Cipolla's Pride Tomato is an exclusive large sauce tomato that brings refined character to the garden. This open-pollinated indeterminate variety reaches harvest in 82 days from transplants, offering the reliability of a classic heirloom with the substance of a modern sauce tomato. With moderate water needs and a preference for slightly acidic soil (pH 6.0, 6.8), it adapts well to most garden conditions while rewarding careful cultivation with dependable production.
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This is a sauce tomato bred for serious cooks, not casual snackers. The large fruit size and sauce-specific genetics make it substantially different from slicing tomatoes, yielding concentrated flavor and dense flesh ideal for long, slow reduction. Its indeterminate growth habit means continuous production throughout the season, and the open-pollinated genetics let you save seed year after year, building a strain adapted to your own garden over time.
Cipolla's Pride shines in the kitchen as a sauce tomato. The large fruit and dense flesh lend themselves beautifully to long, slow cooking, whether you're making marinara, passata, or concentrated tomato paste. The fruit's character improves with cooking, as the flesh breaks down into silky, flavorful sauce rather than watery liquid.
No timeline data available yet for this variety.
Start seeds indoors about 5, 6 weeks before your transplant date. Sow seeds 1/4 inch deep in seed trays or 200-cell trays with 1 seed per cell, lightly covering them. Maintain soil temperature at 75, 85°F with moderate moisture; seeds typically germinate within 5, 7 days. At the first true leaf stage, pot up seedlings into 50-cell trays or 4-inch pots, depending on your transplant timing. Grow seedlings at a constant 60, 70°F under good light and fertilize with complete fertilizer until hardening off.
Transplant outdoors after the last frost, once soil has warmed. Avoid setting out leggy, root-bound, or flowering transplants, as these suffer stunting and reduced early production. Harden off plants gradually by exposing them to outdoor conditions over 7, 10 days before final transplanting. Space 24 inches apart in rows 48 inches apart, and install stakes or trellising immediately to support the indeterminate growth habit.
Pick fruit when fully colored and slightly soft to the touch. For sauce tomatoes, allow fruit to reach full maturity on the vine before harvesting; fully ripe fruit will have superior flavor and better texture when cooked. Fruit continues to ripen after picking, so near-ripe tomatoes can be harvested and ripened indoors if necessary.
Because this is an indeterminate variety, it will grow continuously throughout the season. For tall indeterminates, consider pruning once plants outgrow a manageable height for easy harvest and maintenance. Remove suckers selectively to improve air circulation and focus energy on fruit production, but avoid excessive pruning that exposes fruit to sunscald.
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