Spitze Paste Tomato: 2009 Growing Experiment

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Spitze: Romanian Paste - 2009 Growing Journal

Disclaimer: The following How To is just one way to grow a tomato plant. There are many different methods, tips and do's and dont's on growing tomatoes. The following method is right for our climate zone, requirements, and situation. We hope that it will be helpful to readers. Also, tomatoes grown in containers larger than 5 gallons, (10 to 25 gallons) will produce more and larger fruit, but 5 gallon is what we have to work with this year. So,...

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The Spitze is not a common or favored paste tomato in the United States. It's only offered by a few seed companies. Besides it's rarity and promise of being sweet enough to eat, larger in size and good for sauces and paste, we were drawn to the Spitze for another reason. The Spitze is a Romanian Tomato and my wife is from Romania, and I lived there as well for a few years. So naturally, we had to try it.

Spitze Tomato Seeds from SeedSavers Peat Pellets, Left is Compressed, Dry, Right is Hydrated, full size

Spitze Tomato seeds ordered from SeedSavers. Tomato seeds need to be started indoors, 6 to 8 weeks before they are transplanted outside. This should be done between Valentines Day and St. Patrick's Day, but can be started earlier.

Peat Pellets for starting the seeds. The one on the left is dry & compressed as it comes from the supplier. The one on the right has been hydrated with water and reached full size.

Hydrated peat pellets inside their starter tray. Seeds (which can be seen in the top two) are planted about 1/4" to 1/2" deep, then covered. I use my pocketknife to pull the peat apart to make a hole, and to push the peat back into the hole to cover the seed.

Seeded & Hydrated Peat Pellets Windowsill Greenhouse Starter Tray Sitting in Window

Planted peat pellets are placed inside a WindowSill Greenhouse starter tray. Larger trays are available. We use the small one here for demonstration purposes.

The pellets are watered and the greenhouse lid is placed on top and the starter tray is set in a window that receives the most Sunlight. Water inside the tray evaporates and collects as condensation on the inside lid. This provides moisture and a sort of humidity with warm temperatures that help foster germination.

The starter trays with the greenhouse effect are a great way to start tomatoes indoors. We get a 96 percent germination rate using this method. Starter trays and peat pellets can be purchased from any garden supply or hardware store that offers a nursery.

In about 2-3 weeks, Spitze seeds germinate and reach about 2 inches. Planted March 7. These have gotten quite tall, on purpose, as I want to plant them DEEP!

When Spitze's reach 2-3 inches tall, we move them over to a 3 or 4 inch peat pot, or similar container. Plant them deep, I mean deep, so that they can develop a strong root system and grow more vigorously.

Update: July 14, 2009

Spitze at 7 weeks, ready to transplant. April 25, 2009. (Colder climates may need to wait 8 weeks)

Spitze transplanted to 5 gallon bucket of highly rich mixed compost (bought from a local supplier), peat moss, regular top soil with small bit of sand..

Tomato food pellets were sprinkled into the dug out whole before the tomato was put in. 7 weeks, April 25, 2009

IMPORTANT: Tomatoes that grow too fast, or under too much water, develop blosssom end rot. It has happened to me this year and I will tell you more about it below. However, to prevent it from happening to your tomato, for one 5 gallon bucket of compost/topsoil you mx together, add a 6-8 ounce glass of lime. Crushed eggshells can also be used. This will prevent blossom rot from occuring later on in the season.

Spitze at 9 weeks. Two weeks of lots of rain, good temps and Sun have done some good. Foliage coming out, stalk is thicker. Not as vigorous growth as our Romas, or slicing tomatoes, but so far so good. May 9, 2009

Special Note: Tomatoes grown in containers larger than these 5 gallons, (10 to 25 gallons) will produce more and larger fruit, but 5 gallon is what we have to work with this year. So,...we'll see how it goes. As we reported on the Roma Growing journal, [ A raised bed garden would be better, but we'll be moving from this starter home to a larger house/acreage as our family grows. Therefore, why invest $$ in a big, raised bed garden? ]

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