Tomatoes

People are passionate about tomato flavor. Especially New Jerseyans. They remember it when it was good. They long for it when it’s gone. The Rutgers NJAES Rediscovering the Jersey Tomato project looked at several facets of what makes a tomato tasty. And wevdid something about it – bringing back long-lost favorite Jersey tomato varieties from the 1930s – 70s, conducting tomato tastings, communicating with gardeners and farmers on growing delicious tomatoes.

The classic old time Jersey Tomatoes were a portfolio of varieties that did well under New Jersey’s climatic conditions in a different range of soils and ripening at different times of the season. Two popular Jersey tomato varieties, ‘Rutgers’ and ‘Ramapo’ tomatoes were developed at Rutgers NJAES in the 20^th century. Our current research and tomato breeding efforts embraces our past contributions and forges ahead with the acknowledgement that consumers’ desire for tasty tomatoes is an important component of breeding and growing tomatoes.

 

The New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES) was established at Rutgers University in 1880, conducting research and providing educational opportunities for New Jersey farmers. Early research on tomato production focused on cultural practices for controlling weeds, diseases and insects, and improving fertilization. In 1900, tomato breeding began by growing nearly all the commercial varieties of tomatoes and crossing many of the different varieties. NJAES tomato research in the 20th century supported New Jersey farmers in growing abundant healthy crops of Jersey tomatoes, and the releases of ‘Rutgers’ and ‘Ramapo’ tomatoes provided growers and gardeners with top-performing varieties.

Tomato Varieties

In 2020, the Rutgers NJAES tomato breeding program released ‘Scarlet Sunrise,’ a tasty bicolor grape tomato. Developed by traditional (non-GMO) plant breeding methods, this cultivar has firm, crack-resistant red/yellow fruit. And, in tribute to New Jersey’s legacy of tasty tomatoes, the breeding program’s emphasis on flavor is depicted in this tomato, with an intense sweet flavor balanced by moderate acidity. The indeterminate plants are high yielding, with mid-late season fruit maturity. ‘Scarlet Sunrise’ is open-pollinated; 70 days to maturity. Red and yellow crack-resistant fruit with sweet intense flavor. High yielding, indeterminate plants.

Rutgers 250 tomato: Rutgers 250 is the result from crossing the same parent varieties as the original ‘Rutgers’ tomato that was released by Rutgers NJAES in 1934. ‘Rutgers 250’ was selected for high fruit quality and flavor and was named in honor of the University’s 250th anniversary in 2016.

Ramapo F1 Hybrid tomato: Ramapo was developed at Rutgers NJAES and released in 1968. It was prized by gardeners for its great flavor, fruit quality, reliability, and productivity. While Ramapo seed was unavailable for many years, Rutgers NJAES continued receiving requests for this popular tomato and eventually reintroduced Ramapo F-1 seeds in 2008.

Moreton F1 Hybrid tomato: Moreton was Harris Seeds’ first F-1 hybrid, released in 1953 and one of the first hybrids grown by Jersey tomato growers. This early maturing, tasty variety was off the market and re-introduced in a cooperative effort by Harris Seeds and Rutgers NJAES. Moreton makes a good earlier maturing garden companion to Ramapo and KC-146. Good for regions with short growing seasons and suitable for growing in containers.

KC-146 tomato: KC-146 (also known as Campbell’s 146) was developed by Campbell’s Soup Company as a processing tomato and released in 1956. This variety was wilt and crack-resistant and better flavored than other processing types. It was eventually replaced with newer varieties with a more disease resistance. Campbell’s maintained the KC-146 stock as their flavor standard. We agree, this is one tasty tomato! Suitable for growing in containers.

Tomato Seed Availability

Seed Availability for Home Gardeners:

Notice for 2022: this is the last year seeds can be purchased from Rutgers NJAES. Seeds will be available through the end of 2022, using the order form linked below. Going forward, alternative sources for these seeds are listed below.

The Rediscover the Jersey Tomato program has ‘Rutgers 250’, ‘Ramapo’, ‘Moreton’ and ‘KC-146’ (Campbell’s-146) and “Scarlet Sunrise” tomato seeds. 

These items can be purchased using this order form: go.rutgers.edu/tomato

Tomato seeds should be started indoors 6-8 weeks before the outdoor transplanting date (e.g., for Central NJ, start indoors in late March/early April and transplant outside mid-May).

For questions on growing tomatoes, contact your local Extension office: Cooperative Extension County Offices (Rutgers NJAES).

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Rutgers Cooperative Extension Home Gardening Fact Sheets:

1. FS787 Starting Vegetable Seeds Indoors
2. FS678 Growing Tomatoes in the Home Garden
3. FS1102 The Stake and Weave Training System for Tomatoes in the Home Garden
4. FS011 Blossom-End Rot: Tomatoes, Peppers, and Eggplant
5. FS547 Diagnosing and Controlling Fungal Diseases of Tomato in the Home Garden
6. Find more home gardening information at Rutgers NJAES

Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station Services:

1. Rutgers Soil Testing Lab
2. Rutgers Plant Diagnostic Lab

Commercial Growers