Characteristics and description of the tomato "Dixie Golden Giant"

A rare, exceptional American variety, cultivated since 1930, it has become a favorite among gardeners worldwide. At the 2016 Tomato Festival in the United States, the Dixie Golden Giant was named one of the top 10 most delicious tomatoes.

It's worth noting that taste is one of the variety's main advantages, but it's far from the only thing it's good for, as we'll find out now.

Description and characteristics of tomato

The Dixie Golden Giant tomato is an Amish heirloom in Kentucky. This indeterminate, mid-season, large-fruited, and productive variety is beloved by gardeners for its ease of care and enviable disease resistance.

Characteristic

The bush grows up to 2 m tall, is robust, and the leaves are regular. Beefsteak tomatoes are uniformly flattened and round, sometimes ribbed. The fruits are very large, white and yellow, sometimes yellow-orange, with a pink side. The flavor is pleasant, refreshing, sweet without being acidic, with a distinct tomato-fruity aroma. The tomato is fleshy, the seed chambers are small, there are few seeds, and the skin is thin.

Productivity

Dixie Golden Giant is considered one of the most productive tomatoes; even in unfavorable years, a single plant produces at least 3.5 kg of fruit. The first inflorescence appears above the 8th leaf, with subsequent clusters growing every 3 leaves. A single cluster produces up to 9 tomatoes. The average tomato weight is 300–450 g, with individual fruits weighing up to 800 g and sometimes up to 2 kg. This variety bears fruit until the first autumn frosts.

Diseases and pests

All sources that describe the Dixie Golden Giant tomato in more detail state that the variety is disease- and pest-resistant. This can be confirmed by reading reviews from gardeners across various countries and regions. Even in the most challenging and unfavorable years, this yellow-fruited beauty demonstrates remarkable resilience to various adverse factors.

There are often comments that even in mixed plantings, when Dixie tomatoes are diseased nearby, it remains unharmed. By studying the information, you can compile a list of diseases to which the Golden Giant Dixie tomato is most resistant:

• Fusarium wilt;
• various types of rot;
• bacteriosis;
• late blight;
• macrosporiosis or alternaria;
• Cladosporiosis;
• leaf curl;
• blackleg;
• aphid;
• scoops;
• pliers;
• whitefly.

Usage

Dixie Golden Giant, like other yellow tomatoes, can be used for dietary and baby food. It has a rich flavor and enticing aroma, and is excellent fresh. This variety is also used in various dishes and winter preserves, and is suitable for freezing.

Advantages and disadvantages

The variety has virtually no drawbacks, with only one minor drawback: fully ripened tomatoes don't have a long shelf life. The harvested crop is eaten immediately or processed. Now let's move on to the advantages:

• extended fruiting period;
• high taste qualities;
• large-fruited;
• productivity;
• excellent immunity to diseases and pests;
• the variety bears fruit well in partial shade;
• undemanding;
• resistance to changes in day and night temperatures;
• heat resistance;
• the fruits do not crack.

Based on gardener reviews, this variety truly deserves attention. Once you plant the Dixie Golden Giant tomato once, it'll be hard to resist growing it; it's a firm favorite!

Growing and caring for the Dixie Golden Giant tomato

The advantage of indeterminate varieties is that they allow for more efficient use of greenhouse space and produce a continuous harvest until the first significant frost. Dixie Golden Giant, being just such a variety, is ideal for growing indoors. In warmer regions with extended summers, this tomato can be planted outdoors.

Preparing seedlings

Sow the seeds 55 or 65 days before planting the tomato seedlings in their permanent location; the first fruits will ripen 100 or 110 days after sowing. Use light, fertile soil, and disinfect the soil from the garden using any convenient method.

If seedlings are grown in individual cups, place two seeds per cup. If in a larger container, space the seeds 1, 5, or 2 cm apart. There's no need to plant the seeds too deeply—1 cm is sufficient. Moisten the soil with the seedlings and cover the container with a transparent material to create a greenhouse effect.

When the seedlings emerge, remove the covering and place the seedlings on a bright windowsill. If necessary, install special lamps for additional lighting. Tomatoes are pricked out when two true leaves emerge and planted once the last frost has passed. They can be moved into the greenhouse one or two weeks earlier. It's recommended to fertilize the seedlings about three times during this period.

Planting and care

The depth of the holes is adjusted to the size of the container in which the seedlings were growing (the stems can be buried no more than 2 cm deep). A small amount of organic or mineral fertilizer should be added to the hole. After planting, the beds are watered generously and mulched.

The distance between bushes should be 40 or 50 cm, and the row spacing should be 60 cm. It is recommended to train Golden Giant Dixie with two stems; growing three branches may cause difficulties with staking due to the weight of the fruit. Staking should be provided before planting. The stakes should be tall, stable, and sturdy, and the bush should be tied as it grows.

Care involves trimming excess foliage and side shoots, weeding, replenishing the mulch, loosening the soil, watering, and fertilizing. The first feeding is done when the tomatoes bloom and begin to set fruit, then you can fertilize the bushes twice more during the season. Water this variety like all other tomatoes.

The Dixie Golden Giant tomato is a noteworthy variety. It's highly resilient across all parameters, produces a bountiful harvest of delicious and nutritious fruit, is low-maintenance, and easy to grow. Seeds are hard to find; this is a rare variety, so it's best to collect them yourself.

Reviews

Ekaterina. How lucky I was! A neighbor shared her seeds with me, and I fell in love with Dixie from the very first year I grew it. The harvest is amazingly abundant, with the bushes covered in enormous fruits. Compared to other yellow and orange tomatoes, the Golden Giant Dixie is the tastiest. We eat it in the summer and preserve it for the winter in salads and slices.

Vadim. I spent a long time searching for a tomato variety with good disease resistance. I live in a place where growing tomatoes is always fraught with various challenges. And I found the perfect variety for my garden! Dixie is the best; it's delicious, productive, and most importantly, completely disease-resistant. I collect the seeds myself, and even in mixed plantings, the variety doesn't degenerate.