Latah Red Tomato

Solanum lycopersicum

Story: The earliest tomato we have ever grown, with fruits as early as June. This was originally developed by the university of Idaho in the USA for short season climates, it has become a firm favourite here in the UK. It produces lovely small to medium red fruit with excellent flavour. 

When to sow: From late February indoors to early April if you will be growing the plants outdoors.

Requirements: Nutrient-rich soil, regular watering, warmth and lots of sun

When to harvest for food: For eating, pick fruits as they ripen from late June onwards

When to harvest for seed saving: Pick tomatoes for seed saving around the same time as for food - just make sure they are very ripe

Seed contributors: Omved Gardens,  Incredible Seed Library

Isolation Needed: No

Saving Seed: Tomatoes largely self pollinate before the flowers open so there is no need to isolate them. There is an exception - some potato leaved varieties have protruding stigmas which can technically cross with the help of insects. You can grow as many tomato varieties as you like - we recommend keeping varieties 2 meters away apart to avoid confusion and reduce the chance of cross pollination. Allow fruits to fully ripen on the plant before picking. The seeds require fermentation to clean off the gloop and stop them sticking to each other - here's some instructions on how to do that.

Number of plants to save seeds from: 1 plants minimum, 3 or more is ideal

Pollination: Self pollinated  

How to send seed back: Please label all seed with variety, type, date and your contact. If you didn't get a chance to fill out our online data collection form, you can also send us a few lines about how it grew for you/flavour etc. Please aim to send back 1 tablespoon of dried seed or more so that we can continue to share with network members. Send to: The Seed Saving Network, Omved Gardens, 1 Townsend Yard, N6 5JF.

Please remember, if you’re an individual grower you can order up to 4 packets of seeds. If you order more than this, you will receive just four packs to begin with. This is to ensure we get plenty of data in return and to keep our stocks sustainable for years to come.* 

*Community groups and Experienced Growers can order larger quantities, please email us if this is the case.

If an item is out of stock we will send a close alternative.

We kindly borrowed this picture from the Incredible Seed Library