A tomato ideal for sharing while travelling
The travel tomato, pocketbook vine tomato or ‘Reisetomate’ in German is a traditional German or Austrian variety.
it is a beefsteak type red tomato with segments that can be broken off and separated without losing much of the tomato juice. The name travel tomato comes from the idea you can easily carry this tomato on your travels and simply snap off a piece whenever you’re hungry or want to share it. The plant will produce strange, bumpy fruit, like a cluster of cherry tomatoes joined at the hip resulting from a condition called fasciation, where a growing point begins to proliferate abnormally. Therefore it’s not a cluster of individual cherry tomatoes joined together, but rather a single mutated fruit.
Like other heritage tomatoes, ‘Reisetomate’ is self-pollinating and generally comes true-to-type, so you can harvest seeds from your first crop and keep on replanting for the following year.
As for the taste, it will be a bit on the sour side, almost lemony. Great for eating on the go or in salads.
Scientific Name: Solanum lycopersicum
Plant Life Cycle: annual
Optimal Germination Temperature: 24°C-28°C
Germination time in days: 7-14 days
Indicative Days to maturity: 80-120 days
Sunlight: Full Sun
Soil requirement: Well drained and rich
Sowing and cultivation: Start indoors 6-8 weeks before last frost. Sow 1.5mm inch deep at soil temperature of 21°C. Transplant the seedlings when large enough to handle when about 20 cm tall. Plant out 45 cm apart in warm and sunny spot. It is advised to grow tomatoes in a greenhouse or polytunnel.
