Georgia Striped Tomato: Variety Description, Yield, Reviews (Photos)

Tomatoes

Tomatoes are one of the most common vegetables, used both in salads and for canning. Therefore, many gardeners and summer cottage owners strive to grow their own tomato crop that will fully satisfy their needs. And if you have a greenhouse, you need to select a special variety that makes the most of the available conditions. The Georgia Striped tomato is one such variety.

The Georgia Striped tomato variety achieves its maximum yield in greenhouse conditions, delighting owners with beautiful fruits. Reviews of the berries' flavor are extremely positive, which is why many gardeners have been growing this plant for many years. But before looking for tomato seeds, it's important to learn about its characteristics, as it may not be suitable for a certain climate zone or soil type.

Characteristics of the variety

This tomato variety is indeterminate, so it's best planted in a greenhouse. This type of plant continues to grow after a certain number of clusters have formed (usually 7-15). This allows for the development of new ovaries.

This variety is a mid-season tomato, with the first fruits ripening 125–155 days after sprouting. Therefore, to maximize the yield from a given plot of land, the plants should be propagated using seedlings. This allows part of the growing season to occur during winter, allowing the plant to produce its first ovaries very quickly.

Fruit buds appear on the stem, spaced 2-4 times between leaves. Their appearance isn't localized on the main stem, but rather distributed evenly across the shoots. However, the rhizome isn't capable of supplying enough nutrients to ensure all the fruits reach biological maturity. Therefore, gardeners are advised to remove side shoots as soon as they appear, initially shaping the bush to consist of only two stems.

Please note! In greenhouse conditions, this variety reaches a height of 1.7–2 m. This height is due to earlier planting than in open ground, as well as a later drop in temperatures. This can increase the yield by 1.5–2 times.

Fruits that have reached technical maturity have a light green hue that gradually turns yellow. Biological maturity is easily recognized when the entire tomato turns golden, with small red highlights. This gives the fruits a predominantly yellow-orange appearance.

The tomatoes are oblong-round in shape, containing numerous small chambers containing seeds. This, combined with the thick outer walls, makes the fruit very fleshy, making it ideal for salads and juices.

The fruits have a slightly sweet taste. However, even after ripening, they lack the usual sourness, which means they don't impart the salty flavor typical of regular tomatoes. Due to their sweetness and almost complete lack of red pigment, these tomatoes are an ideal treat for children and those with allergies.

Fruit weight varies depending on where they are grown (open ground or greenhouse) and the quality of the soil. Open ground tomatoes typically weigh 150-250 g, but when grown in greenhouses and with generous amounts of fertilizer, they can reach 600 g.

Growing tomatoes

The first sprouts should appear 55–65 days before planting outdoors, so seeds are placed in cups in late February or early March. It's important that the containers be easy to remove the seedlings. However, the plants have very delicate root systems and stems, so they shouldn't be pulled or dug up. Easy-to-break containers or peat cups are considered ideal.

For reference! Peat pots are containers specially designed for seedlings. They provide ideal soil conditions for seeds, and when planting the seedlings in the ground, they don't need to be removed. They decompose in the soil, providing the plant with additional nutrients.

The seeds are planted in moist soil to a depth of 1 cm, then the containers are placed on a tray and covered with cling film or glass. The tray is then placed in a warm, dark place with a temperature no higher than 280°C (400°F). The first sprouts should appear within 4–6 days, after which the protective screen is immediately removed. This is necessary to prevent the seedlings from growing too long and to ensure that their stems and root system develop evenly.

Once the sprouts have emerged, they are placed on a windowsill to stimulate growth with light. If there isn't enough light, the seedlings can be supported with a special lamp left on for several hours.

When transplanting seedlings outdoors, they need to be hardened off 14 days in advance. First, take them outside during the warmest part of the day for an hour, gradually increasing the time spent outdoors over the following days. This will prepare the plants for harsher outdoor conditions.

If you plan to plant tomatoes in a greenhouse, hardening off is either not required or only done 7 days before transplanting. In this case, the plants are placed on a ventilated balcony or transferred to the greenhouse (assuming there are no frosts outside that would damage the seedlings during the transfer).

When the seedlings are ready and the outside temperature does not drop below 130°C (212°F), they can be planted. To do this, dig three holes per square meter, 3-4 cm deeper than the sides of the cup. Place a hydrogel or a layer of compost on the bottom. If the seedlings were grown in peat containers, no additional layers are required.

The plants are placed in the prepared holes along with the seedling soil. It's important to do this without damaging the root system. Afterwards, the soil from the cups is covered with the surrounding soil to maximize the nutrient retention near the plant.

Tomato care

Once the plant is in the ground, it needs to be kept moist. In greenhouses, water once every 3-5 days because water is lost only through evaporation, not through penetration into the deeper soil layers. Seedlings grown in open ground require more frequent watering, especially if the humus is underlain by a salt, rock, or sandy base.

When a tomato plant reaches 40–50 cm, it needs to be tied up to prevent the stem from breaking as the fruit grows. If this isn't done, the tomatoes will gradually bend toward the ground, forcing the plant to expend nutrients to grow stems. Or the fruit will become so heavy that the stem may separate from the trunk.

Important! For indeterminate plants, trellis-type supports are best. Only sturdy slats can support the weight of a plant, which can reach up to 2 meters in height.

The plant is tied every 10-20 cm with wide cloth strips. Care must be taken not to disturb the stem's growth, otherwise it may begin to rot in this area. Once large fruits appear, the tomato trusses are also tied up to ensure they fully ripen, partially relieving the strain.

Plant fertilizing

Even if the greenhouse soil is good, tomatoes need fertilizing 2–3 weeks after transplanting. To do this, commercial fertilizers are diluted in water to replenish the essential nutrients needed by the plants.

Fertilizer composition per 1 liter of water (enough for 1 plant):

nitrogen-containing, 2.5 g;
phosphorus, 4 g;
potassium 1.5 g.

A second feeding is required when the period of mass flowering begins. For this, you will need:

1 liter of water;
50 ml of bird droppings;
50 ml of mullein;
1.5 g potassium sulfate.

All fertilizers should be applied close to the stems, ensuring they are not dripped onto them. This is dangerous, as exposed organic matter provides an ideal environment for microbial colonies to thrive.

Reviews from gardeners

Nina Alexandrovna, 71 years old. Moscow region:

"This year I discovered Georgia tomatoes—they produce beautiful, juicy fruit. I especially liked the juices, and the salads require a little more salt than usual—otherwise, my family complains that the taste is off. Overall, I'm happy with the tomatoes and will continue to plant them."

Petr Nikolaevich, 54 years old. Volgograd region:

"I've been growing Georgia tomatoes for about five years now, and I only had problems the first year, when I didn't fertilize the soil properly. The plants started to wilt, which affected the harvest. But by the next year, I was prepared and took good care of the tomatoes, and they produced so many that I had to give some to relatives. Now I plant much fewer, knowing that the family will have enough."

https://youtu.be/kN00KhGJw_s

The Georgia tomato is an ideal solution for those allergic to red tomatoes. Moreover, the plant has a pleasant feature: it produces fruit well in a greenhouse as long as favorable conditions exist. This positively impacts the yield.