BUSH OR CORDON?
Sungold is a cordon variety of tomato. It is also a vigorous grower and is probably best grown as a cordon if you want tomatoes early in the season. We have tried growing it as a bush type and it still produces a good crop but the foliage becomes very crowded and runs the risk of fungal infections.
APPEARANCE AND TASTE OF SUNGOLD TOMATO
The Sungold tomato
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SUMMARY CHARACTERISTICS OF SUNGOLD
F1 OR OPEN POLLINATED?: F1 and will not come true to type from seeds. However, seeds collected in the first year (known as F2) will produce a very similar plant and tomato. If you want a similar tomato where the seeds can be saved try Sun Baby.
GROWTH TYPE: Cordon, vigorous grower when established
WHERE TO GROW: Outdoors does very well and also in a greenhouse.
USE: Salad tomato, smaller ones can be eaten on their own, kids love to treat them as sweets
SKIN COLOUR / TEXTURE: Beautiful glowing orange colour with slightly matt finish
FLESH COLOUR: Orange
TASTE AND TEXTURE: One of the sweetest of all tomatoes. Juicy and medium firm. Sungold has a very high
Brix rating of 9.3.
STORAGE: In our experience they do not ripen well indoors when picked before maturity
TOMATO SIZE: Cherry tomato size with an average weight of 13g to 14g / half an ounce.
REGULARITY OF CROPPING: Regularly produces a good yield of about 20 to 25 fruits per truss and 120 tomatoes per plant.
AWARDS: RHS AGM
SPECIAL FEATURES: The most commonly grown cherry tomato variety for amateur gardeners, also sold, at a premium, in the supermarkets.
WHEN TO SOW SUNGOLD SEED
The key dates for sowing and planting out Sungold tomatoes are:
- Sow seeds in pots indoors
First week of March - Pot up young plants
First week of April - Harden off young plants
First week of May - Plant out young plants
Third week of May
WHEN TO HARVEST SUNGOLD TOMATOES
This variety is a cordon type tomato and if they are pruned in that way you can expect to be picking your first Sungold tomatoes in the first week of August
BUYING SUNGOLD SEED / PLANTS IN THE UK
Seeds for Sungold are available from almost all online seed merchants, garden centres, diy stores and several of the supermarkets. The cheapest seem to be Simply Seeds at £1.69 for 10 seeds There is no advantage we can see to paying the high prices charged in many garden centres and some online seed suppliers.
Sungold is also widely available as pot grown tomato plants. Taking into account postage it is probably cheapest and easiest to buy them from your local garden centre.
If you need any more information on growing this variety, click here to go to our main tomato page.
Other varieties which may also be of interest include:
| SUN BABY | GARDENERS DELIGHT |
| SAN MARZANO | RED ALERT |
COMMENTS / QUESTIONS LEFT BY OUR READERS
Sometimes our readers ask specific questions which are not covered in the main article above. Our
Outdoor Tomatoes comment / question and answer page
lists their comments, questions and answers. At the end of that page there is also a form for you to submit any new question or comment you have.
When and How to Sow Tomato Seed
Ongoing Care
Pruning Tomatoes
Pest and Disease
Tomato Nutrient Defficiency
Save Tomato Seeds
Tomato Variety Review
Tomato Question and Answer
SUNGOLD TOMATOES
By David Marks
Sungold is without a doubt the most popular yellow cherry tomato variety in the UK for amateur gardeners. It’s probably also the most popular cherry tomato of any colour. Its popularity is down to taste, this is the sweetest of the tomatoes and the texture is excellent as well. Depending on how Sungold is grown it produces a large crop regularly in both warm and cold summers.