Agricultural Sciences

Heirloom Tomatoes Can Bring Splashes Of Color To The Garden

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Many gourmets and gardeners are growing heirloom tomatoes -- regional varieties with unusual colors and flavors -- but a Penn State vegetable specialist says not everybody can succeed at growing them.

"If you've never grown a tomato, you shouldn't start with heirloom varieties," warns Peter Ferretti, professor of vegetable crops in the College of Agricultural Sciences. "They are much more susceptible to disease, the fruit is softer, they have to be grown from seed, and they must be harvested and eaten fairly quickly."

Ferretti says heirloom tomato seeds are available at most garden centers and suggests starting to grow the plants in late April.

Ferretti lists a few of the more popular heirloom tomato varieties:

--Striped German. This variety has red and yellow swirls throughout the tomato. --Brandywine. The fruit is either yellow or red and has a distinctly spicy taste. --Pruden's Purple. This tomato has a dark pink skin and crimson flesh. --Cherokee Purple. The skin is pink or purple, and the flesh is a mixture of purple, green and brown tints. --Plum Lemon (or Wonder Light). This variety, originally from Siberia, has the exact size, shape and coloring of a lemon. --Debarao. Another Siberian variety, this tomato is a large, early red plum type.

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EDITORS: For more information, contact Peter Ferretti at 814-863-2313.

Contacts: John Wall jtw3@psu.edu 814-863-2719 814-865-1068 fax

Last Updated March 19, 2009