'GinFiz' & 'Margold' Beefsteak Tomatoes for the Greenhouse

I'm here in our high tunnel trial in Benton, Maine, and I wanted to do a little comparison of our two bicolor greenhouse beefsteak heirloom style hybrids (or some people call them “hylooms”).

The variety on our left is 'Margold', one we've had in the catalog for several years now, the first of its type that we introduced. On the right is 'GinFiz', these two plants here. The biggest difference between these two varieties is the overall plant habit. 'GinFiz' is a very generative plant, so puts a lot of effort into making fruit, not so much effort into making plant. If you look up here, you'll see here we are in mid-September, and it's starting to kind of peter out a little bit. Whereas on your left here we've got 'Margold'. This is a much more vegetative plant, although the leaves are compact, so fits very well on a tunnel, but it's putting more effort into making plant. It's going to keep growing for a much longer period of time. If you're growing on a long cycle, 'Margold' is your choice. If you're growing on a shorter cycle, 'GinFiz' is a pretty decent choice. But, in all cases, you might want to follow up your first flush of 'GinFiz' with some 'Margold' to get you through to the end of the season, particularly if you're growing in a warmer climate, where you have a few months of production possible.

Because 'GinFiz' is so generative and has such a small, compact plant, we recommend actually growing this on a basket weave system. In our trials, we train it as a single leader, just for the sake of comparing to other varieties. That's just how we manage it. But we have grown this on a basket weave. It does really well. It doesn't get too dense. And you can run a couple leaders, do a lot less pruning and get good productivity out of it. Whereas with the 'Margold', we recommend running one leader. If you're going to graft it, you might be able to do two leaders on that.

I'll note that these varieties are not grafted. Grafting will produce very different results. In the case of 'GinFiz', it might get you more longevity grafting to a more vigorous rootstock like 'Maxifort' or 'DRO141TX'. The disadvantage is you're probably going to lose that early maturity doing that. With the 'Margold', you'll just get a more balanced plant, and even longer production cycle out of it, by grafting.

Disease resistance is very similar on these two varieties. Pretty simple, straightforward, both have leaf mold resistance, which is pretty much a prerequisite for large-fruited varieties in our tunnel section. And they both have resistance to Verticillium, which is great. The only difference is the 'GinFiz' adds a Fusarium Crown Rot resistance. So if you have crown rot in your tunnel, then this is a good option if you're not grafting.

On the fruit quality side, 'GinFiz' has a little bit larger size potential, a little bit better resistance to stem cracking, firmer fruit, zingier flavor. It's just got a little more tang to it than 'Margold'. 'Margold' is a softer fruit, which is not so great if you’re handling it a lot, but for the eating quality, it's really nice. The flavor is more mild, doesn't have as much acid as the 'GinFiz', but very pleasant eating variety, and really, really nice texture.

The fruit tend to be a little bit taller on the 'Margold', where the 'GinFiz' tends to be more of a flattened shape. So not big differences, but both really nice eating quality. I give the edge to 'GinFiz', though, for that extra zing that it has.

The bottom line, if you're looking for an early start to the season, 'GinFiz' is your go-to. If you're looking for fruit later in the season or a more sustained harvest, 'Margold' is your option. And of course, 'GinFiz' is available as organic seed. So if you an organic option, 'GinFiz' is the way to go.

Learn more about 'Margold'
Learn more about 'GinFiz'
View all of our beefsteak tomato varieties

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