Sun Sugar Hybrid Wins Again at MU Tomato Festival

First posted on 09-10-2008

An orange cherry tomato, Sun Sugar Hybrid, took top honors for the second year straight at the University of Missouri’s fourth annual Tomato Festival.

The hybrid was one of four top scorers, all hybrid cherry tomatoes, chosen by more than 300 visitors from a field of entries narrowed by poor growing conditions.

“Normally, we grow about 50 varieties for the taste contest, but this year we could present only 24,” said Tim Reinbott, superintendant of the MU Bradford Research and Extension Center. “It was one of the worst growing seasons we have had.”

“The growing season was marked by excessive moisture and overcast days, which weakened the health of many of the plants,” said Leslie Shaw, MU horticulturist.

“Once you have such moist conditions, fungal pathogens can take hold because they like the wet weather. A lot of Missouri gardeners experienced early blight and septoria leaf spot, two different pathogens that create similar problems,” she said.

These pathogens are difficult to control. Gardeners should remove and destroy diseased plants. Rotate your crops and do not plant tomatoes back in the same ground for three years, she said. This allows time for the pathogens to break down in the soil.

Do not put diseased plant material in your compost pile. A lot of compost piles do not reach the 140 degrees it takes to kill the pathogens, she said.

Sun Sugar Hybrid scored an average of 4.7 out of 5. Other top varieties included Sun Gold Hybrid, Super Sweet 100 and Chocolate Cherry.

Cherry tomatoes usually have higher sugar content than regular tomatoes, resulting in higher scores on taste tests, she said.

The top variety in slicing tomatoes was Beefsteak from Baker Creek Heirloom seeds, followed by Steak Sandwich and Celebrity Hybrid.

The taste contest also included 16 varieties of sweet peppers. While less affected than the tomatoes, this year’s peppers were generally less hot because of the poor growing conditions, said Steve Kirk, extension associate.

Six salsas were prepared from the same recipe and flavored with different varieties of chilies. The favorite was Habanero without seeds, the hottest chili in the contest, followed by Serrano Del Sol with seeds.