Solanum pimpinellifolium
Currant tomato
Common names: Red currant tomato
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Spacing
- 60 cm, rows 90 cm
- Lifespan
- Annual
- Sowing
- Mar–Apr
- Harvest
- Jul–Oct
- Hardiness
- Cold damage below 5 °C
- Water need
- Medium
Photo: Forrest and Kim Star · Public Domain · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
The currant tomato, botanically Solanum pimpinellifolium, is the closest wild relative of the garden tomato and originates from the coastal regions of Peru and Ecuador. The plants grow vigorously and branch heavily, reaching 1.5 to 2.5 m in height, and bear countless small, round fruits on long trusses, each only 1 to 1.5 cm in size. The fruits are red, sweet and savory with a fine acidity and a strong tomato aroma. They are best eaten straight from the plant, in salads or roasted on a baking sheet with vegetables. The plant is considered robust and less susceptible to late blight and brown rot than large varieties, although it is not entirely spared. Due to its vigorous growth, it needs a sturdy support or plenty of space. Grown in a pot on a balcony, in a bed or in a greenhouse, it provides abundant fruit from July until the first frost.
Care instructions
Sow currant tomatoes indoors on a bright windowsill from the end of March, and plant them out after the Ice Saints in mid-May in a warm spot in full sun. They grow lush and heavily branched: provide a sturdy frame or fence to which you loosely tie the shoots. Pinching out side shoots is not necessary, but you may remove individual side shoots if space is limited. Water in the morning at the base and keep the leaves dry, as even moisture prevents the fruits from splitting. Mulch the soil to conserve water. A rain shelter or a spot under a roof overhang helps prevent late blight and brown rot. Harvest fruit continuously as soon as it is fully red, since the trusses ripen one after another. At the end of August, cut back the shoot tips so that the fruit already present can finish ripening.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
SowingMar–Apr
HarvestJul–Oct
Germination
- Soil temperature
- from 15 °C, ideally 24 °C
- Days to sprout
- 6 to 14 days
- Light
- Sprouts in light or dark
- Sowing depth
- 0.5 cm
- How to start
- Start indoors, then plant out
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
humus-rich, well-drained, nutrient-rich, loamy
The currant tomato grows best in humus-rich, loose and nutrient-rich soil that warms up quickly in spring and holds water evenly. It roots deeply and copes with less ideal soil too, as long as it does not become waterlogged. In the bed, mix in ripe compost before planting; in a container, use a free-draining, nutrient-rich compost. The pH should be slightly acidic to neutral.
The currant tomato shares late blight and soil pests with all tomatoes, as well as potato, pepper, chilli and aubergine. Leave four years in the same bed for this family. It does well after legumes or lettuce. In a container, change the soil every year.
Feeding
Heavy feeder
Months
May–Aug
As a tomato, the currant tomato is one of the heavy feeders. Work in ripe compost before planting; in a container, mix it into the soil. From the first fruit set in June, give diluted nettle feed or an organic liquid fertiliser every two weeks; a mulch layer of grass clippings also helps. Because the plant grows vigorously, too much nitrogen only brings foliage and late fruit, so let feeding taper off from the end of August.
Overwintering
The currant tomato does not tolerate frost and is grown as an annual. Harvest all fruits before the first night frost; even half-ripe trusses will ripen indoors in a bright spot. Healthy plant remains go on the compost, diseased ones belong in the household waste. Fallen fruits often produce seedlings the following spring, which you can transplant from mid-May. Keep your own seed dry and dark.
Propagation
Methods
- From seed
- Cuttings
Propagate the currant tomato from seed. Sow from the end of March to April, 0.5 cm deep in seed compost; at 20 to 25 °C they germinate in one to two weeks. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots as soon as the first true leaves appear, and harden them off before planting out after the Ice Saints in mid-May. Broken-off side shoots root quickly in a glass of water or moist soil and give you free replacement plants. For seed, let a few fruits ripen fully, squeeze the seeds out with the gel, leave them in water for one to two days and dry them on paper. With the currant tomato, the stigma often sticks out of the flower, so insects cross it more easily with other tomatoes than with garden tomatoes. For seed true to variety, keep at least ten metres away from other tomatoes.
Companion planting
Good neighbors
mint family (Lamiaceae)
particularly well establishedYou will find that basil next to tomato and pepper improves taste and keeps whiteflies and aphids away.
For example LavenderThymeBasilRosemarySageHyssop and 43 more species in the catalogue
Source: classic companion planting (DACH-Gartenpraxis)
borage family (Boraginaceae)
Borage attracts pollinators and is supposed to keep tomato pests away from the nightshade family.
For example BorageCommon comfreyLacy phaceliaForget-me-notLungwortSiberian bugloss and 2 more species in the catalogue
Source: organic greenhouse companion planting practice
Rather not
gourd family (Cucurbitaceae)
You should avoid planting potato and cucumber together because they share disease pathogens such as leaf and brown rot and stand in each other's way as strong feeders.
For example CucumberPumpkinCourgettePickling cucumberButternutHokkaido and 15 more species in the catalogue
Source: basic crop-rotation rule
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
Some of these explanations were machine-translated.
For your garden
Grow Currant tomato yourself
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