"Green Zebra" Saladette Tomato

Solanum lycopersicum

(Indeterminate, Early) Green Zebra is a masterpiece of a tomato bred by legendary seedsman Tom Wagner of Everett, Washington. With a mission to create a beautiful, crack resistant tomato that stayed green when ripe, Green Zebra became one of Wagner’s earliest original varieties and was first offered through his seed catalog, Tater Mater Seeds, in 1983.

Green Zebra is vibrant saladette-sized tomato dappled in golden speckles. Not only a visual delight, this tough tomato has demonstrated excellent disease resistance, high yields and, as Wagner intended, superb crack resistance. This past growing season really put Green Zebra to the test and we are delighted by how it well it performed through the unprecedented wet and cool growing season we experienced here in the Northeast. Really excellent flavor, sweet and tangy. What a fun splash of color to grow in the garden or add to mixed cherry tomato pints at market!

Growing Instructions:

Start Indoors 6-8 weeks before transplanting to the field after chance of last frost. If growing in a greenhouse sow 8 weeks before desired transplant date.

Plant spacing: 18" apart.

Row spacing: 28" to 32" apart

*If planting multiple rows we recommend alternating row spacing at 24 inches and 48 inches. The 24 inch row will be space for a trellis and the 48 inch row will be the walking path. This not only maximizes garden space, but also allows you to trellis two rows of tomatoes on one trellis.

There are many trellising systems and ways of pruning and caring for tomatoes. We encourage you figure out what makes the most sense for you, don't be afraid to experiment. We prefer double leader pruning with an overhead T-post and wire trellis for our field tomatoes.

Give tomatoes plenty of compost at time of planting. We also recommend a fall or spring cover crop of peas or another annual legume that will fix nitrogen for the tomato crop.

Mulching tomatoes is a good idea, however mulching in mid spring will keep soil temperature cooler and may slow growth. Mulching can be done once soil has warmed. Make sure soil pH is between 5.8 and 7.0. If plant needs a growing boost, water with nitrogen tea or compost tea a few times. If trace minerals are inadequate, sprinkle a small amount of woodash or azomite in each planting hole.

Harvest:

Harvest when tomatoes turn their full color or just shy of. Being a green tomato when fully ripe, this may take a little trialing. Familiarize yourself with what an unripe Green Zebra looks like early on in the season. Familiarize yourself with the firmness of an unripe zebra and also how it is more difficult to remove from its stem. Now when you begin to notice deeper yellow striping you can taste one… you will know when it is ripe. If frost threatens or tomatoes fall off the vine they can be ripened indoors, out of cold storage.