Heirloom Organic Beefsteak Tomato
$2.99
Massive fruit, easily reaching 1-2 lbs has deep red flesh and good old-fashioned tomato flavor. These are the tomatoes that grandma grew, meaty and firm, perfect on sandwiches or served straight up with a pinch of salt. Resistant to cracking. A particularly good producer in the Northeast, but well adapted to the entire U.S. as well. Scientists recently determined that Beefsteak’s massive fruit was originally caused by a chance mutation.
16 in stock
Product Description
Difficulty:
Moderate
Timing:
Start indoors in early spring over bottom heat. When seedlings germinate, remove from the heat and grow under bright lights. Grow seedlings on for 6-8 weeks at around 50°F. Early season tomatoes can be planted out once night time temperatures are reliably above 45°F – or later. Other types should be transplanted out when night time lows are 50°F or warmer – or later. Optimal soil temperature for germination is 68-95°F. With bottom heat seeds should germinate in 7-14 days.
Starting:
Sow seeds ½” deep. Keep seedlings under very bright light to prevent legginess. You may have to pot on seedlings more than once before they go out to allow for root growth. Space vine (indeterminate) types 20-30″ apart in rows 3′ apart.
Growing:
Ideal pH: 6.0-6.8. Tomatoes like fertile, well drained soil that is rich in organic matter. Dig in finished compost and manure, and add 1 cup balanced organic fertilizer beneath each transplant. The nutrition from heavy clay soils is excellent for tomatoes, but they are slow to warm, so transplanting should be done later. By the same token, lighter soils warm more quickly, so transplants can go out sooner. Adding glacial rock dust will supply all the calcium they will need. Regular watering is vital, but don’t let the plants sit in water. Tomatoes are tropical plants so they require full sun and lots of heat. Vine varieties will require some kind of support such as a wire to grow up, or a trellis to be tied to as the plant grows. At the time of final transplant, plants can be buried up to their first pair of true leaves. This will encourage greater root growth, helping with both nutrient uptake and the plants’ ability to stand up to dry conditions.
Stop watering around the end of July to encourage the fruit to ripen. If tomato plants are grown under cover, you can encourage pollination and fruit set by tapping the stem from time to time. Tomatoes do not rely on insects for pollination. Vibrating the plant shakes pollen loose within the flowers, which then self-pollinate.
Indeterminate tomatoes continue to grow and produce fruit until they are killed by frost. Remove any suckers (stems growing from the crotch of leaves) to keep the foliage under control, and they will set a later crop of larger fruit.
Harvest:
Harvest when the fruit is the desired color. Green tomatoes can be ripened indoors at a cool temperature when they are blemish free. Very dark green tomatoes are unlikely to ripen fully.
Days to Maturity: 90 days
Planting Depth: 1/2″
Distance Apart: 24″ – 36″
Amount: 100mg
