PINK BERKELEY TIE-DYE
Product Description:
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Key Features:
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Key Features:
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Customer Reviews
Bottom line is that they look cool, taste good, have decent productivity, and are early enough that I got a decent crop in my short-season yard on the south side of Tacoma (Lakewood), which rarely gets very hot. So they are "as advertised" for me and I'll grow them again.My light meter says I barely have full sun; the same meter says that my neighbor's yard (which truly has full sun) gets almost twice as much. So I always get good cherry tomatoes (e.g. Sungold, Chocolate Sprinkles, Sweet Millions) but have struggled to find a slicer during my 10 years in this yard. I love Striped Germans but they are too slow and completely unreliable in my yard. The recommended determinates for this area (like Stupice and Siletz) were pretty but flavorless. With these Tie Dyes -- and only two plants -- I had one fruit that was over 13 ounces (bigger than advertised, a rare surprise to exceed seed catalogue claims, right?). But most were definitely in the advertised medium range, just big enough for me to use as slicers. (In the interest of nicer tomatoes,to avoid the mis-shaped tomatoes that someone complained about, pinch off the distorted fruits when they first form and are pea-sized. You can also remove extras when one stem is trying to produce too many tomatoes, espeically late in the year. This gets you larger more perfect tomatoes and solves the mis-shaped tomato problem common to many of the full-sized heirlooms.)
This is my third or fourth year growing Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye, and it remains my favorite tomato in the garden. It is hands down my favorite tasting tomato for fresh eating. I dream about tomato sandwiches and tomatoes on toast made with PBTD all winter and spring. The description says complex flavor, and that's spot on. It's a very strong savory, tangy, and sweet flavor all at once. I'd compare it to the flavor of some of the more popular cherry tomatoes, because usually only cherry tomatoes can pull off this potent flavor bomb.
I have grown these in very challenging conditions in central Oregon and now in southern Maine. It produces fruit fast, almost as fast as the determinates, and it produces massive clusters of fruits, all fairly even and regular. Well, I always get one or two faciated tomatoes from each plant, but I find that to be true of all heirlooms, especially the first few blossoms that form. Trim them if you don't like catfacing.
I have no problem with disease on these things, they go until it frosts. They will split with uneven watering, they do it less so than other brown/purple tomatoes I've grown like Black Prince, Black from Tula, and Cherokee Purple.
If I could only grow one slicer tomato plant in my garden, it would be Pink Berkeley Tie-dye!
Really great slicer type that tastes great. Produced like crazy all year, throwing out fruits of all sizes, and I can't recall a single instance of BER. An extreme ~2 week heat wave slowed them down a tiny bit but they picked right back up after that. Northeast 7a/7b.
The reviews made them sound great, but they were terrible in my Pacific NW garden and I have been growing tomatoes for a least 10 years so I know how to grow them.
1. Very weird shape - misshapen - won't work as a slicer
2. Very prone to cracking
3. Got soft spots when rest of tomato not ripe
4 Trimmed the bad spot and ate some. Flavor OK but not great.
Sorry you didn't love Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye! At Territorial, our products are backed by our full guarantee. We want you, our customers, to be 100% satisfied with the seed, plants and supplies that you purchase from us. If anything you buy from Territorial proves to be unsatisfactory, we will either replace the item (if available) or refund the purchase price, whichever you prefer (for up to 1 year from purchase). Contact our customer service (Monday-Friday 8AM-5PM Pacific Time) at either 800-626-0866 or info@territorialseed.com
| Soil Temp for Germ | 70-90°F |
| Seed Depth | 1/4" |
| Days to Emergence | 6-14 |
| Soil Temp for Transp | 55°F |
| Plant Spacing | See below |
| Row Spacing | 3-4' |
| Fertilizer Needs | High |
| Minimum Germination | 80% |
| Seeds per Gram | ≈ 280-320 |
| Seed Life | 3 years |
Lycopersicon lycopersicum The first ripe, juicy tomato of summer is a delicious milestone of the season for gardeners. Each year we test and evaluate more than 250 tomato varieties to bring you the most flavorful, best performing selections, for every desired use. An array of nutrients and antioxidants including the especially potent lycopene, found in its highest concentration in tomatoes, supports healthy eyesight, cardiovascular health, cancer-fighting capacity, and more.
Days to maturity are calculated from date of transplant.
Culture
• Determinate tomatoes: grow compactly, sprawling laterally, usually do not require staking, and fruit ripens over a short period of time
• Indeterminate tomatoes: grow on long vines, generally require pruning to 1 or 2 leaders that need to be trellised
• Fertile, well-drained raised beds covered with plastic mulch promote early growth and better yields
• Tomatoes are high feeders and will benefit from regular fertilization with Age Old Bloom
• To prevent blossom end rot use a high calcium amendment
• Overwatering can cause fruit to crack
Direct Sowing
• Not recommended
Transplanting
• Sow seeds in trays 6-8 weeks before anticipated transplant date; up-pot into 3-4 inch pots when the first set of true leaves appears
• Strong light and cooler temperatures (60-70°F) prevent plants from getting leggy
• Fertilize with Age Old Grow every 10-14 days
• When transplanting work in compost, 1/2 cup of TSC's Complete fertilizer, and handful of bone meal
• Determinates can be spaced 18-24 inches apart, indeterminates 24-36 inches apart
• Tomatoes can be buried up to the top 2 sets of leaves
• Use Kozy-Coats or Victorian Bell Cloches to protect young plants
Insects & Diseases
• Common insects: Flea beetles and tomato hornworms
• Insect control: Pyrethrin or row cover for flea beetles, and Monterey B.t. for tomato hornworms
• Common diseases: Early and late blight
• Disease prevention: A strict 3-4 year rotation, remove vines at the end of the year, fungicide
Harvest & Storage
• Harvest when fully ripe, do not refrigerate for best flavor
• Green fruit should be ripened in a cool, dark area; make sure fruit are not touching
KEY TO TOMATO DISEASE RESISTANCE AND TOLERANCE
• HR indicates high resistance.
• IR indicates intermediate resistance.
• Aal | Alternaria Stem Canker
• AB | Early (Alternaria) Blight
• B | Bacterial Wilt
• F* | Fusarium Wilt
• FOR | Fusarium Crown and Root Rot
• L | Gray Leaf Spot
• LB* | Late Blight
• LM* | Leaf Mold
• N | Roundworm | Nematode
• Pf* | Leaf Mold | Passalora fulva
• PL | Corky Root Rot
• PST* | Bacterial Speck
• RK | Root-Knot
• TMV | Tobacco Mosaic Virus
• ToANV* | Tomato Apex Necrotic Virus
• ToMV* | Tomato Mosaic Virus
• TSWV | Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus
• TYLCV | Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus
• V* | Verticillium Wilt
* Numbers and letters indicate specific disease race.
