Tomatoes don't always have to be red and round! Here you can find out everything about the diversity of varieties, cultivation, harvest and storage.
Even if many people don't believe it: the popular tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) has come a long, arduous way to its current distribution. The plant, which belongs to the nightshade family, originally comes from the South American Andes. In Mexico, the Spanish seafarers discovered the plant called "xitomatl" for the first time. It was brought to Europe on ships, where it was cultivated as an ornamental plant in the gardens of aristocrats.
So far, historians have been unable to find an explanation as to why the tomato took so long to make its way onto the local menu. Since the late 19th century, the tomato has found its way via Italy, Austria and finally to Germany. It is now one of the most commonly consumed vegetables.
TGrowing tomatoes in your own garden: This is how it works
Of the 22 kilograms of tomatoes that Germans eat every year, the vast majority come from abroad. Well under 10% of the tomatoes sold in the supermarket and vegetable market were grown in Germany. Especially in the winter months, it should come as no surprise that many tomatoes taste like little more than a watery fruiting body.
Growing tomatoes on the terrace or balcony, or even in your own garden, is easy and is an easy way to harvest tomatoes that are particularly aromatic and have an intense taste. The good old varieties are particularly aromatic and sweet. You rarely get young plants of special varieties, which is why you have to sow them yourself. However, growing tomatoes yourself is easier than many people think. At the end of February to mid-March you start sowing tomatoes on a window sill that is as bright as possible. For this purpose, the tomato seed is planted about 1 cm deep and slightly watered. For cultivation, it is best to use a high-quality cultivation soil that promotes root formation, such as our Plantura organic herb and seed soil. If the plant pots are above a radiator, this guarantees rapid germination.Because tomatoes germinate best at temperatures above 20° C. After about 10 days, the time has come and the seedlings will gradually appear. The soil should always be slightly moist and never dry out completely.
As soon as the plants form the second regular pair of leaves, the young plants can be pricked out carefully into a larger pot. Experts such as Robert Meier also recommend using potting soil for the pricked out plants. Since this soil is particularly low in nutrients, two to three weeks after pricking out, it must be fertilized very carefully and in low doses. Otherwise the leaves will turn yellow. By pricking out the tomatoes, you not only create new space for the plants, but also harden them off. Plants pricked out once or twice later grow particularly well. You have to be careful when pricking. It is best to use a pricking stick to injure as few roots as possible. Since the plants can only go outside after the ice saints, you usually have to fertilize with a liquid fertilizer every two weeks from the end of April. Tomato fertilization is necessary when the lower leaves turn slightly yellow.
After the ice saints, the time has come and the plants can go outside. Tomatoes are classic heavy feeders and like it as sunny as possible. The plants need nutrient-rich soil and regular fertilization.
Want to learn more about growing tomatoes outdoors? Have a look here.
Growing tomatoes in pots
If you want to grow tomatoes on the balcony or terrace, you need a flower pot with a volume of at least 10 liters. Tomatoes that remain compact, such as the yellow traffic light tomato, can also be grown in 5 litres. Use a special tomato soil that can cover the high potassium needs of the plants. For example, our peat-free Plantura organic tomato and vegetable soil is ideal.
When planting, you should put a sturdy plant stick directly into the container. Most tomato varieties need to be tied up. In the tomato house, this can also be ensured by strings attached to the ceiling.
You should fertilize your tomatoes for the first time about three months after planting. For this, it is best to use a primarily organic organic fertilizer with a long-term effect, such as our Plantura organic tomato fertilizer, which gently releases its nutrients to the tomatoes andsustainably ensures a rich harvest.
You can find out here why crop rotation makes sense for tomatoes too: Tomatoes: crop rotation, crop rotation and mixed cropping.
Pulling Tomatoes: A Question of Faith
Again and again we get questions from eager hobby gardeners who are not sure about the max. When pinching, the side shoots are removed so that the plant can put more energy into fruiting. In our opinion, you can overdo it, but you also risk diseases. If you break off the shoot, this area has to heal first and is a gateway for pathogens such as fungi. This is especially true if the tomato is not covered and gets wet from time to time.
