black Russian
The first cordon beefsteak to ripen in the trial, though also the lowest yielding. Very popular due to its colour and taste. Heritage variety.
Flavour Very juicy and soft, but not pappy. Nice acidity, too. One of the least watery beefsteaks.
Yield 1.7kg (107.7g), 16 fruits
Mountain Magic
Campari-style fruits, which are a little larger than cherry tomatoes. This F1 hybrid cordon variety has late-blight resistance. Produces a steady yield through summer and autumn. Flavour Quite acidic and a bit pappy, but very juicy.
Yield 2.7kg (34g), 79 fruits
Consuelo
This recent introduction has resistance to late blight. A hybrid cordon, with large, shiny-red, cherry-style fruits.
Flavour A nice balance of sweetness and acidity, not overly sweet, crunchy and juicy.
Yield 1.4kg (14.2g), 101 fruits
Pineapple
An heirloom beefsteak cordon with paleorange fruits, often huge. A high-yielding late ripener.
Flavour An equal balance of sweetness and acid, not too bland. Firm and crunchy flesh, slightly pappy, mild flavour. Thin skins.
Yield 7.8kg (311.9g), 25 fruits
Costoluto Genovese
This cordon beefsteak is an Italian heirloom with striking ribbed fruits. Steady yields throughout summer and autumn.
Flavour Nice sweetness but a slightly pappy texture, with little acidity. Thin flavour. Yield 5.2kg (116.2g), 45 fruits
Red Cherry
This cordon cherry tomato is slow to ripen, but then its yields become very impressive. Vigorous with long, attractive trusses.
Flavour A lot of acidity, with some very mild bitterness and some sweetness but, overall, tasty.
Yield 1.9kg (7.1g), 264 fruits
Ferline
A large-fruited F1 hybrid cordon that’s ideal for slicing. Shows blight resistance, but not to all the latest strains. Noted for its good flavour.
Flavour Nice balance between sweetness and acidity. Very juicy – not at all pappy – with a pleasant mild crunch.
Yield 2.4kg (85.1g), 28 fruits
Roma VF
A large-fruited plum variety, ideal for cooking due to its high dry-matter content. A bush habit but trains as a cordon, with verticillium and fusarium resistance. Some blossom end rot. Flavour A pappy texture as expected – a trait of this culinary variety. Bland and not juicy.
Yield 6.6kg (255.2g), 26 fruits
Strillo
A vigorous F1 hybrid cherry tomato that takes time to start cropping but is then abundant. Very attractive long trusses.
Flavour Very firm flesh, quite acidic but also sweet, with good depth. Firm and crunchy, with thick skins.
Yield 1.5kg (11.3g), 133 fruits
Sweet Aperitif
Deceptively thin-stemmed plants gave prolific and sustained harvests of small cherry fruits. Gave the highest number of fruits in this trial. Flavour Incredibly sweet but also balanced by good acidity and depth of flavour. Very nice and popular with children.
Yield 2.6kg (7.1g), 365 fruits
Sungold
A vigorous and steadily prolific F1 hybrid cordon, once established. A firm favourite due to its sweetness. Skin splitting when very ripe is a problem (confirmed in trial). Flavour Very sweet with some acidity. Juicy texture.
Yield 3.2kg (17g), 189 fruits
Tigerella
A popular heirloom cordon due to its striped skin and flavour. Medium-sized fruits are ideal for slicing. Steady yields but fruits are prone to splitting.
Flavour A nice balance between acidic and sweet. Firm flesh, very pleasant.
Yield 2.3kg (36.9g), 61 fruits
Super Marmande
An improvement on heritage Marmande, this beefsteak is bushy but can be trained as a cordon. Not very high yields.
Flavour Very mild and bland, with nice sweetness and a faint acidity. Not too pappy, mostly crunchy and very juicy.
Yield 2.2kg (116g), 19 fruits
Tomande
An F1 hybrid beefsteak that’s an improvement on Marmande types. Good, consistent yields. Bushy but trains as a cordon. Some whitewall. Flavour Mild, but has a nice acid-sweet balance. Very soft flesh, very juicy (verging on pappy) with soft skins.
Yield 3.8kg (119.1g), 32 fruits