Quality seeds for kitchen, cottage and native gardeners
Vegetable Seeds Catalogue
Tomato
Sds/g: 300-400 Feed Requirements: Moderate Usual Seed Life: 4-6 years
Cultural Notes:
- In cooler areas start seedlings indoors 5 – 6 weeks before your last frost and plant out in week 8 to be on the safe side. Plant deeper than the roots as the stem will form extra feeding roots. Do not start seedlings too early as root bound, leggy plants are bound to disappoint and be poor croppers.
- Determinate tomatoes form bushes that do not need to be pruned and produce fruit earlier but over a shorter period than indeterminates. Indeterminate tomatoes need to be trellised, trained up a string or staked. Given the room indeterminate varieties are prolific growers and will easily outgrow your average tomato stake.
- For best results plant against a high north-facing fence.
- Plant into soil with good organic matter and do not provide high nitrogen fertiliser, otherwise you will end up with excess leaf growth and late flowering. It is possible to force flowering by stressing the plant a bit with infrequent watering, however, once flowers have started ensure the plant gets regular water. Plant indeterminate seedlings with 80-120 cm centres and determinate seedlings with at least 50-90 cm centres.
Problems:
- The best way to avoid problems with tomatoes is by supplying sufficient moisture applied at soil level and adequate calcium. As tomatoes respond very well to foliar feeds a good preventative is a seaweed foliar spray every 2 weeks.
Harvest:
- Your homegrown tomatoes will taste better than any from the supermarket.
- Cherry tomato varieties ripen earliest. Unripened tomatoes should be harvested before the first frost. Either pull the plant and hang in a shed with good ventilation to avoid moulds or harvest tomatoes and ripen them in the house.
Sowing periods
A very large beefsteak variety that was developed by ‘Radiator Charlie’ during the depression. The ‘mortgage lifter’ gained such a reputation that he was able to pay of his mortgage by selling the plants for $1 each. An indeterminate variety that needs staking, with large (up to 1.6 kg) pink-red fruit. 80 seeds.
A low acid variety that when ripe is bright red with distinct green-yellowish stripes. Not to be confused with Tigeralla that is a little smaller, not as sweet and with less defined markings. Great flavour. A tough and vigorous producer that needs staking. 80 SEEDS.
An early slicing tomato bred at the Oregon State University. Very good cold tolerance, setting 8-10 cm red fruit even in cooler weather, so suitable for gardens in cooler regions or at higher elevations. Good flavour, rounded red fruit. A determinate (bush) variety that may need some support. 50 seeds.
An heirloom variety from the U.S. with large, heart shaped, reddish pink fruit. Best suited to cooler climates where it produces solid tomatoes with good flavour and few seeds. Staking variety. 80 seeds
This early, prolific, Italian heirloom produces apricot sized, oval, red fruit. Very tasty, when eaten raw but mainly used for drying. Needs staking. Prepare the soil by digging in plenty of rotted organic matter and use lime if soil is acidic. 40 seeds
A variety that produces good volumes of medium red fruit. With good flavour the fruit can be used raw or cooked (also freezes well). Grow against a north facing wall for best results. A medium sized plant that requires some support. 60 seeds.
A popular crimson red medium tomato with great taste that tolerates low night temperatures, so it is ideal for cooler area. A Russian heirloom that is an early producer. A tough and vigorous producer that needs staking. 80 seeds.
A prolific producer of cherry tomatoes. This German heirloom produces a cluster of 20-30 sweet red fruit (Riesentraube translates as ‘giant bunch of grapes’) that are pear shaped with a sharp pointed end. An indeterminate variety that requires staking. 80 seeds.
This oval shaped, Italian bush type is excellent for paste and sauces. A prolific grower with no disease problems. A very popular and reliable variety. 80 seeds
This vigorous French bush variety with strong flavoured, flattish red tomatoes will set large amounts of fruit even in cool weather. Surround the young plants with lots of straw around the base to keep the ripening tomatoes of the ground. 80 seeds
This Italian, long, pear shaped tomato has medium sized, tough skinned, sweet fruit that stores well and is a reliable, staking variety for pastes and purees. Prepare the soil by digging in plenty of rotted organic matter and use lime if soil is acid. approx. 80 seeds
A very early slicing tomato bred in the NW of America. A vigorous bush variety that will provide several bursts of ripe tomatoes as the season progresses. Flavour packed tomatoes that are sweet, round, red and 10-14 cm in diameter. A parthenocarpic tomato, meaning that it can form fruit naturally even in cold weather. 30 seeds.