Greenhouse Tomatoes

Most people will think of those little tennis ball sized tomatoes found in the supermarket in the winter when the term greenhouse tomatoes is mentioned. In my case however the term takes on a different meaning. I grow my tomatoes in the summer when there is ample light and heat. The varieties I grow in our greenhouse are varied and very tasty. Most growers have their favorite varieties of tomato based on taste, size, growth habits or some other criterion. I have been experimenting (and continue to do so) with varieties new to me along with my old favorites. I always grow Early girl, pink brandywine, super sweet 100 and sungold. We have the luxury of growing our tomatoes in the greenhouse, thereby avoiding some of the plant diseases that field grown varieties are susceptible to. The extra heat of the greenhouse also works in our favor to have an earlier harvest. Here are some pictures and descriptions of the tomatoes growing in our greenhouse this year.

We have a few different varieties of small tomatoes this year. Super sweet 100 is a hybrid that produces a cherry tomato with beefsteak taste. The picture above is a sungold tomato. It is a yellow cherry tomato and one of the sweetest and earliest I can grow. I am trying out a Celano grape tomato that my brother Walter gave to me. It was an All America winner so I have high hopes for it. It is similar to a cherry tomato but the fruit is more the size and shape of a grape rather than a cherry.

This is an experimental hybrid tomato that doesn’t have a name yet. I am trying it out on a trial basis. SeedsN’Such comes out with a new experimental tomato most every year. This will be a beafsteak size fruit but is very early in producing it’s first tomato.

If you look closely you might recognize that this tomato plant has leaves that are a different shape from the others. These are called potato leafed tomatoes. This is my all time favorite pink brandywine, an heirloom tomato. It has a beefsteak size fruit with just the best tomato taste (IMHO). One thick slice makes a wonderful tomato sandwich in the summertime.

If this plant looks shorter than the others that is because it is a determinate plant called Tonopah (another experimental hybrid from a previous year that was good enough to be named and be added to their catalog. Determinate means it produces it’s fruit over a 4 -6 a week span and then dies. Determinate tomato plants often tend to be shorter. Despite it’s height though it produces a smooth skinned beefsteak size fruit with good taste.

The Mount Merit tomato plant on the right looks quite small compared to the Celano grape tomato plant to the left. Shortly after I received this plant from my brother Walter it rotted at the base of the stem and keeled over. I cut off the rooted part of the stem, put the cut part of the stem in rooting powder and repotted it in sterile potting soil. Within two weeks it had grown roots and was on it’s way to becoming a healthy plant. It may be a bit behind the other plants in producing fruit but I think this was a good save. I haven’t grown this variety before so i am looking forward to seeing if it might be one I could grow every year.

If you look closely at the picture above you can see a stem growing at a junction of a leaf and the main stem. this is called a sucker. I pinch those out so that there is just a single stem called a cordon. This gives me a plant with a size that is manageable in the limited pace of the greenhouse. Now I just have to wait patiently for the first ripe tomato of the season, usually sometime in July but maybe earlier this year. In the meantime, stay safe out there!