Tomato Beefsteak Big Red

Description

Beefsteaks are always grown for their flavour and size for slicing and summer sandwiches. This variety produces large, meaty red fruit over a long season on indeterminate plants. Because it matures late compared to many other tomatoes, it will provide a fresh harvest in the latter part of the season. This is an old favourite beloved by gardeners in the Northeast and grown throughout the country. Vigorous vines grow best in tall cages. Resistant to fusarium wilt (F) and nematodes (N). Days to Maturity: 90.

SOWING AND GROWING: Plant 2-3 seeds 1/4″ deep per cell in fertile, humusy, and well-drained soil with a pH of 6.0-6.8. Beefsteak seeds germinate in 5-14 days, transplant best starts to 1 per pot or 18-36 inches apart in the garden.

Before sowing, know whether the seed is determinate or indeterminate, as each will exhibit different habits. Determinate varieties mature to a predetermined size, producing their fruit all at once with only a minor need for staking. Indeterminate varieties grow indefinitely through the season, producing non-stop fruit while requiring heavy support. Beefsteak is an indeterminate tomato crop.

Beefsteak tomato has vigorous indeterminate vines that will need to be staked to hold the HUGE 10 oz to 2 lb tomatoes. Even though the fruits are so large, Beefsteak is still an abundant producer. Beefsteak tomato is flat, solid, meaty, juicy and bright red.

HARVESTING: Smaller varieties such as the cherry are ready to harvest at about 80 days from sowing while larger varieties like the beefsteak may require a few extra weeks. Although vine-ripened fruit is always preferred, tomatoes can just as easily be harvested early and ripened indoors by being stored in a paper bag or box along with a banana for its ethylene gas. Ripest tomatoes may be pulled from the vine by hand, while more firm ones should be clipped with shears.