Friday, August 8, 2008

San Marzano Tomato Plants

It's really strange how plants grow at different rates when treated exactly the same. I planted the seeds for both of the San Marzano seedlings pictured below on the same day using the same soil mixture. Since then, they have been watered at the same times, and exposed to exactly the same amount of light under the grow lamp. Yet one is doing very well, while the other is growing at a snail's pace.

These Italian heirlooms are said to be among the best paste tomatoes and highly desired by pizzerias. Hopefully we'll be able to perform our own taste test to find out just how good they really are.

3 comments:

DP Nguyen said...

Plants have minds of their own sometimes. I have one tomato plant that has been a slow grower all season and finally it's fruiting. Crazy, huh? It's also been treated the same as the others. The slow growing one may surprise you later in the season.

Shibaguyz said...

Our own San Marzano tomatoes were slow to start as well but have since grown to nearly six feet tall and absolutely covered in fruit. We have heard similar stories from other San Marzano gardeners as well. It seems that, with these particular heirlooms, patience is the key. Best of luck!

Anonymous said...

I've noticed that sometimes just a few inches to the left or right of a certain spot seems to make a difference. I planted radishes in a row in the same planter box. When I thinned them, there were 8 radishes all 3 inches apart. The farther to the left side of the planter, the larger the radish plant (I haven't seen the actual radish yet). The radish farthest to the left is probably an inch taller than the radish immediately to its right (just 3 inches away!!!).