Fruit or vegetable, now that is the question! Much confusion exists around tomato’s classification, but that doesn’t make homegrown tomatoes any less delicious. Believed to have originated in South America, the tomato plant has made its way up through Mexico to the US and Canada and even to Europe via Spanish conquistadors, where it has since become a beloved ingredient in all manner of cuisines. While the “fruit” part of the plant is clearly edible, the rest of the plant is, in fact, toxic and should be grown somewhere away from small children and furry friends who have a tendency to explore the world with their taste buds. The tomato plant comes in a plethora of varieties which vary in shape, color, size, and taste, so we recommend investigating all your options and selecting varieties that cater to your preferences prior to growing!
The Apricot Dream hybrid cherry tomato is an indeterminate variety that’s extremely high in natural sugars and produces large clusters of plump, egg-shaped fruits. For optimum yields, we recommend planting directly in the ground to allow your Apricot Dreams to fruit to their full potential. If you’re working with limited space, growing this variety in a container will result in a nice batch of fresh, tasty tomatoes nonetheless.
Seed:
Seed Depth: 1/4″
Space Between Plants: 18–24″
Space Between Rows: 3–5′
Germination Soil Temperature: 70–90°F
Days for Germination: 6–10
Sow Indoors: 5–7 weeks before average last frost date.
Sow Outdoors: After all danger of frost has passed and soil is at least 60°F. Only recommended if your growing season is long.
Vegetative: Can be easily propagated by taking root or stem cuttings or by layering. Cuttings will root in an aeroponic system or soilless media.
Grows best in warm weather. Be sure that you plant early in areas with short summers to allow time for ripening before the first frost. If your summer is extremely hot (regularly over 90°F), some light shading will help tomatoes stay happy. Not frost tolerant.
Natural: Full sun. Prefers partial afternoon shade in warm weather.
Artificial: Grows best under HID lamps due to their need for tons of light. Use metal halide for the vegetative growth and switch to high pressure sodium when you want the fruit to start forming.
Soil: Prefers a well-drained loamy or sandy soil with a high amount of organic matter. A pH between 6.0 and 6.5 will keep plants healthy and nourished.
SOILLESS: Start seeds and root cuttings using a soilless mix. Mixes with perlite, vermiculite and/or coco coir will keep your growing medium airy, allowing your plants to produce healthy root systems.
Hydroponics: Thrives in a variety of hydroponic systems, including NFT, slab, and media-based systems. Use perlite or mineral wool as the growing medium.
Aeroponics: Cuttings will root in aeroponic systems.
Water: Requires moderate levels of water. Once established, they are fairly drought tolerant. Even soil moisture is necessary to prevent cracking fruits and blossom end rot. Avoid getting water on the leaves.
Nutrients: Requires high levels of nutrients. Amend soil with compost and aged manure before planting. Fertilize 3–5 times during the growing season using a balanced liquid fertilizer, compost tea, and/or liquid seaweed.
Pruning: Remove suckers—the auxiliary buds that form at the intersection of leaf and stem—to divert that energy into fruit production.
Mulching: Use mulch to conserve soil moisture. Black landscaping fabric can be helpful in warming the soil more quickly and allowing for earlier planting in addition to suppressing weed populations.
Support: Indeterminate varieties such as the Apricot Dream need staking, trellis, cages, or another type of support for best results.
Pest(s):
Disease(s):
Deficiency(s): A calcium deficiency can lead to blossom end rot. To remedy, try adding a small amount of crushed eggshells to the soil around the base of your plant.
Rotation: A 3-year rotation away from all plants in the Solanaceae family is recommended. Plant after a cover crop or nitrogen-fixing legume like peas or beans. If nematodes are a problem, plant after tilling marigolds into the soil.
Companions: Grows well with basil, asparagus, beans, bee balm, borage, carrots, celery, chives, cucumber, garlic, lettuce, marigolds, mint, nasturtium, onion, parsley, pea, pepper, and sow thistle. Avoid dill, corn, kohlrabi, potatoes, apricot, fennel, cabbage, and cauliflower. Don’t plant tomatoes under walnut trees.
HARVEST: Pick fruit at the peak of ripeness when there is no green or orange color left for the best taste. Check plants daily or every other day to make sure you don’t miss any ripe tomatoes. They don’t need sunlight to ripen, so be sure to reach all the fruits in the middle of the plant. Wear long sleeves and gloves when harvesting to protect your skin from potential irritation that some people experience after contact with tomato leaves.
Storage: Keep fresh tomatoes at room temperature for 2–3 days for the best taste. Handle gently and store ‘upside down’ with the stems carefully removed. If you can’t eat your entire harvest, we recommend preserving tomatoes rather than refrigerating them, since this alters the texture of the fruit.
Fun Fact: Ever heard of the Brix scale? This scale is used to measure the amount of sugar in a solution and is utilized in testing the amount of sweetness in fruits and vegetables. The amount of sugar present in a fruit or vegetable can often be a great indicator of its quality, and this is definitely the case when it comes to tomatoes. Commercial, out of season tomatoes generally rank in the 4–5 range on the Brix scale, which is considered to be quite low, while the heirloom tomato Brandywine has been recorded at 12–14 on the scale! Apricot Dream tomatoes, when given the proper TLC, consistently reach 11.5 on the Brix scale, so if you don’t trust us when we say it’s an exceptional tomato, we say look to the science!
Preserve: Tomatoes are easy and fun to can as sauce, cubes, or peeled and whole. Green tomatoes can be made into a chutney or salsa and canned or pickled.
Prepare: Can be used to make sauces, salsas, ketchup, and soup, or used raw in salads or on sandwiches. Green tomatoes are delicious sliced, breaded, and fried.
Nutritional: Provides high levels of vitamin(s) A and C. Also a good source of B vitamins, potassium, and calcium.
Medicinal: Tomatoes contain lycopene, an antioxidant compound that is currently being investigated for its cancer fighting and cholesterol lowering abilities. Lycopene may also help your skin protect itself from UV damage. Regular consumption may also help protect against heart disease.
Warnings: Tomato leaves can be a skin irritant for some, so wear long sleeves and gloves when harvesting.
Some things are just exceptional the way nature makes them, and Apricot Dream tomatoes are one such instance where less is better! Slice up some of these lovely little gems and mix together in a bowl with oil, basil, and salt and pepper to taste. Toast some of your favorite bread (we recommend a nice crisp Italian loaf) and sprinkle this tomato mixture on top. Simple, sweet, and savory. Enjoy!
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