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Kaguya, thanks so much for the lists. I wish I had more space to trial different varieties but I can't complain- I have more space now to garden than I have ever had before.

Alex, thanks for more information about those varieties. I have never heard of Kamatis na ligaw.

Kaguya, that helps a ton! And I just replied to your post on Tomato Junction as well. Thanks for all the great info and help 

I may have to add Rosella and Tangerine and perhaps others to my shortlist. The taste description for Clackamas Blueberry sounds fascinating- I want to try one just to see if I taste the same notes.

I just ate my first tomato of the season, which happened to be a Sungold, of course.

I'll be following this to see what happens with the fruity cross progress. I also am considering Sunviva and Dwarf Eagle Smiley to trial next year for my fruity project, so it's good to see you've also included them in your crosses.

https://ediblemadison.com/stories/the-quest-for-flavor-trials-for-taste-in-organic-tomatoes-at-uw-madison

I came up on this article about my local university's tomato breeding project, and it's reassuring their general methodology is what I'm trying to do (trial possible varieties, make crosses between heirlooms and hybrids, grow out several generations, taste tests).

I wonder if they're also looking at crossing Sungold as one of the hybrids, or are selecting hybrids based mainly on disease resistance and then choosing heirlooms for the desired flavor. I have a feeling the latter makes more sense as Sungold isn't the best for disease resistance. Also they have to balance taste with productivity/ disease resistance whereas I really only care about taste and if the plant survives in my garden (which honestly is not a high bar).

It will be interesting to see what varieties are released as a result of their project.

That is a solid plan. How many years have you been working on "The One"?

I'm currently sifting through different websites looking for anything "fruity" and/ or developed from a cross with Sungold.

Hmm I'm not sure I want a brown tomato. Well if it tastes amazing then sure, all sins are forgiven I suppose.

William- I meant if I as an aspiring breeder attempt a project like yours, it would be difficult. I can definitely tell you aren't new to this!

Regardless, if you find something unusual in terms of fruity tastes in your own projects I would like to know more (and perhaps take a few seeds if you can spare them).

Hi! Thanks for the welcome. I'll definitely take a look at Tomato Junction as well. And I don't think the color matters to my husband, so I'll also look into Dwarf Eagle Smiley.

William, thanks for the welcome.

And local x wild x fancy makes a lot of sense. I'd be interested in doing something similar for where I live if tomatoes struggle to grow here, but they do well until the late blight hits hard, which is usually when first frost is anyways. Also your project sounds like a lot to take on for someone new!

Have you gotten mostly red tomatoes from your crosses and grow outs? And have you found any reds with interesting/ fruity tastes?

In my experience, I haven't tasted a fruity red or pink yet. But there are so many tomatoes in the world, of course.

Adrian- good question; I'd also like to know the answer. Also, why is beta orange favorable to tangerine in your case?

I kind of deliberately stopped using Sungold because I already had some sungold genetics in one of my early crosses (Blue Ambrosia x Amurski Tiger) so I was worried about not having enough diversity. Fortunately I've since made crosses with Sunviva, Fruity the ancestor of Tim's Taste of paradise, a fruity line of Lofthouse promiscuous, and Dwarf Eagle Smiley. I've also crossed a lot of bicolors with current tomatoes and so I reckon I now have quite a few small yellow cherry tomatoes.

Are you also working on a project with taste/ fruity as a focus? I'd like to hear more about it and what you've learned so far.

Edit: I see the thread just below mine about growing in Montana has more information, so I'll catch up there.

Thanks all for great lists of other OP Sungold dehybridizations (and more websites and resources to investigate).

From what I'm reading, trying to attain a Sungold equivalent in terms of flavor will best be suited to a different project than my general search for "fruity" flavors, with back crossing with the OP Sungold descendants or other beta orange tomatoes if the flavor gets lost.

But in searching for fruity flavors, crosses with OP Sungold descendants could also be interesting. I'd like a larger range of fruity notes to begin crossing with, so I still need to trial all sorts of tomatoes, including those of different colors.

