(Lycopersicon esculentum) We don’t like to make crazy, bold proclamations (which, as you can tell from the intro, means we are going to anyway), but Matina might be our best all-around slicing tomato. It’s nice to be a small family company where we can write something like that and not break down into staff fistfights. It just checks all the boxes for us and exceptionally so: sets very early but with sustained harvests through fall, strong, vigorous growth, beautifully organized and prolific trussing, perfect blemish-free and very uniform fruit, and an outstanding flavor balance of sweet and acid. I reckon we harvested about 400+ lbs of fruit from 30 field-grown plants in the summer of 2016! At 4-6 oz, the fruits are a little larger than Stupice, slightly flattened, and just the flawless ideal of a tomato in appearance. You could call them "large cocktail/saladette" or "small slicer" and we wouldn't argue. One of Carolyn Male's “100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden” it hails from Germany, where our seed was originally sourced. This should be a nursery standard in the PNW. It was crowned taste test winner at two Organic Seed Alliance trial events of early red slicers in 2017 and has been a continual standout in dry farm trials in the Willamette Valley through the Dry Farm Institute.
Indeterminate/Potato Leaf. 65-70 days. UO

Packet: 30-35 seeds

[split]

Growing Info

SOWING:

Sow 4-7 weeks before your last frost date.

Transplant out after danger of frost (50+F nighttime temps).

Note: Don't start too early or plants will be leggy and root-bound! Tomatoes do well in clay to loam soils.

PLANTING DEPTH:

1/8-1/4"

SPACING:

18" spacing in rows 5' apart.

EMERGENCE:

10-14 days @ soil temp 70-85F

LIGHT:

Full sun

FERTILITY:

Medium-Heavy. Prefers well-drained, well-balanced fertile soil with a pH between 6.0-7.5. Note that excess Nitrogen will encourage foliage, not fruit! Low calcium and irregular watering will result in blossom end rot.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

Row cover may be used for extra warmth and possible earlier fruit set.

Irregular watering can result in blossom end rot.

Plant deeply to encourage healthy root structure.

Indeterminate varieties may benefit from pruning suckers to encourage air flow, plant health, and energy towards plant top and fruit.

Trellis! We really like the Florida weave.

Tomato, 'Matina'