VegetableTomato
Stuffer Green Tomato
Stuffer Green Tomato is an heirloom, open-pollinated indeterminate variety that produces three-inch fruits bearing a striking resemblance to green peppers, creating a delightful visual surprise in the garden. Reaching maturity in 80-89 days from transplant, this warm-season annual thrives in zones 2-11 and grows vigorously to heights between 3 and 8 feet, rewarding gardeners with a steady supply of unusual slicing tomatoes. The plant handles a range of growing conditions from garden plots and raised beds to greenhouses, adapting beautifully to different cultivation styles.
Photo © True Leaf Market
Growing Conditions
USDA Zone
2-11
Sunlight
Full Sun
Water
Moderate
Soil
Well-drained, Fertile Loam With Organic Matter
Growth Stats
96 in
Height
TypeIndeterminate
Spacing
24
Plant Profile
Sunlight
Full Sun
Water
Moderate
Zones
2-11
Size
96in H x ?in W
Growth
—
Care
High
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Highlights
These three-inch fruits look so much like green peppers that they confuse and delight in equal measure, offering a visual twist on what gardeners expect from a tomato plant. As an open-pollinated heirloom, you can save seeds from your best plants year after year, building a strain perfectly adapted to your garden's microclimate. The indeterminate growth habit means this plant keeps producing throughout the season rather than delivering one heavy flush, giving you steady harvests over weeks.
Common Uses
Stuffer Green Tomato shines as a slicing tomato with visual impact, its green-pepper appearance making it especially striking on salads and platters where presentation matters. The three-inch size and sturdy walls make these fruits candidates for stuffing with grains, vegetables, or cheese, living up to the variety's name. Gardeners grow it as much for conversation value as for culinary use, the unusual appearance drawing comments from anyone who sees the plants laden with green, pod-like fruits.
Growing Timeline
No timeline data available yet for this variety.
Care Instructions
Start Indoors
Start seeds indoors 6-8 weeks before your last spring frost date. Sow seeds 1/4 inch deep in seed-starting mix kept consistently moist and warm (70-80°F). Provide bright light once seedlings emerge to prevent leggy growth. These seeds germinate readily, with visible growth within 7-10 days.
Transplant Outdoors
Harden off seedlings over 7-10 days by gradually exposing them to outdoor conditions. Transplant into the garden after all frost danger has passed and soil temperatures consistently reach 60°F or warmer. Bury the transplant deeper than it was growing indoors, covering part of the stem with soil to encourage a stronger root system. Space plants 24 inches apart in rows spaced 36 inches apart.
Harvesting
Harvest Stuffer Green Tomato fruits when they reach their full three-inch size and turn from light green to darker green; the fruits will feel slightly yielding when gently squeezed, unlike the firm feel of unripe green tomatoes. The 80-89 day window from transplant gives you a clear timeline for when to expect your first mature fruits. Slice fruits from the vine with a small knife rather than twisting, which can damage the plant. Because this variety reaches maturity in 80-89 days, you can succession plant for continuous harvests throughout the warm season.
Pruning
As an indeterminate variety, Stuffer Green Tomato benefits from ongoing pruning throughout the season. Remove suckers (shoots that grow between the main stem and branches) to direct energy toward fruit production rather than excessive foliage. Prune lower leaves once the plant is well-established, improving air circulation around the base and reducing disease pressure. Removing some foliage as fruits mature also allows more light to reach ripening tomatoes, though avoid over-pruning which stresses the plant.
Growing Calendar
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Companion Planting
Pests & Diseases
Ecology & Traits
Edible
Scientific Classification
Solanum lycopersicum
Family
Solanaceae
Genus
Solanum
Growth Habit
Indeterminate
Native Status
L48 (I)AK (I)HI (I)PR (I)VI (I)CAN (W)
History & Origin
“Stuffer Green Tomato carries the lineage of an open-pollinated heirloom, preserved and passed along by gardeners who appreciated its unusual form and reliable productivity. Like many heirlooms, its exact origins remain somewhat mysterious, but its survival in cultivation speaks to generations of growers who found value in a tomato that challenged expectations. The variety represents the kind of culinary quirk that thrives in home gardens and seed-saving communities, where novelty and function coexist.”