Heirloom Tomatoes: What Are They?

HomeGardening

  • Author Susan Elmore
  • Published August 16, 2010
  • Word count 563

If you're thinking of planting tomatoes, whether it will be for any benefit of selling them, or just to have your own fresh tomatoes available, you're probably wondering if you ought to seed heirloom tomatoes and / or hybrid tomatoes.

Heirloom tomato plants are tomatoes which have been in cultivation for a minimum of fifty years. Of course, these types of tomatoes have been altogether distinctive and also limited to primarily just one or two home gardens within the past years. This made these varieties of tomato plants very uncommon and appealing to home gardeners which desired to carry on the historic feature belonging to the heirloom tomato.

Hybrid tomato plants are tomatoes which have been cross-pollinated using two or more varieties. This approach makes the hybrids more resistant to unwanted pests in addition to diseases.

You will find major differences between these two types of tomatoes. As an example, heritage tomatoes enjoy a sweeter flavour than hybrids. They likewise have fewer seeds, and are available in a huge assortment of textures, colors and sizes. With hybrid tomatoes, the flavour suffered, and they aren’t as delicious. Additionally, because heirloom tomato plants really are open-pollinated, you are able to preserve the seeds every single year instead of requiring you to purchase new seeds each year.

There are a handful of drawbacks to growing heirlooms, nonetheless. Typically the main problem is the fact that heirloom tomatoes aren't resistant to major tomato diseases and / or unwanted insects. In addition they usually do not bear as much fruit as the hybrids do.

Here are some heirloom tomato varieties:

Big Rainbow - Just one of many hefty fruited yellow tomatoes with reddish swirls, having a delicate, sweet taste. Hillbilly, below, is actually another.

Black Krim - A deep red to brownish cultivar often reported inside seed catalogues as having come originally from the "island of Krim" within the Black Sea.

Brandywine - A big fruited, pink type developed upon strong potato leaf plants.

Cherokee Purple - One from the really very first recognized "black", or perhaps deep dusky pink coloured tomatoes which are growing so popularly accepted. A nice fine flavored, substantial yielding variety, however it is not totally an heirloom.

Green Zebra - Frequently described as an heirloom, it's not. It is an open-pollinated cultivar selectively bred from four heirloom varieties.

Hillbilly - It is recognized in regular leaf and potato leaf varieties. Look at Big Rainbow variety above.

Jubilee - A large yielding, gold colored fruit.

Lillian's Yellow Heirloom - One of the several vivid yellow fruited types, and the sole one that has potato leaf foliage, this type is really a tasty, full flavorful tomato which is rather meaty, with very few seeds. It seems to always be a late spring season choice.

Mortgage Lifter - One among the far more popular heirlooms on account of it has a fanciful heritage. The huge pinkish tomatoes are sweet and also delicious.

Traveler, syn. Arkansas Traveler - A good open pollinated light red tomato within the six ounce range. One more cultivar commonly known as an heirloom, despite the fact that by many definitions it is formally not.

If you are a home gardener, the perfect tomato that you can grow would be the heirloom, because of its excellent taste. Hybrids are usually much better targeted for the bigger growers which are simply looking for the money.

Susan Elmore is an avid tomato enthusiast and enjoys sharing her knowledge with others. Her newest book "Tomato Growing Secrets: Must Know Secrets to Grow the Biggest, Juiciest Tomatoes" teaches gardeners everything they need to know about growing the best tomatoes in their area.

http://www.growingtomatoes-info.com/

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