Saflax - Organic - Tomato - Principe Borghese - Solanum lycopersicum - 10 seeds - The queen of Italian pasta tomatoes – fruits weigh around 50 grams. Worth knowing: This aromatic, old Italian variety produces oval to round fruits with a diameter of 2 to 4 cm and a small tip. The Tomato Principe Borghese has a sweet-savoury taste and usually brings in a good harvest from the end of July until beginning of October, when the plant carries loads of fruits. . Most popular are, of course, tomato sauces and tomato soups, but also the use of big tomato chunks in vegetable and meat stews. Strained tomatoes make an ideal pizza topping. Moreover, tomatoes are the basic ingredient for many pasta casseroles, like Lasagna. Fresh slices of tomato along with Mozzarella cheese and seasoned with herbs and olive oil make the famous “Insalata Caprese”. Mediterranean herbs like oregano, thyme, sage and basil are the perfect seasoning for tomatoes. To dry and store tomatoes: Wash and slice the tomatoes, spread them on a baking sheet, season with dried and chopped up sprigs of thyme, and place them in a pre-heated oven with 75° Celsius. Let them dry for about 7 to 10 hours in the hot oven with the door slightly open and flip the slices over now and then. The tomatoes are ready when they are dry, but can still be bent. Rinse out a glass with hot water and place layers of the tomatoes along with twigs of rosemary and some garlic inside. Add (olive) oil until the tomatoes are fully covered. Leave it to stand for at least one week. Natural Place: Tomatoes originally came from South and Central America. Cultivation: You may start seed propagation in mid March at a bright and warm place indoors. Spread the flat seeds about 2 cm apart from each other onto moist coconut substrate or organic herb substrate and cover them only slightly with earth. Keep your potting compost moist, but not wet – preferably by using a water sprayer for moistening. Cover the seed container with clear film to prevent the earth from drying out. Don’t forget to make some holes in the clear film and take it every second or third day completely off for about 2 hours. That way you can avoid mold formation on your potting compost. Place the seed container somewhere bright and warm with a temperature between 20° and 24° Celsius. The first seedlings should come up after one or two weeks. Now, you can remove the cover and keep the sprouts in a somewhat cooler, but bright place without exposing them to the hot midday sun. As soon as the seedlings develop the second pair of leaves, you can prick out until the first pair of leaves, and plant the sprouts into small 10 cm pots with a bottom hole and filled with organic vegetable substrate. When they reach a height of approximately 10 cm, you need to support the plants with a small stick. In mid May and after the Ice Saints, the plants can be planted out at a sunny place in the garden with around 75 cm gaps between them, or you move them into tubs. Place: A sunny place that is sheltered from the rain and wind would be ideal for cultivation. Care: As the plants grow tall they will need strong supporting struts or tomato stakes. Water the plants evenly, but avoid water-logging. Pluck out the side-shoots between the stem and the base of the branches regularly. Since the rooting of the plants will develop strongly in the beginning, the visible sprouts grow rather slow initially. About 4 weeks and 8 weeks after planting out, you may provide the plant with some organic vegetable fertilizer. During Winter: Sow again the following year. Bonsai: No Tomato plants belong to the nightshade family. Except for its ripe fruits all other parts of the plant are poisonous. Picture credits: Because of technical limitations links are shown as text. 18201-solanum-lycopersicum-seed-package-front-german.jpg - About © : Contact SAFLAX - - saflax.de/copyright 18201-solanum-lycopersicum-cultivation-instruction-german.jpg - Frank Laue - © Saflax - saflax.de/copyright 18201-32-solanum-lycopersicum.jpg - About © : Contact SAFLAX - - saflax.de/copyright 18201-33-solanum-lycopersicum.jpg - About © : Contact SAFLAX - - saflax.de/copyright 18201-34-solanum-lycopersicum.jpg - About © : Contact SAFLAX - - saflax.de/copyright 18201-34-solanum-lycopersicum.jpg - About © : Contact SAFLAX - - saflax.de/copyright 18201-35-solanum-lycopersicum.jpg - About © : Contact SAFLAX - - saflax.de/copyright 18201-36-solanum-lycopersicum.jpg - About © : Contact SAFLAX - - saflax.de/copyright 18201-37-solanum-lycopersicum.jpg - About © : Contact SAFLAX - - saflax.de/copyright