San Marzano Tomato (Heirloom 82 Days)

This Italian heirloom paste tomato is widely known and popular despite its lack of disease resistance. The fruit's mild and pleasant tomato flavor is prized for cooking down into sauces and purees and is famous for canning. The vigorous vine carries clusters of small, 1 ½ by 3 ½” lobed, elongated fruits with firm flesh and open seed cavity and very few seeds. Yields are very high.

Solanum lycopersicum

Indeterminate

Germination: 7-14 days

Germination Temperature: Optimum soil temperatures 70-85ºF.

Seed Sowing Depth: 1/4” deep

Starting Indoors: 6 weeks before the last frost. Provide 75-80ºF soil temperatures. Sow 2-3 seeds per cell/pot, thin to the strongest seedling, or use the 20 Row seedling flat, transplanting into individual pots when seedlings get their 3rd set of leaves. Fertilize the seedlings every 7-10 days with a liquid or water-soluble fertilizer, diluted to ¼ of the suggested measurement. Transplant out after the last frost. Space 24-36" apart

Sowing Outdoors: Only in areas with very long growing seasons. Sow after the last frost. 

Harvest: When fruit is red (or color of the variety planted) and firm.

Tips: The San Marzano Tomato should be planted in fertile soil, amended with compost, mulch, and provide even moisture. Plant deeper than they were growing in the containers as it makes a stronger roots system. Apply a light compost tea every few weeks. Do not apply excessive nitrogen, which can promote excessive foliage and poor fruit set.