Tomato Seedlings, Amish Paste
SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Solanum lycopersicum
VARIETY:
"Amish Paste". A long-time favorite heirloom plum. Large for a sauce tomato, Amish Paste's slightly irregular plum to strawberry-shaped fruits avg. 8-12 oz. with excellent flavor. These meaty tomatoes are good in salads and great for processing. A Slow Food USA Ark of Taste variety. Indeterminate. "Granadero". Our most prolific plum, bred for organic systems. Granadero produces very high yields of uniform, attractive, bright red, 4-5 oz. tomatoes with very good flavor. Thick-walled fruit; ideal for fresh tomato sauces, salsas, and salads. Broad disease resistance package keeps Granadero healthy even under heavy disease pressure. High resistance to Fusarium wilt races 1, 2, powdery mildew, tobacco mosaic virus, Verticillium wilt; and intermediate resistance to nematodes and tomato spotted wilt virus. Low susceptibility to blossom end rot. Indeterminate.
CULTURE:
Transplant into medium-rich garden or field soil 12-24" apart for determinate varieties, 24-36" apart for indeterminate, unstaked varieties, and 14-20" for staking. Plant 3-8" inches deep, covering the root ball well and up to the cotyledons (first leaves). If using grafted plants, take care to ensure the graft union is not touching soil. Water seedlings with a high-phosphate fertilizer solution. For earliest crops, set plants out around the last frost date under floating row covers, which will protect from frost to about 28°F (-2°C). If possible, avoid setting out unprotected plants until night temperatures are over 45°F (7°C). Frost will cause severe damage. Abundant soil phosphorus is important for early high yields. Too much nitrogen causes rampant growth and soft fruits susceptible to rot.
