A guide to tomato varieties
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A Guide to Tomato Varieties
This year we will once again be stocking a range of tomatoes, including determinate (bush) varieties, and indeterminate (vine) varieties.
Here is a guide to the key characteristics of these varieties to help you choose which one is right for you.
Determinate Tomatoes
These are short/bushy – no stake or only a short stake required.
Min. 25cm pot recommended, 30cm is better.
Adelaide Festival: Modern heirloom bred in SA as part of the Dwarf Tomato Project. Medium sized, beefsteak shape fruit coloured dark purple with green stripes. 90cm H.
Patio: Compact, bush type to 60cm H. Small-medium round fruit with good flavour.
Riesentraube: German heirloom, name means ‘giant bunch of grapes’. Extremely productive, with very long clusters of 20-40 fruit. Flavour is so rich, it’s used to make tomato wine! 75cm H.
Sugarlump: Extra sweet cherry type on medium length tresses. Hugely popular German heirloom, better known as Gardeners Delight in other countries. Resistant to cracking. Late cropping. 1.5m H.
Thai Pink Egg: Small, grape-like, attractive, pale pink fruit. Sweet and high yielding. Copes well with humidity. Popular Thai variety that partners well with Asian herbs. 60cm H.
Tiny Tim: Abundant crop of small sweet fruit on 50cm tall bushy plants.
Tumbling Tom: Trailing cherry, ideal for baskets or containers.
Indeterminate Tomatoes
These are tall and/or spreading, so they need staking. Taller varieties require a 1.8-2m stake.
Min. 30cm pot is recommended.
Berkeley Tie Die: Large, meaty, slicing variety. Modern heirloom described as having excellent flavour and best colour of all, with “vibrant rose-green skin with splashes of yellow and a psychedelic inside”! Winner of many taste tests and a favourite with chefs. Compact indeterminate. 60cm.
Black Russian: Blackish-purple heirloom with a rich, complex flavour. Must be allowed to ripen fully on the vine or may be tasteless. Good for slicing and salads. 1.6m high.
Cherry/Cherry Double Truss: classic cherry tomato with masses of sweet fruit and a very long cropping season. 1-2m H, depending on grower.
Green Grape: Modern heirloom with a unique tangy-sweet flavour. Green-gold colour when fully ripe. Almost seedless. Semi-determinate, but heavy cropping so fruit must be supported.
Grosse Lisse: An old favourite heirloom with abundant, medium-large fruit. Crops over a long season. Juicy and full of flavour. Vigorous and climbing, so best maintained with just 2 leaders. If too many leaders are kept, fruit size will be reduced. Good all-rounder for slicing, salads and cooking. 1.8m H.
Nonna’s Italian Roma: Large, meaty, oval fruit. Very heavy cropping. Michelle has grown this and loved it. Good for salads and drying. Prune to 2 leaders to ensure large fruit. 2m H.
Rapunzel: 1 metre long, cascading trusses each carrying up to 40 small cherries! 2m stake essential – it grows that tall and then some!
Roma: Rich flavour, must be allowed to ripen well on the vine. 1-1.5m H.
Rouge de Marmande: French heirloom with excellent flavour. Large, flattened and ribbed fruit with few seeds. Cold tolerant and early cropping. 1.5m H.
Sweetbite: High yielding cherry on long trusses. 2m H.
Sweetie: Extra sweet tomato with multiple, grape-like bunches of fruit.
Tigerella: English heirloom with small-medium size fruit, red with orange/yellow stripes. Highest yield in Diggers trials, and early cropping. Perfect for salads. 2m H.
Tommy Toe: sweet, apricot-sized fruit, a bit larger than a typical cherry. Previous winner of Diggers taste tastes. 2m H.