A contender for our “New Variety of the Year” a few years back, we've fallen hard for this cherry tomato. Mark our words, you will start to see this variety spread like wildfire across catalogs in the next couple of years. Bred in Maine by longtime seedsman extraordinaire Will Bonsall, Sweetheart is adorable: fire engine red, mini apple-shaped cherry tomatoes with a firm texture and incredibly sweet flavor. And those trusses…! Some hang over 18” long, often splitting in two halfway down with perfectly alternating fruits, up to 20 or 25 per truss. High dry matter (one of the parents is said to be a paste tomato) makes them very resistant to cracking and they hold excellently on the vine so you can wait for trusses to ripen nearly all the way to the tips and harvest for market “on the vine”. We thank our friends at Fruition Seeds for being among the first to sell it commercially. Indeterminate. 70-75 days. FS
Transplant out after danger offrost (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.
