If you’re looking for a sweet, golden cherry tomato for your garden, you’ve likely come across two famous names: Sun Sugar and Sungold. The choice between sun sugar tomato vs sungold is a classic debate among gardeners who want that perfect pop of sunshine in their salads. Both are incredibly popular for their sugary flavor and bright color, but they have distinct differences that can make one a better fit for your garden than the other. Let’s look at what sets these two varieties apart so you can decide which one to plant.
These tomatoes are often confused because they share a similar appearance and reputation. However, from growth habits to taste tests, they are unique. Knowing the details will help you get the best harvest for your effort. This guide will compare them directly, covering everything from plant care to how they perform in different climates. You’ll get clear, practical advice to make your choice simple.
Sun Sugar Tomato vs Sungold
This is the core comparison. Both are F1 hybrid cherry tomatoes known for their golden-orange fruit. Sun Sugar is often noted for its exceptional crack resistance, while Sungold is famous for its intense, almost tropical sweetness. The plants have different growth structures and disease resistance profiles, which are crucial for planning your garden layout and care routine.
Your local climate and what you want from a tomato will heavily influence which one you prefer. Some gardeners swear by one and won’t try the other, but trying both is the best way to know for sure. Here’s a breakdown of their key characteristics side-by-side.
Origin and Background
Knowing where these tomatoes come from gives insight into their breeding goals. Sungold was developed in Japan and introduced by the Tokita Seed Company. It quickly became a worldwide favorite for its reliable, vigorous growth and unmatched sweetness. Sun Sugar was bred by the American company, Johnny’s Selected Seeds, with a focus on improving upon some of Sungold’s minor flaws, like fruit cracking.
This difference in origin explains a lot. Sungold was a breakthrough in flavor, while Sun Sugar aimed to be a more robust garden performer. Both succeeded, leading to their enduring popularity.
Plant Growth and Structure
How these plants grow will affect your staking and spacing.
- Sungold: This is an indeterminate vine that is notoriously vigorous and sprawling. It can easily reach over 8 feet tall in a full season. It requires a very strong, tall support system like a heavy-duty cage or a sturdy trellis. It produces long, branching clusters of fruit.
- Sun Sugar: Also indeterminate, but its growth is typically described as more manageable and slightly less rampant than Sungold’s. It still needs good support, but its growth might be a bit easier to contain in a smaller garden space. The foliage is often denser.
If you have limited vertical space, Sun Sugar might be the slightly easier plant to manage. However, both will need your attention and regular tying to their supports.
Fruit Appearance and Flavor
This is where the tasting happens. At first glance, the fruit look similar, but there are subtle differences.
- Color: Sungold tends to be a deeper, more vibrant orange. Sun Sugar is a bright, golden orange, sometimes with a slight greenish shoulder near the stem when not fully ripe.
- Shape & Size: Both are round cherry tomatoes, typically about 1 inch in diameter. Sungold can be slightly more oval, while Sun Sugar is often perfectly round.
- Flavor: Sungold is famous for its explosive, complex sweetness with a hint of tartness and tropical notes. Many describe it as the sweetest tomato they’ve ever grown. Sun Sugar is also very sweet, but its flavor is often described as more of a classic, well-balanced tomato sweetness with less of the tropical intensity. It’s less likely to taste overly sweet to some palates.
The flavor difference is the biggest deciding factor for most people. It’s highly subjective, so if possible, try to taste each before you commit to growing one.
Key Gardening Differences
How they perform in the garden is just as important as how they taste.
Disease Resistance
This is a major point for Sun Sugar. Its breeding included resistance to Fusarium Wilt (Race 1 and 2) and Tobacco Mosaic Virus. Sungold, while vigorous, does not have these specific disease resistances listed in most catalogs. This makes Sun Sugar a more reliable choice in gardens where soil-borne diseases have been a problem in the past.
Cracking and Splitting
This is Sun Sugar’s standout feature. It has exceptional crack resistance, meaning the skin is less likely to split after heavy rain or irregular watering. Sungold, with its thinner skin and intense sugar content, is more prone to cracking, especially if watering isn’t consistent. If you live in an area with summer rainstorms, Sun Sugar’s resilience is a huge advantage.
Productivity and Ripening
Both are extremely productive, often described as “heavy yielders.” Sungold is known for producing fruit early in the season and continuing non-stop until frost. Sun Sugar is similarly productive, with some gardeners noting it might start a few days later but then keeps pace. Both produce fruit in large, generous clusters.
Which Should You Choose?
Your personal priorities will guide you. Here’s a simple flow to help decide.
- Choose Sungold if: Your top priority is ultimate, complex sweetness and you don’t mind a more vigorous, sprawling plant. You have excellent support and are willing to manage watering carefully to minimize cracking.
- Choose Sun Sugar if: You need a tomato with better disease resistance and superior crack tolerance. You prefer a plant that is slightly easier to manage and want a very sweet but more balanced tomato flavor.
For many gardeners, the ideal solution is to grow both. This way, you get to enjoy the different flavors and spread out your risk if one plant encounters problems.
How to Grow Them Successfully
Both varieties follow similar best practices for growing fantastic cherry tomatoes. Here’s a step-by-step guide.
1. Starting Seeds or Buying Transplants
You can start seeds indoors 6-8 weeks before your last expected frost date. Use a sterile seed-starting mix and provide plenty of light. For most gardeners, buying healthy transplants from a reputable nursery is the easiest way to get started. Look for stocky, dark green plants without any flowers or fruit already set.
2. Planting Out
Wait until all danger of frost has passed and soil has warmed. Tomatoes need full sun—at least 8 hours of direct light. Plant them deep, burying the stem up to the first set of true leaves. This encourages a stronger root system. Space plants about 24-36 inches apart, giving Sungold a bit more room if possible.
