Worth knowing:
San Marzano is the classic Italian pasta tomato that got its name from a village called San Marzano sul Sarno, near Naples. As a very old tomato species, it was almost forgotten until the Italian “Slow-Food” movement brought the bottle tomato back into cultivation.
Natural Location:
Cultivation:
Since tomato plants should only be planted out from mid May after the last nightly frosts, it is advisable to start propagation in mid or end of March in a bright and warm room indoors. Tomato plants germinate rather quickly and you don’t need to start propagation earlier than that. When the outdoor temperatures are high enough, the plants will be strong and ready for planting out. Spread the seeds about 2 cm apart from each other onto moist potting compost, put just a little compost earth on top and moisten the earth again by using a water sprayer. Cover the seed container with clear film to prevent the earth from drying out, but don’t forget to make some holes in the clear film and take it every second or third day completely off for about 2 hours. That way you avoid mold formation on your potting compost. Place the seed container somewhere bright and warm with a temperature between 20°C and 24° Celsius and keep the earth moist, but not wet. The first seedlings should come up after one or two weeks. Now, you can remove the clear film and keep the sprouts somewhat cool and as bright as possible, but not in the full midday sun. As soon as the seedlings develop the second pair of leaves, you can prick out until the first leave pair, and plant the sprouts into small 10 cm pots with potting earth for tomato plants and a bottom hole. Be gentle with the fine roots and don’t forget to modestly water the fresh soil.
Place:
Care:
As soon as the tomato plant grows higher than 10 cm, you need to provide a wooden stick as a stabilizer, and during the day you can already keep the plants outdoors with at least 5° Celsius for acclimatization. After the “Ice Saints” in mid May, you can plant the tomatoes in a full sunny spot and about 75 cm apart from each other into the garden bed or in a bigger pot. The pot should have at least 10 litres of earth and a good drainage. The tomato plants need a strong and firmly fixed strut or tomato stakes from the garden centre. A rain-sheltered and wind-protected place would be ideal for cultivation. Water the plant regularly and evenly, so it can adapt to the amount of water given. The most important part of the care is now the ongoing cutting of the sideshoots, particularly between the stem and the base of the branches, so that the main sprout has enough light and strength for development. The aerial part of the plant grows rather slow during the first weeks since the tomato strongly develops its rooting first. You can give standard fertilizer for tomato plants, but the first time not earlier than four weeks from planting out, and the second time another four weeks later.
During the winter:
Picture credits:
- © © Comugnero Silvana - Fotolia.com -
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- © Frank Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
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- © Goldlocki - CC-BY-SA-3.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
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