Tomato "Giant" - large-fruited variety

Tomato Raspberry Giant: description of the variety

"Giant Raspberry" is one of the best among large-fruited salad varieties.
This is a mid-season variety in terms of ripening; 105-110 days pass from the moment of planting seedlings to harvesting the first fruits. The plant is standard, determinant. The bush itself is very tall and can reach a height of 100 to 180 cm. This variety was bred for growing in open beds and in greenhouse shelters. Has high resistance to fungal diseases. Ripe fruits have a dark pink or bright crimson color and are round in shape. The pulp is dense, fleshy, sugary. The taste is high, the taste is juicy, sweet, typical for tomatoes. The first Giant Raspberry tomatoes can reach 500 grams, but later from 300 to 400 grams .

The number of chambers is 5-6, the dry matter content is about 5%. Collected fruits can be stored for a long time and tolerate long-distance transportation well. For these properties, it is valued by large producers who grow “Giant Raspberry” in large volumes.

You can compare the weight of the fruits of this variety with other varieties in the table below:

Tomato "Giant" - large-fruited variety

This tomato has become very popular among lovers of large-fruited tomatoes. It practically answers all the requests of tomato lovers, as evidenced by many positive reviews from those who, having once grown a Giant tomato on their plot, now grow it every season.

It is not for nothing that this variety is called Giant: it stands out not only for the size of its fruits, but also for the size of the bush. All indicators of its characteristics exactly correspond to the name of the variety.

• indeterminate, standard;
• mid-ripening: fruits ripen 105-110 days after emergence;
• tall: in protected ground about 1.8 m; average specimens grow up to 130-150 cm, in an open bed 1 m-1.3 m (the growth of the bush depends on the conditions, climate and place of cultivation);
• needs tying, pinching;
• can be formed into two stems, but the best results can be obtained if formed into one stem;
• It is better to pinch the top when the bush reaches the desired height;
• leaves are green, medium size;
• inflorescence type is intermediate;
• The first inflorescence is formed above the 8-9th leaf, followed by every three leaves;
• large-fruited: on average, tomatoes weigh about 300-400 g;
• long-term fruiting - until autumn;
• The yield is high: from one bush you can get about 10 kg of tomatoes.

The fruits of the Giant Raspberry tomato are also impressive with their characteristics:

• the largest tomatoes weigh about 0.5-0.8 kg;
• on average, tomatoes harvest about 300-400 g;
• flat-round shape;
• near the stalk the fruits are slightly ribbed;
• ripe tomatoes of rich raspberry or dark pink color;
• taste qualities are high;
• tomatoes are sweet, aromatic, juicy;
• the pulp is fleshy, dense, with pronounced sugar content;
• seed chambers 5-6;
• very few seeds;
• the skin is dense and prevents the fruit from cracking;
• Tomatoes contain about 5% dry matter and 2.4% sugar;
• do not crack;
• excellent keeping quality;
• confident transportability.

Thanks to the ability to maintain their high commercial qualities when transported over long distances, Giant Crimson tomatoes are very attractive to those who grow tomatoes on an industrial scale. Tomatoes can be confidently stored in cool places: room, garage, underground, balcony (insulated), closet.

Purpose: universal, salad and for technical processing. The giant is delicious in salads and sliced. But it is also successfully used in canning: juices, pastes, ketchups; Fruits collected closer to autumn (2nd and 3rd harvest) are no longer so large and are excellent for whole-fruit canning.

The Raspberry giant tomato has good resistance to many diseases characteristic of plants of the nightshade family.

The “Giant Raspberry” tomato is classified as a universal variety. The fruits are consumed fresh, used for preparing salads and for the production of tasty juices and tomato pastes with high nutritional value. For canning, it is better to use the fruits of the second and subsequent harvests.

READ MORE: Tomato barberry characteristics and description of a hybrid variety with photos

Characteristics

If you grow the Raspberry Giant tomato in open ground, then only the southern regions are suitable for this, since the plant is heat-loving and demanding of light. The Astrakhan region, Belgorod, Voronezh, North Caucasus and Krasnodar region are most suitable. In central and more northern regions, this hybrid must be grown in greenhouse shelters.

This type of tomato is famous for the versatility of using its fruits . They are excellent when consumed fresh and are suitable for making juices and pastes. Tomatoes from the first harvest are not suitable for canning, as they are too large for this; it is better to wait for the second or third harvest. They will be smaller in size and then it will be possible to preserve them. Juices and pastes from such tomatoes will be very tasty and have high nutritional value.

This type of tomato is valued, among other things, for its high yield. With careful care, you can get up to 10 kg from each bush . Recommended planting density is 2-3 bushes per square meter. m, and it comes out to about 30 kg. This is a very good indicator of productivity.

