Cherry tomato Michael Pollan is an organically grown cherry tomato. This special tomato actually falls into two categories. It is a cherry tomato, but at the same time also a roma or plum tomato. These small roma tomatoes ripen from light green with green stripes to yellow-green with dark green stripes. The inside of the tomatoes remains fresh green. The taste is spicy, but not really very sweet or sour. The flesh is wonderfully soft and juicy and for small tomatoes there is quite a lot of flesh. The plants produce a good amount of these tomatoes per plant. About 15 - 25 tomatoes per truss is very normal. Cherry tomato Michael Pollan is named after the American writer, journalist, teacher and grower Michael Pollan. This variety is an accidental mutant of "Green Zebra" that was further bred by Brad Gates of Wild Boar Farms in America. This early-ripening variety ripens fairly quickly. The small pear-shaped tomatoes weigh about 15 - 45 grams each and grow to about 3 - 4½ cm in size. The top of the tomatoes is narrow and they become more rounded towards the bottom. Just like small pears. Cherry tomato Michael Pollan can be stored well.
This tomato tastes delicious straight from the vine, in salads and in Mediterranean pasta dishes. Provide sufficient sun and warmth and support the plant well for the best result. Tomatoes contain a lot of vitamin C and lycopene. The body takes this in better when the tomatoes are heated. Non hardy annual. Height: 180 - 250 cm.
Indoor sowing: February - April
Germination: 6 - 14 days
Germination temp: 20 - 25 °C
Sowing depth: 2 - 3 mm
Transplanting: when the seedlings are about 20 cm tall
Transplanting in garden: in May, after the last night frosts
Plant spacing: 45 - 50 cm
Planting position: sunny - sheltered (greenhouse)
Days till harvest: 60 - 90
Sow indoors from February on in trays filled with moist pottingsoil. Sow shallow and press the seeds gently in the soil, don't cover them with soil, because tomatoes are light germinators. Put the trays away somewhere warm at 20 - 25 °C and cover them with clingfilm or a lid. Keep the temperature as even as possible and don't let the temperature drop during the night. Keep moist, but not to wet to prevent rotting of the seeds. Remove the clingfilm or lid when the seedlings emerge. Transplant the seedlings to seperate pots approx. 10 days after emerging. Put them away a bit cooler at approx. 18 - 20 °C.
Harden the tomatoes of, from the middle of May, when there's no longer any danger of nightfrosts. Put the pots at a temperature of 15 - 18 °C for a week and reduce the amount of water for this week. Put the plants outdoors after this week on a sunny and sheltered plot with well draining soil or put them in a greenhouse. Make sure that there is no longer any nightfrost.
Tomatoes need some maintenance to ensure a good harvest. Give the plants a sturdy support with some sturdy and large bamboo sticks. Remove all suckers that will form in the axils of your plants. Remove all the leaves below the lowest hanging fruits by the end of July till the beginning of August. Remove all the leaves of all plants together with the tops of all plants from the end of August till the beginning of September to ensure the ripening of most of the green tomatoes. Harvest the tomatoes by cutting them with scissors. Tomatoes can't be kept for a long period. Don't keep your harvested tomatoes in the fridge. So use them a soon as possible after harvesting. Tomatoes used in sauces can be kept frozen to store.
