Tomato Grafted Harmony F1 plants

The Harmony F1 Cherry Tomato is an excellent hybrid variety of Cocktail type, ideal for appetizers, summer salads, and perfect for topping a tart. The plant, vigorous and productive, produces an abundance of clusters of small round tomatoes a little larger than cherry tomatoes, weighing 30 to 40 grams each, with a bright red flesh that is well-flavored, sweet, and deliciously tangy. It is a disease-resistant variety and easy to grow in pots or in the vegetable garden. The young grafted plants are planted in April after the last frost. Harvest from June to September.

The grafting technique consists of giving a desired variety (here 'Harmony') the root system of another specially selected variety, called the rootstock. This rootstock has excellent resistance to soil parasites and diseases, which provides an extra vigor to the plant: it is then more resistant to difficult external conditions (such as cold climates) and will yield significantly higher than a non-grafted plant. The fruiting of grafted plants starts earlier and lower on the main stem. Thanks to the use of the 'Protector' rootstock, our grafted tomato plants also produce fewer leaves, for easier ripening and harvesting.

NB: this variety is marked with the F1 label for "F1 hybrid", as it is a variety resulting from the cross-breeding of carefully selected parents to combine their qualities. This results in a variety that can be particularly flavorful and/or early while being resistant to certain diseases. Sometimes criticized or wrongly associated with GMOs, F1 hybrid plants are interesting both for their uniformity and their resistance, but unfortunately, their qualities do not transmit to the next generations: it will therefore not be possible to recover the seeds for later sowing.

The Tomato originates from South America and Central America. Several varieties were already cultivated by the Incas long before the arrival of the Conquistadors. The term "Tomate" comes from the Inca word "Tomatl" and refers to both the plant and the fruit it produces. It is one of the many foods that came to us from the New World, along with beans, corn, squash, potatoes, and chili peppers. The Tomato took significantly longer to reach our taste buds. And for good reason: for a long time, it was cultivated for its aesthetic and medicinal qualities but was considered toxic because of its resemblance to the fruit of the Mandrake, another Solanaceae. It only became a regular on our tables from the beginning of the 20th century.

The Tomato is a perennial herbaceous plant in tropical climates, but is grown as an annual in our latitudes. It lignifies over time and produces small insignificant yellow flowers grouped in clusters that will turn into fruits. Tomatoes can be grown in open ground but can also be grown in containers on a balcony, favoring varieties with small growth.

It is a fruit vegetable that has many nutritional benefits. Low in calories like most vegetables, rich in water, it contains a molecule of particular interest: lycopene, a powerful antioxidant. It is also rich in vitamin C, provitamin A, and trace elements.

In terms of cooking, Tomatoes can be consumed raw or cooked in multiple ways: in salads or as an appetizer, grilled, stuffed, marinated, candied, in ratatouille, as a sauce, etc. They come in all colors, shapes, and sizes. Take advantage of this and grow several varieties in your vegetable garden to vary the pleasures!

Harvesting: The harvesting periods vary depending on the earliness: early varieties are harvested from 55 to 70 days after planting, mid-season varieties from 70 to 85 days, and late varieties beyond 85 days. The fruits should be picked when they have reached their final color and when their texture, while remaining firm, shows a slight softening. For better preservation, it is advisable to harvest the fruit with its peduncle. Be careful, immature fruits, stems, and leaves contain solanine and should not be consumed.

Storage: The optimal storage temperature for tomatoes is between 10 and 15°C (50 and 59°F). Refrigeration is possible but alters the taste qualities of the fruits. For longer storage, tomatoes can be candied, dried, frozen, canned, or cooked into jam. To candy them, cut your tomatoes in half and collect their juice. Place your halved tomatoes face up on the baking sheet of your oven. Season with salt, pepper, and sugar, then bake at a very low temperature for at least an hour. Remove your tomatoes, store them in a glass jar, and cover with olive oil.

The gardener's tip: To limit watering, we recommend mulching the soil with thin successive layers of grass clippings, if possible mixed with dead leaves. This protection, which keeps the soil moist, also limits weeding.

Attention: When transplanting grafted plants, do not bury the graft point!