Tomato, Wheatly’s Frost Resistant (Organic)
Solanum lycopersicum. Pink Grape. 60 days. Indet.
Pink, grape-shaped fruit have a firm texture and a flavor that is a little more tart than sweet. Plants are quite vigorous and grow to about 5′ in our field conditions. We have found them to be very cool weather tolerant but not actually frost resistant. The most split resistant cherry we’ve seen – maybe it should be called Wheatly’s Split Resistant? When other cherry tomatoes have split and/or fallen off the vine, Wheatly’s keeps ’em coming, yielding quality fruit late into the season until frost. Under our field observations the plants seem to have some resistance to blight and other late season foliar diseases. A wonderful variety we think everyone should try. We believe we offer the same strain that has been available from the Seed Savers Exchange Yearbook since the 1980s, and from Sandhill Preservation Center. However, there was a variety listed as “Wheatley” in Gleckler’s Seed Catalog in the 1950s, described as an early red globe from South Africa reportedly able to resist frosts down to 26°F! This sounds mythical and is definitely not our strain. We received our original seed from seed collector Gerhard Bohl in Germany.
Sow indoors in flats with good potting soil as early as February, but no later than April. Keep warm and well-watered. Up pot seedlings into 4” pots once they have two true leaves. Transplant into the garden once danger of frost has passed.
Seed Saving
Collect seeds from ripe fruit by squeezing into a jar and add 25% more water. Wait a few days for mold to form. When seeds sink and gel-sac is gone, stir, add water, then decant and rinse to clean. Dry thoroughly. Tomatoes are mostly self-pollinating; isolation is not usually needed for seeds to be true to type.
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