3. Support Systems
Install your support at planting time to avoid damaging roots later.
- Use tall, heavy-duty tomato cages (at least 5 feet tall).
- A Florida weave or a tall wooden stake (at least 7 feet) works very well.
- For Sungold, consider a double-stake system or a very robust cage, as the weight of the fruit can topple weaker supports.
4. Watering and Feeding
Consistent watering is the secret to preventing blossom end rot and minimizing cracking, especially on Sungold.
- Water deeply at the base of the plant, 1-2 inches per week.
- A soaker hose or drip irrigation is ideal to keep foliage dry and prevent disease.
- Feed with a balanced organic fertilizer at planting and then switch to a fertilizer higher in phosphorus and potassium (like a tomato-specific feed) when flowering begins.
5. Pruning and Maintenance
As indeterminate plants, they benefit from some pruning.
- Remove the “suckers” (the shoots that grow in the leaf axils) below the first flower cluster to encourage a strong main stem.
- You can choose to prune suckers higher up, but it’s not strictly necessary for a good harvest. More stems mean more fruit, but also a denser plant.
- Regularly tie the main stem to your support using soft plant ties or cloth strips.
6. Harvesting
The best part! Harvest when the fruit is fully colored and slightly soft to the touch. They should pull from the stem easily. Check plants every day during peak season, as ripe fruit can attract pests or split. The flavor is best when harvested at room temperature, not refrigerated.
Common Problems and Solutions
Even with great varieties, issues can arise. Here’s how to handle them.
Blossom End Rot
This appears as a dark, leathery spot on the bottom of the fruit. It’s caused by a calcium deficiency often linked to irregular watering. The solution is to maintain even soil moisture with mulch and consistent watering. Adding calcium is rarely effective if watering is erratic.
Cracking
As mentioned, Sungold is more prone to this. It happens when the plant takes up too much water too quickly after a dry period, causing the fruit to expand faster than the skin can grow. Mulch heavily and water consistently to prevent wide soil moisture swings. Harvest ripe fruit before a forecasted heavy rain.
Pests
Aphids, hornworms, and whiteflies can be a nusiance. Inspect plants regularly. For aphids, a strong spray of water often works. Hand-pick hornworms. Encourage beneficial insects like ladybugs and lacewings by planting flowers nearby.
Early Blight
This fungal disease shows as brown spots with concentric rings on lower leaves. Improve air circulation by pruning lower leaves and avoid overhead watering. Rotate your tomato crops each year if you can. Sun Sugar’s disease resistance gives it a slight edge here.
Using Your Harvest
These tomatoes are so sweet they often disappear before they make it into the house! But if you have a surplus, here are some ideas.
- Fresh Eating: The absolute best way. Eat them straight from the vine, in salads, or as a garnish.
- Roasting: Toss with olive oil, salt, and herbs, then roast at 300°F until they collapse. This concentrates their sweetness beautifully for pasta, bruschetta, or as a side.
- Freezing: No need to blanch. Just wash, dry, and pop them whole into a freezer bag. Use them later in cooked sauces or soups—they’ll lose their texture but keep great flavor.
- Preserves: Make a unique golden tomato jam or chutney. Their high sugar content makes them perfect for this.
Their bright color also makes them fantastic for adding visual appeal to any dish. Try mixing them with red and black cherry tomatoes for a stunning effect.
FAQ: Sun Sugar and Sungold Tomatoes
Which is sweeter, Sun Sugar or Sungold?
Most taste tests conclude that Sungold is sweeter, often described as having a tropical, candy-like sweetness. Sun Sugar is sweet but in a more traditional tomato way.
Which tomato is easier to grow?
Sun Sugar is generally considered the easier, more forgiving plant for beginners due to its better crack and disease resistance. Sungold requires more precise watering to avoid splitting.
Can I save seeds from these tomatoes?
No. Both are F1 hybrids, meaning seeds saved from the fruit will not produce plants true to type. They might produce interesting tomatoes, but they won’t be identical Sun Sugar or Sungold plants. You need to buy new seeds each year.
Do they grow well in containers?
Yes, both can be grown in large containers (at least 5 gallons). Use a high-quality potting mix and ensure the pot has excellent drainage. Support is even more critical in containers, as the plants can become top-heavy. Sungold’s vigor means it might outgrow a container faster than Sun Sugar.
Which one ripens earlier?
Sungold typically has a slight edge, often ripening a few days to a week earlier than Sun Sugar. Both are considered early to mid-season cherry tomatoes.
Why are my Sungold tomatoes splitting?
This is almost always due to uneven watering. A dry period followed by a deep watering or heavy rain causes the fruit to swell too fast. Mulch deeply and try to water on a regular schedule.
Are these tomatoes determinate or indeterminate?
Both are indeterminate tomatoes. This means they will continue growing and producing fruit throughout the growing season until killed by frost. They require tall, strong support.
Final Thoughts on Your Choice
The debate between Sun Sugar and Sungold is a good problem to have. It means you’re choosing between two exceptional tomatoes. If you value disease resistance and easy care, Sun Sugar is a phenomenal choice that still delivers great sweetness. If you’re a flavor adventurer seeking the ultimate sweet tomato and are ready for a vigorous plant, Sungold is a classic for a reason.
The best advice is to try at least one of them. Their performance and taste can vary slightly depending on your soil, weather, and care. Many gardeners end up planting both after a season or two, enjoying the subtle differences each brings to the summer garden. Whichever you choose, you’re in for a bountiful harvest of sweet, golden gems that will make your garden the envy of the neighborhood. Just remember to share some with friends—it’s hard to keep such a delicious harvest all to yourself.