A red Cherry open pollinated tomato on Indeterminate plants
Description
From the 2018 Seed Swap saved from a supermarket purchase. Now, I don’t entirely agree with doing this, partly because commercial tomatoes are usually F1 hybrids (the commercial growers need consistency which heritage and open pollinated varieties don’t necessarily give) and I’ve also found that the names on supermarket packets of tomatoes are usually a “brand” so they can provide tomatoes from a number of sources under the same name.
According to what I can find on the web, these were developed by Syngenta who are a global organisation. I’ve looked on their website and, whilst they give detailed instructions on how to grow them, there is no information about how to acquire them or whether they are F1 hybrid or not.
However, they seem to be quite popular so I’ll give them a try.
So, I think it will possibly be a determinate, grape shaped cultivar. However, we shall see.
Update June 2019
There are flowers and fruit beginning to set. However, it isn’t growing like a Determinate variety. It’s the tallest plant at the moment but the trusses are more spread than any of the other varieties growing at the moment – 2ft apart although others seem to be coming closer together, we’ll see how it goes.
The fruit look to be grape shaped so that’s good.
End of 2019 Update
This ended up doing quite well, I didn’t weigh the totals from individual fruit this year, too hard. But these cropped early and profusely so they certainly are up amongst the popular red cherry type fruits to grow in future years. I saved some seeds (as I always do) so I’ll be able to grow them again in the future. Obviously if they were an F1 hybrid, they aren’t anymore.
Quick Facts
- Fruit Type: Cherry
- Fruit Shape: Grape/Small Plum
- Fruit Size: Small
- Fruit Colour: Red
- Flesh Colour: Red
- Plant Type: Indeterminate
- Leaf Type: Regular
- Seed Type: Open Pollinated
- Ripe Days: Mid
- Taste: Sweet
- Our Source: 2018 Seed Swap
- Origin: Supermarket
- Alternatives: Red Cherry
- Fruit per Truss: 10-20
- Truss Spacing: 12-15 inches
These do not appear to be a commercial variety available to the amateur gardener. If you look at the Syngenta Tomato Products PDF, Angelle is listed along with a number of other cultivars.
Comments from readers:
I bought some of these (Angelle) from the supermarket and thought they were a lovely flavour so decided to grow them and see. Your report is quite encouraging. I just planted 12 seeds and had 12 germinate. I now have 12 little plants two of which are going to my daughter as she has better soil and a warmer garden than I do.
Updated 21/05/2021