Instead of stinging, you can also provide more root mass. Not only potting soil and a double pricking out ensures a good root system; you can also carefully remove the bottom two pairs of leaves and plant the tomato horizontally and raise the top third (which has pairs of leaves) on a stick. If you now pile up earth, the hitherto unrooted shoot will also form roots. The total root mass is significantly higher with this trick.
Tomato types and varieties
There are countless ways to categorize tomato varieties. Color is definitely a possibility: tomatoes come in white, yellow, green, purple, red, brown-red and almost black. Tomatoes can also vary greatly in size and weight. The variety here ranges from cocktail tomatoes weighing a few grams to date tomatoes, normal tomatoes, beefsteak and giant tomatoes weighing over a kilogram. Tomatoes also differ in their growth habit. Some varieties grow almost indefinitely (indeterminate type), others form more of a bush and do not have to be staked or tied up. More important now than a decade ago is susceptibility to disease. A distinction is made between hardy, tolerant and resistant varieties. While hardy strains are less likely to get sick, resistant strains are completely immune to a specific pathogen.
According to projections, there are over 35,000 different tomato varieties. You can find some of our absolute favorites here. A detailed overview of different tomato varieties can be found here.
- Yellow traffic light tomato: verytasty cocktail tomato with a very compact habit. Particularly suitable for cultivation in containers or in a basket; very good yield.
- De Berao: very vigorous tomato with good tolerance to brown rot. In a study by Dr. Bernd Horneburg (University of Göttingen, Department of Crop Sciences) has been chosen as one of THE outdoor varieties. Good taste ( although not quite as aromatic as other varieties) and high yielding; a great strain for outdoors and for anyone who absolutely hates spraying.
- Green Zebra: a very striking variety with a sweet and sour taste; when ripe, the fruits are green with yellow stripes. Green Zebra is a feast for the eyes.
- Romei's Sugar Egg: light yellow, egg-shaped tomato; excellent and very sweet taste; slightly thicker skin that makes the tomato extremely crunchy.
- Black-red ball: an optically very interesting bi-color variety; on the sunny side the fruits turn black, while the side away from the sun remains red; also tasted very good.
If you've got the idea of tomatoes but don't know where to get suitable seeds and fertilizer, here is an overview of good sources for tomato seeds and fertilizer.
Tomato harvest and storage
From mid-July you can harvest in areas with a favorable climate. A large part of the tomato harvest occurs in August and September. When the garden is cleared towards the end of October, all the tomatoes should also be harvested. If the fruits are still green, they can be ripened in a cool, dark place. This is easy to do and, if done correctly, does not significantly reduce the aroma.
Tomatoes, like many other nightshade plants, contain the toxic solanine. In ripe tomatoes, however, it is broken down to such an extent that there is no danger to humans. Because it is mainly present in unripe fruits, the stem base and the leaves. When ripe, green tomatoes such as Green Zebra also contain a negligibly small amount of the toxic solanine. It's an old wives' tale that cooking or freezing breaks down the solanine or renders it harmless.
Even if it happens again and again: tomatoes shouldn't be in the fridge. If it is too cold for the sun-bathed tomatoes, they lose their aroma. Tomatoes should also not be stored together with apples or bananas. Because these give off ethylene, a ripening gas that spoils the tomatoes quite quicklyleaves. If you want to preserve larger quantities of tomatoes, you can either dry them, pickle them or process them into a tomato sauce.
You can find out more about harvesting and preserving tomatoes here.
Ingredients and uses in the kitchen
Tomatoes are very low in calories with 20 kcal per 100g. In addition, the fruit of the nightshade plant is rich in vitamins (especially A, B1, B2, C & E) and minerals such as calcium and iron. Because of the red color, many tomato varieties also contain high levels of the carotenoid lycopene, an antioxidant. This should counteract cell aging and cancer cells.
The use of tomatoes now knows no bounds. Tomatoes are a must in Italian dishes such as spaghetti al pomodoro or pizza. The vegetable is also a must for bruschetta or tomato-mozzarella. Frequent flyers often appreciate the tangy taste of the tomato in the form of a Bloody Mary.
You can find more information about protecting your tomatoes here: Protecting tomatoes from diseases.