Tomato Seeds, German Pink, Meaty flesh with few seed, Heirloom Tomato

Great for Sandwiches, salads,grilling and more !

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LIght: Full sun
Fruit size: 9 to 16 oz
Matures: 80 to 100 days
Plant spacing: 36 inches apart
Plant size: 7 to 9 feet tall
Plant type: Indeterminate

(Solanum lycopersicum) One of the two original Bavarian heirlooms from Diane Ott Whealy’s family that started SSE. Potato leaf plants produce large 1-2 pound fruits. Meaty flesh with few seeds, very little cracking or blossom scars. Full sweet flavor. Excellent for canning, freezing and slicing. Indeterminate, 85 days from transplant.

Detailed planting instructions:

When starting your tomato seeds be sure you have a place where they can get enough light. Even a sunny, south-facing window is barely adequate. Consider using a grow light to supplement sunlight.

Dont start plants too early. Sow seeds indoors 6 to 8 weeks before transplanting outside. Plant them 1/8 inch deep in sterile seed starting mix in flats or cells. Seeds germinate best at 75 F to 90 F. Then grow transplants at about 70 F.

Dont rush to transplant, either. Cold soil and air temperatures can stress plants. Wait at least a week or two after the last frost. Nighttime temperatures should be consistently above 45 F. Use black plastic mulch to warm soil and/or row covers, hot caps or other protection to keep plants warm early in the season. Remove covers whenever temperatures exceed 85 F.

Harden off plants before transplanting by reducing water and fertilizer, not by exposing to cold temperatures, which can stress them and stunt growth. Transplants exposed to cold temperatures (60 F to 65 F day and 50 F to 60 F night) are more prone to catfacing.

Unlike most plants, tomatoes do better if planted deeper than they were grown in containers. Set them in the ground so that the soil level is just below the lowest leaves. Roots will form along the buried stem, establishing a stronger root system.

To reduce root disease risk, don't plant on soils that have recently grown tomatoes, potatoes, peppers or eggplant for at least two years.

Mulch plants after the soil has warmed up to maintain soil moisture and suppress weeds. Tomatoes need a consistent supply of moisture. If it rains less than 1 inch per week, water to make up the difference.

Many factors (in addition to your choice of variety) affect total yield, first harvest and fruit quality. Raised beds, black plastic mulch and providing consistent moisture by watering or through drip irrigation are good ways to improve all three.

How you provide support to plants can also affect performance. Determinate varieties do not need staking. But staking and pruning indeterminate varieties can hasten first harvest by a week or more, improve fruit quality, keep fruit cleaner, and make harvest easier. Staking and pruning usually reduces total yield, but fruits will tend to be larger. Staked and pruned plants are also more susceptible to blossom end rot and sunscald. Allowing indeterminate varieties to sprawl reduces labor, but takes up more space and plants are more prone to disease.

Wooden tomato stakes are typically about 6 feet long and 1 ½ inch square, but you can use similar materials. Drive stakes at least 8 to 10 inches deep at or soon after transplanting so as not to damage roots.

Prune tomatoes to one or two vigorous stems by snapping off “suckers” (stems growing from where leaf stems meet the main stem) when they are 2 to 4 inches long. Tie stems to stake with soft string, twine or cloth, forming a figure-8 with the stem in one loop and the stake in the other. This gives the stem room to expand without being constricted. Start about 8 to 12 inches above the ground and continue to tie at similar intervals as the plant grows. As an alternative to using individual stakes, grow several plants in a row between heavy-duty stakes or posts spaced about 4 feet apart, and use twine to weave in and out around posts and plants.


SAVING SEEDS

Saving tomato seeds is a fairly simple process. Every tomato seed is covered in a gelatinous sack which contains chemicals that inhibit seed germination. This prevents the seeds from sprouting whilst inside the tomato fruit. In nature the fruit drops from the plant and slowly rots away on the ground. This is the natural fermentation process and it is during this that the gelatinous sacks are destroyed. To save tomato seeds yourself you need to duplicate the fermentation process. This will not only remove the gelatinous sack but also kills any seed borne tomato diseases.