I do agree color has something to do with taste, but it seems like a complex relationship.

I agree with Kaguya that I am afraid of getting overwhelmed, so I think I will end up deciding whether to pursue the Sungold equivalent or exploring fruity tastes next year. I'm leaning towards overall fruity and sticking to the original plan of trialing a variety of fruity tomatoes next year, although now after reading all your good ideas I may throw in a few Sungold descendants as well.

Also, great tip about rooting cuttings and even overwintering them. I don't know why I didn't think of that!

Thanks all for tips and different varieties to research!

Roland- I definitely don't have space for 256+ plants! And thanks for the tip about the exerted stigmas.

Oh, one other question: Would there be a big difference in whether Sungold would be the father or the mother when crossing? I'm not knowledgeable about genetics honestly but am still learning.

Hi Vicki,
     Welcome to the forum.
     My recommendation would be to do a LOT of reading! The Tomato Junction site is a good place to browse. I've just bought up 877 matches to a Sungold search there! Threads with titles like 'Sungold F2 project', 'Better than SunGold' and 'California Sungold' should keep you busy for quite a while!!

     For comparison a Sungold search here produces 52 hits. But threads like 'Sungold F1 - creating F0 parents?' and 'Sungold F1 and Sunsugar F1 breeding with and dehybridization' have some quality info. in them.

Good Luck

Tim DH

Thank you for the forum and post recommendations! I'll definitely be reading and researching more this year, and it's great to have a place to start.

Hi all. This is my first post besides introducing myself, and I am new to plant breeding, so I would really appreciate any thoughts or insight into the project I am planning.

I have two goals with this breeding project:

1. To create something similar or good enough to be comparable to the Sungold to be free of buying its seeds in perpetuity. This means approval from my husband with a very good palate. I'm looking for a cherry tomato that is "a similar intense and fruity flavor, with slightly more acid" in comparison to Sungolds.

2. Exploring different notes of fruit in tomatoes and breeding a group of particularly interesting or delicious OP tomatoes with Sungold/ equivalents.

My first step is to trial more varieties in 2026 with fruity notes in order to find a mix of varieties with unusual or especially good and varied notes. So I don't want them all to have an aftertaste of citrus, rather I'd be looking for a mix of notes within the selected group of varieties, such as guava, generic tropical, melon, etc. Intense flavor as well would be nice but not necessary.

I plan to also trial several Sungold-type hybrids to find a couple of the fruitiest/ best flavored of the bunch. The next step would be to cross the selected fruity OP varieties with the hybrids and select down from there to see if I can find any particularly interesting or unique fruity notes.

I may look at back crossing some on-the-market OP Sungold descendants with Sungold itself later on if I can't find what I'm looking for with this first pool. I simply don't have the space for both right now.

These are the varieties I plan to trial for the "Sungold-type hybrid" category. I've only tried Sungold, so I'd like to hear if you've tried any of the below and any differences in taste you note.

Sungold
Sunsugar
Sun Orange
Sweet Gold

Here are some varieties I plan to trial next year for "fruity" notes. These first two I've tried and found delicious, different enough and fruity in their own way, so I will grow them out again.

Goldie
Big Rainbow/ Pineapple

I'm definitely including the below in the trials as they will have a diverse gene pool and interesting potential for flavors:

Tim's Taste of Paradise
Cheri's Cherry

The varieties below I have not tried but have been described as some sort of fruity, but most people don't explain exactly what kind of fruit or more details. If you have any additions or have tried the following, please give me your opinions to their fruitiness and overall taste. I don't have the space to grow all of the below, so I will either have to narrow the list down.

Green Giant
Emerald Golosina
Great White
Sweet Cream
Jaune Flamme
Amy's Apricot
White Rabbit
Tiger Paw
Dikovinka

And if you have any tomatoes at all that come to mind when you hear the word "fruity" that I am missing and need to try, either hybrid or OP, please let me know as well so I can add to my list.

This year, to practice crossing tomatoes I'm going to cross Sungold with several purple varieties I have growing. I'll decide later if growing those out first would be a good first step before leaping into this larger project.