Tomato 'Pantano Romanesco'

I grew this tomato for years in the Santa Fe NM area (Zone 6) before moving to PA last summer. By far, it was my favorite tomato. Becau...Read Morese summer nighttime temps regularly drop into the 50's in the Santa Fe area, large beefsteak style tomatoes are difficult to ripen. Pantano Romanesco would ripen with 56+ temps. Boy, was it one tasty tomato!

I grew it in well composed soil with minimum fertilizers (to avoid soft, lush growth that SW pests seem to target), always had 3-4" layer of straw to retain soil moisture (due to very arid conditions) and usually watered once a week or so, as needed. Because of the high altitude (6,000'+), daily dry winds, temps swings 90/day to 50/night, and arid conditions, it takes a tough plant to survive. Brandywines simply struggled and were tasteless -- this one thrived and remained healthy thru-out the season, still blooming and trying to ripen tomatoes at the end of Oct. All this allowed the plant to concentrate the tomato-ey flavor. Yummy!

Now in PA, with too much water and cooler soil temps, I'm hoping it will still grow well and survive the local late blight -- we'll see this coming summer.

These tomatoes are ribbed mostly, fairly large, and go from firm to mush rather quickly so picking must be regular. The fruit is weighty...Read More and it bears heavily, so the vines must be trellised well. This variety makes the most unbelievable sauce I have ever tasted, impossible to describe. In my experience, about 20 lbs of fruit will yield about 6.5 qts of juice when chopped, slightly cooked, and put through a food mill. From a planter containing about 20 plants, and less than a month into picking, 28 qts of juice have been made. Highly recommended for canning.

A tasty, thick-walled tomato. It can be used for fresh eating as well as paste and drying.

A pleasant tomatoey taste with ...Read Morea bit of 'bite' to it. The tomato has a firmer texture than other similar types and although I prefer a softer fleshed tomato, it's not crunchy or unpleasant when eaten fresh. It will make a nice dried product, and probably travels well enough for a farmer's market.

I give it a B+.

"medium, marmande type fruit are an intense red, with deep rich tomato flavor. They make incredible fresh or canned pasta sauces. Sturdy ...Read Morevines grow quite tall and will reward you with many fluted beautys." From Italy.