NEW DWARF TOMATOES!!!
Have you ever wished for the taste and quality of an heirloom tomato, but on a plant you could grow in a small space or container? Last year, we were excited to introduce several varieties from the Dwarf Tomato Project that achieve just that. This year, we are offering four new varieties that performed well for us last summer.
The Dwarf Tomato Back Story
The Dwarf Tomato Project is a collaborative initiative that began in 2006, uniting tomato enthusiasts worldwide to develop compact, easy-to-maintain tomato plants without compromising on flavor or variety. The project's mission is to create delicious tomatoes of all flavors and sizes on dwarf plants, making them ideal for gardeners with limited space.
Dwarf tomato plants are characterized by their sturdy structure, dense crinkly (rugose) foliage, and thick central stems. Depending on the variety, these plants range from 2 to 4.5 feet in height, making them suitable for container gardening, balconies, or small garden plots. Despite their compact size, they produce a diverse array of fruit types, including some large fruits up to around 18 ounces. The flavor profiles are extensive, encompassing sweet, tangy, fruity, and even hints of saltiness, ensuring there's a variety to suit every palate. Fruit colors are equally diverse, featuring green-when-ripe, bi-colors, stripes, purples, pinks, reds, yellows, oranges, and whites.
All varieties developed by the Dwarf Tomato Project are designated as 'Open Source' under the Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI). This designation ensures that these seeds remain free from patents and other restrictions, allowing gardeners and breeders the freedom to use, share, and further develop these varieties. The OSSI pledge emphasizes the importance of maintaining these freedoms for current and future generations.
By choosing to grow dwarf tomato varieties from the Dwarf Tomato Project, gardeners contribute to a movement that values biodiversity, sustainability, and the joy of cultivating flavorful, heirloom-quality tomatoes in spaces of any size.
What we learned
Last year, we trialed many varieties both in our demonstration garden and in our home gardens, and here is what we learned:
• When growing in pots, the 15-gallon size works best, 10- gallon is acceptable. 5-gallon is too small for these varieties.
• Do not overwater. Water consistently but sparingly. Leaves will turn yellow when plants are overwatered.
• Give plants plenty of space to allow proper air circulation.
• Do minimal/no pruning, except for the bottom leaves.
• Support – These require staking of stem due to weight of numerous tomatoes on a stem. Or use tomato cages.
• Fertilize at least 3 times: at planting, start of flowering, and mid-summer.
Here are the new varieties that will be available at our Walnut Creek and Richmond sales:
Eagle Smiley (Dwarf)
Cherry / Yellow / 1 ounce / 60 Days / Open Pollinated / Indeterminate
Dwarf Eagle Smiley looks like a smaller version of a standard cherry-type tomato plant, reaching about five feet in height. Extremely productive, plants are loaded with bright golden-yellow fruit borne in clusters of eight to ten tomatoes. These little flavor bombs explode in your mouth with an intense sugary goodness! With outstanding flavor, this is perhaps the best-flavored of all the dwarf cherry-types to date, on a par with the best indeterminate and hybrid varieties.
Mary's Cherry (Dwarf)
Cherry / Purple / 2-4 ounce / 75 Days / Open Pollinated / Indeterminate
Dwarf Mary's Cherry is very productive! Expect lots of purple tomatoes with an excellent, complex sweet/tart flavor. Although most of the fruit on the plants are smaller, cherry-type, expect some variability in shapes and sizes on the same plant. ("Is this a cherry tomato? Mine produced golf-ball-sized cherry tomatoes, reddish with purple shoulders. The fruits decorated a productive, sturdy yet attractive dwarf bush. The flavor was smoky and deep!" Master Gardener)
Beauty King (Dwarf)
Slicer / Red- Gold / 6-12 ounces / 75 Days / Open Pollinated / Indeterminate
This vigorous dwarf plant is known for its outstanding, rich, and sweet flavors. Producing round, red fruits with beautiful golden stripes and speckles, it features rugose foliage (textured with wrinkles and puckers). Expect meaty fruits with small seed pockets. Occasionally produces very large fruits! ("What a beauty! This vibrant bicolor tomato stands out amongst the dark leaves. I found this beauty to be very tasty and tangy" Master Gardener)
Wild Fred (Dwarf)
Slicer / Purple / 6-8 ounces / 85 days / Open Pollinated / Indeterminate
If you like Cherokee Purple and want to try a dwarf variety, this comes closest in flavor, color and size to that outstanding variety! It yields medium sized, somewhat irregular shaped, meaty, purple fruit that have an excellent flavor. Expect rugose foliage (textured with wrinkles and puckers) on this dwarf plant. ("Wild Fred is crazy “wild,” producing delectable tasting reddish/purplish tomatoes ranging from small slicers to extra-large beefsteak size. Flavor wise, this was a favorite: with deep, rich, red tomato flavor." Master Gardener)