Permapotes

Tomato

Tomato: Sowing, planting and harvest calendar

The tomato, Solanum lycopersicum, belongs to the Solanaceae family, alongside aubergines and peppers. It is generally grown as an annual for its fruits, used as vegetables in the kitchen. Botanically, a tomato is a berry containing seeds. Its flesh can be very juicy or denser according to type, with a flavour combining sweetness, acidity and aroma. These differences contribute to its many culinary uses.

The plant develops branched stems and compound leaves, usually divided and slightly hairy. Yellow flowers appear in clusters that can produce several fruits. Inside a tomato, partitions separate chambers containing seeds in a jelly-like substance. Chamber number, flesh thickness and the proportion of juice vary between selections, contributing to differences in texture. Two tomatoes of similar size can therefore have quite different interiors.

Growth habit is an important distinction. Indeterminate types keep growing and produce successive flower clusters. Determinate types, often bushier and more compact, have more limited growth and a more concentrated crop. Fruit size alone does not identify this habit: a cherry tomato does not necessarily grow on a small plant. This diversity explains why tomato plants do not all have the same outline or production pattern.

Fruits may be round, elongated, ribbed or heart-shaped. Their size ranges from small cherry tomatoes to large, fleshy fruits. Ripe colours include red, yellow, orange, pink and green or darker shades, depending on variety. ‘Green Zebra’ retains green stripes over a yellow-green background when ripe. Not every ripe tomato therefore turns red, and colour needs to be understood in relation to the variety.

Cherry tomatoes are popular as snacks and in salads. Beefsteak and oxheart types suggest large, fleshy fruits, but their names do not guarantee identical sweetness. Flavour depends on variety, ripeness and growing conditions. Firm flesh, thin skin and a melting texture are different characteristics. The largest fruit is not necessarily best for every dish; flesh and juice matter alongside size.

Tomatoes are eaten raw in salads and fresh preparations, or cooked in sauces, soups, gratins and stews. They have an important place in Mediterranean cooking. In a vegetable garden, this frost-sensitive plant accompanies the warmer season. The range of growth habits, shapes and colours offers varied culinary uses, with different patterns of production according to the selection.

Tomato
Tomato
Characteristics
  • Lifecycle : Annual
  • Exposure : Full Sun
  • Frost Hardiness : Frost Sensitive
  • Cultivation Difficulty : Medium
  • Mature height : 150 cm
Sowing & Planting
  • Greenhouse crops : Unheated greenhouse
  • Greenhouse Growing : Recommended
  • Sowing Depth : 0.5 cm
  • Plant Spacing : 60 cm
  • Row Spacing : 80 cm
Maintenance
  • Maintenance : Moderate
  • Water Requirements : High
Other characteristics
  • Soil Type : Humus-rich
  • Soil pH Preference : Neutral
  • Pest Sensitivity : Moderate
  • Disease Sensitivity : Moderate
  • Weed Sensitivity : Moderate
  • Pollination : Insect-pollinated
  • Propagation : Sowing