Tomato: Sara's Galapagos: Spotlight

That is the Sara's Galapagos variety indeterminate current type tomato. It is my first year growing it. So far I can say it is extremely cool. For two reasons. One, it grows quite easily though the germination rate was low. It doesn't seem,  I say doesn't seem, to be having problems with diseases. I am spraying it with sulfur spray as a precaution but aside from yellow bottom leaves, not much disease issue. Little if any evidence of early blight. The second reason, it's native to the Galapagos Islands and it has a different leaf scent compared to your standard tomato plants. It may not have a huge taste, as I read but I also read it is packed with vitamins above standard tomatoes. We will see. 

The plant above is contained in a cage and with a stake. I let it grow pretty much unpruned but for the bottom. It is growing like a weed and needs care to lift up its branches. Because it is truly a wild variety, I am trying not prune it much at all. I am going to keep it of the ground and keep air circulating around it.

There are hundreds of tomatoes on the plant. They have not ripened yet but should be on there way over the next week.

Some more information below from other sites: I am trying to confirm how many varieties of tomatoes are on the Galapagos. Seems like the information below may be for different varieties. We will see. I will review it after it bears ripe fruit.

Sara's Galapagos #3637 (30 seeds) $3.00  

NEW FOR 2010. This special currant tomato is only 1/2 inch wide, but packed with tons of sweet flavor in its very small size. The seed was originally collected in the wild by Amy Goldman on a trip to the Galapagos with her daughter Sara. Large plants are prolific, bearing long trusses of tiny red intensely flavored fruit. Indeterminate. 75 days.

A description from: http://www.tradewindsfruit.com/lycopersicon_cheesmanii.htm

A small wild tomato native to the Galapagos Islands. Fruits are small, somewhat like the currant tomato. They ripen to a yellow-orange color and are edible, with a good, typical acid tomato flavor. The plant is of particular interest for its resistance to a number of tomato pests and has been used to cross breed with regular tomatoes to confer desired traits.

Description: A bushy annual with a standard tomato growth habit. Plants may reach 3-5ft and are most similar to certain cherry tomato varieties in growth and fruit production. The Galapagos Island tomato is distinctive and ornamental in a tomato garden, having smaller, ruffled leaves and profuse flowers. Fruits ripen quickly, in 50-60 days and seem to enjoy hot weather to set.



A blog entry from: community.stretcher.com/forums/t/17151.aspx

Thought I'd pass this on to anybody who likes cherry tomatoes, and is trying to grow them in dry, rocky areas. Try a variety called Wild Galapagos.

I saw this seed for sale last year (from Underwood), and they were outstanding.  New York got hit hard by late blight last year, and eventually it showed up in my garden.  Most of the varieties I grew got hammered, including almost all the heirlooms. But this one managed to fend off the worst of the disease.  It produces so well that even if you lose some tomatoes, there are plenty left to take their place.