(Lycopersicon esculentum) Karen Olivier is an independent tomato breeder here in the PNW based near Victoria, BC, on Vancouver Island. We are very excited to have been introduced to her work on the recommendation of a farmer friend and had the opportunity to trial some of her varieties at the home farm. Midnight Sun (and its sibling Taiga) are part of her "True North" series of ox-heart tomatoes bred for a combination of cool season production, beautiful and unusual bi-color appearance, and, most importantly, flavor.
Midnight Sun is a stunner: a long, slender yellow oxheart streaked with red, often from the blossom end upwards. Vertically sliced cross sections are works of art. Its a bit slenderer and a shier producer than its sibling 'Taiga', but its sweetness is off the charts and its flavor a bit brighter (neither superior, just different). The flesh is meaty with few seeds and excellent texture. The potato leaf plants showed very little fruit cracking in a season where many of our tomatoes struggled with this.
Oxheart types grow slightly differently than many of our favorite tomatoes, requiring a different strategy to maximize harvests. Rather than a strong central stem and abundant foliage that lends itself to more common two-leader pruning and "florida weave" style trellising, most oxhearts display slender willowy leaders, sparse leaf coverage, and many suckers that we only very minimally prune to prevent sun scald and maximize fruit yield.
80 days, Indeterminate. UO

Packet: 20 seeds

[split]

Growing Info

SOWING:

Sow 5-8 weeks before your last frost date.

Transplant out after danger of frost (45+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:

18-30" spacing in rows 5' apart.

EMERGENCE:

5-10 days @ soil temp 70-85F

LIGHT:

Full sun

FERTILITY:

Medium-Heavy. Prefers well-drained, well-balanced fertile soil with a pH between 6.0-7.0. 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. Even watering and supplemental calcium can help prevent this.

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.

Determinate varieties do not need pruning.

Trellis Indeterminate varieties! We really like the Florida weave.

Tomato, 'Midnight Sun'