Features of planting and growing the Giant tomato

Growing the Giant tomato proceeds in the usual way, always through the seedling stage. Seeds are sown on certain dates in March, depending on the climate of the region: two-month-old seedlings will need to be transplanted into an open bed or greenhouse only when the ground warms up to at least 14 o C, and the night air temperature does not fall below 8 o C. Growing seedlings occurs without any special features, but they should not be overfed so that the bushes do not stretch. Temporary cooling immediately after the appearance of the first shoots to 14–16 o C is mandatory.

Both seedlings of this variety of tomatoes and adult bushes should be located in a well-lit place: without the sun, the fruits will not even acquire the taste that is inherent to them. The approximate scheme for planting seedlings is 50 x 70 cm. Plant care is normal. In the first half of the growing season, the soil should be slightly moist all the time, but as the fruits ripen, watering is sharply reduced: if the giant fruits crack from overwatering, they will be especially pitiful. When feeding, they try to give less nitrogen, except for the very first one: two weeks after planting, the seedlings must be fed with complex fertilizer or mullein infusion with the addition of wood ash.

If the seedlings have stretched out, they will need to be planted in the garden bed at an angle.

The bushes grow in a single-stem or double-stem form: in the second case, one of the lowest stepsons, the most powerful, is designated as the second stem. The remaining stepsons break them out in a timely manner. The lower leaves are torn off shortly after the formation of the first fruit cluster. Then, as the fruits grow, the leaves that protect them from the sun are also removed. They try to bring the fruits to a state of complete readiness on the bushes, so they will be more tasty. But if cold snaps begin (after all, this variety is late-ripening), they have to be picked unripe. Blanched tomatoes will ripen normally in an apartment, but green ones may not ripen. Gigantic fruits cannot be stored for long periods of time: if they cannot be used fresh in time, they must either be processed into juice, or cut into pieces, frozen and used in the winter.

Advantages and disadvantages

Among the main advantages of the “Giant Raspberry” variety are noted:

• high productivity;
• the fruits do not crack;
• wonderful taste of ripe fruits;
• disease resistance;
• amicable maturation;
• high varietal properties.

Among the shortcomings, it was noted that this variety of tomato Giant is very capricious in terms of watering and lighting. Good support and garter of heavy hands are also required.

Features of cultivation

Among the features of the “Giant Raspberry” tomato species, many note its high yield and friendly ovary and fruit ripening. You can also talk about resistance to diseases. Seeds for seedlings are planted in late March-early April. Plant bushes form one or two stems, usually two. The plant is tall and needs staking; this will serve as additional protection from the wind if it grows in open ground.

“Giant Raspberry” is very demanding in terms of thermal conditions and watering. The plant also needs a lot of sunny days, the taste and sugar content depend on this. At the stage of active growth and formation of the ovary, it needs fertilizing containing potassium and phosphorus. In the future, the volume of fertilizers is reduced.

Read useful articles about fertilizers for tomatoes:

• Organic, mineral, phosphorus, complex and ready-made fertilizers for seedlings and the TOP best.
• Yeast, iodine, ammonia, hydrogen peroxide, ash, boric acid.
• What is foliar feeding and when picking, how to carry it out.

Farmer reviews

Let's see how gardeners respond to growing tomatoes of this variety.
Alina Kornilova, 57 years old : “I have tried many varieties of tomatoes and have been growing Giant for several years now.
My whole family loves the taste of these tomatoes. In the first year there were difficulties; I didn’t calculate the size of the bushes; they were uncomfortable in the greenhouse. But the very next season I took into account all the mistakes and got a very good harvest.” Dmitry Semenov, 42 years old : “I live in the Krasnodar region, I grew Giant Raspberry in open ground. What pleased me most was that there were no problems with pests, the main thing is not to forget to tie up the bushes - when there is a lot of sun and warmth, the bushes grow huge. They ate the first harvest like this, and the smaller ones that came later were salted.”

Irina Vyseltseva, 67 years old : “A friend recommended this variety to me and treated me to her tomatoes, I really liked it, and decided to grow it too. There weren’t any particular problems; I’m an experienced gardener. I can only advise using mineral fertilizers first.”

Diseases and pests

The most likely disease of this variety is tomato blossom end rot. They fight against it by reducing the nitrogen content in the soil while adding calcium.

Also effective measures would be to increase soil moisture and spray the affected plants with a solution of calcium nitrate. The second most common disease is brown spot. To prevent and treat it, it is necessary to reduce watering and adjust the temperature, regularly ventilating the greenhouse.

The most common pests in garden beds are melon aphids and thrips; the drug “Zubr” is successfully used against them. Mole crickets and slugs can also cause great damage to these bushes.

They are combated by loosening the soil, and also using dry mustard or hot ground pepper diluted in water, a 10-liter spoon, and watering the soil around.

“Giant Raspberry” is a wonderful productive variety with large, tasty tomatoes, but there are certain difficulties in care, they are quite surmountable; here it is enough to follow simple rules of care. Good luck to you and a bountiful harvest in your garden beds.