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Growing Tomatoes

Please help me identify this tomato variety

10 years ago

This plant has been growing by itself for the last 2 years or so (from the seeds of the ripe tomatoes falling). They taste delicious and seem to be an indeterminate variety. Can you please help identify them? Int he harvest photo they are towards the viewer.

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Comments (5)

Bets
10 years ago
Your tomato looks like it might be a "paste" or sauce type of tomato. Other than that no one can say for sure what variety it is since there are literally hundreds of paste types. Tatiana's TomatoBase lists 430 paste type tomatoes and many of them look like your tomatoes. Do you know what kind of tomato was grown there previously?

Identifying a tomato variety from a photo is nearly impossible since there can be a great deal of variance in appearance of a variety in different regions due the the influence of the myriad of factors in growing tomatoes. And then there are so many tomatoes that look alike, but are definately different in other ways (flavor, leaf type, growth habit).

If an "expert" examined your tomato and the plant it came from, they would be able to tell you if the plant were determinate, semi-determinate, or indeterminate; regular leaf, potato leaf, or rugose; perhaps cherry, paste, heart or beefsteak. But if the "expert" was not told what variety that "big fat juicy tomato" was, there is no way to know.

The only way to be relatively sure of what tomato you have, is to obtain seed from a reputable source, start them yourself, make sure you label them and do not mix them up.....and even then it might not be correct.

If you like them, save seeds from them and grow them again.

Sorry I can't give you a difinitive answer. Only the person who planted the original might be able to do so.

Betsy
digdirt2
10 years ago
Exactly as Betsy said. We get lots of requests to try to do this - ID a fruit or plant - and it is impossible to do. There are literally hundreds of varieties of each type/shape/size/color of any fruit not to mention this was apparently a volunteer so most likely some sort of hybrid throwback..

Dave
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Take comfort from the fact that you aren't the only one to commit this bungle ;) as several other previous posts here will attest to. It happens and we learn from it. Unfortunately, the answer is usually the same - no way to tell with any degree of accuracy. They are all regular leaf but once the first fruits develop you'll be able to tell as the Beefsteaks will be larger than the Rutgers and the grapes will be in clusters and substantially small. You can then go back and do some pruning on the suckers below if you wish. Hope this helps. Dave
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Dave is correct. Identifying a tomato variety from a photo is virtually impossible since there can be a great deal of variance in appearance of a variety in different regions due the the influence of the myriad of factors in growing tomatoes. Even if the tomato was fully ripe and you tasted it, you still couldn't tell. I've had varieties that were delicious one year and bland another because of the variations in growing conditions from one year to the next. Plus taste is subjective, what I think is a good tomato might not please somone else. (There are people who are crazy about yellow pear, and not just children!) And then there are so many tomatoes that look alike, but are definately different in other ways (flavor, leaf type, growth habit). If an "expert" examined your tomato and the plant it came from, they would be able to tell you if the plant were determinate, semi-determinate, or indeterminate; regular leaf, potato leaf, or rugose; perhaps cherry, paste, heart or beefsteak. But if the "expert" was not told what variety that "big fat juicy tomato" was, there is no way to know. The only way to be relatively sure of what tomato you have, is to obtain seed from a reputable source, start them yourself, make sure you label them and do not mix them up.....and even then it might not be correct. Betsy
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Yes, it's a Haworthia, perhaps reinwardtii, looks a bit starved for light. I'd gradually give it a bit more light, that's why it's thinning out on top. I'd use an unglazed terra cotta pot for this if you have & maybe grow it at the edge of a window if you can. This probably doesn't need water often, try every 10 days or so to start. Terrariums are particularly difficult for succulents as that setup denies them several things they need: containers w/ drainage holes & fresh air. It may be trendy now, & I am seeing it in multiple stores, but makes for problematic growing, and ends up bringing more folks here for help. Good luck w/ the plant.
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djkj
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks for the inputs
seysonn
10 years ago
The ones on the plants (and the harvested front half) probably are either:
--Baby Roma ..OR
-- San Marzano
Bets
10 years ago
Seysonn,

They may look like Baby Roma or San Marzano.

But they also look like Amish Paste.

or

Amish Red

or

Opalka

or

One of many other pointed red/pink tomatoes:

Anna's Multiflora
Apple Tree
Vzryv
Aztec
Bobbie
Brandysweet Plum
Brin de Muguet
Britain's Breakfast
Burkina Faso
Burning Spear
Cornue Des Andes
Eleanor
Ernie's Pointed
Ernie's Pointed
Lau's Pointed Leaf
Erotica
Fireworks
Food Pantry Grape
Gallo Plum
High Crimson
Howard German
Iditarod Red
Jet
Jolly F1
Kiev
Kimberley
Kotlas
Kron-Prince
Laketa
Larisa
Legenda Tarasenko
Micro Tom
Myona
Polish Linguisa
Rianto
Roger's Juicy Red Oblong
Romanita
Roza Vetrov
Rozovyi Flamingo
Russian Dagger
Sarnowski Polish Plum
Shapka Monomakha
Sosulka Rozovaya
Sweet Dreams
TÃÂ©ton de VÃÂ©nus
TÃÂ©ton de VÃÂ©nus Jaune
Tip Top
Trinity Red
Ukrainian Poet
VB Russia
Zwerg Israel

Or hundreds of others.

Yeah, I know not all of those are paste tomatoes, but they are all red or pink and usually do have nipples on the blossom end. I didn't really want to narrow it down more, but you shouold get my point.

MY point is, with VERY few exceptions, you can't tell a variety by looking.

Betsy

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