Celebrity tomato facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Celebrity tomato |
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Ripe Celebrity tomato
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| Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) | |
| Maturity | 70-75 days |
| Plant height | 5-10 feet |
| Fruit weight | 8-10 oz |
| Leaf | Regular leaf |
| Resist. | verticillium wilt (V), fusarium wilt 1 and 2 (F), nematodes, and tobacco mosaic virus (T) |
| Color | Red |
| Shape | Globe |
The Celebrity tomato is a special type of tomato plant. It's a hybrid, which means it's a mix of two different tomato plants. This mix makes it super strong and able to grow lots of big, juicy tomatoes! Each tomato can weigh about 8 ounces and be 4 inches wide.
These plants grow tall, so they need support like cages or stakes. They keep producing tomatoes all through the growing season. Celebrity tomatoes are known for being tough. They can fight off many common tomato diseases like Fusarium wilt and Verticillium wilt. They also resist tiny worms called Root-knot nematodes and the Tobacco mosaic virus.
Celebrity tomatoes can grow well in many different places, even in dry, humid, or wet areas. They don't usually crack or split, which is a common problem for other tomatoes. This makes them great for areas with uneven rainfall. However, they don't like cold weather and might struggle in places with short growing seasons. The plants can reach up to 5 feet tall and produce bright red, medium-sized fruits. These tomatoes are often used to make yummy salsas, salads, juices, and canned foods.
Contents
How Celebrity Tomatoes Came To Be
The idea of mixing different tomato plants to create new, better types started in 1945. The goal was to give gardeners and chefs high-quality tomatoes that tasted great and could resist diseases.
The Celebrity tomato was first created in the USA by Colen Wyatt. He was a vegetable breeder who worked on new plant types in the late 1900s. The plant was first sold to the public in the late 1980s by a company called PetoSeed Co.
In 1984, experts in horticulture (the science of growing plants) gave the Celebrity tomato a special award called the All-America Selections award. They recognized it for its amazing qualities compared to other tomatoes. Today, this tomato is still a favorite for gardeners and often wins awards in gardening and plant research.
About the Plant Itself
What Does a Celebrity Tomato Plant Look Like?
Celebrity tomato plants grow like bushes. They have special leaves called "Regular Leaves" and strong stems. These plants can grow from 5 to 10 feet tall! They are called "semi-determinate" plants. This means they grow to a certain height and then stop, focusing on making flowers and fruits. Sometimes, they might keep growing a little more, which is why they are "semi-determinate."
The flowers on these plants are yellow and small, less than 1 inch across. It takes about 70 to 75 days for the plant to grow and for the tomatoes to be ready to pick. This makes them a "mid-season" variety. The tomatoes themselves are medium-sized, weighing 8-10 ounces each. They ripen in less than 6 weeks. Both the inside and outside of the fruit are bright red. They have a distinct flattened-globe shape.
Only the tomato fruits are safe to eat. The leaves and roots of the plant are not good for you. Celebrity tomato plants are perennial, which means they can live for a long time and don't need to be replanted every year.
What is an F1 Hybrid?
The Celebrity tomato is a "first generation" (F1) hybrid. This means it was made by carefully crossing two different pure tomato plants. Scientists chose parent plants that had good traits, like being resistant to diseases, producing lots of tomatoes, and having great flavor. They did this by using one plant for pollen and another for seeds.
How to Grow Celebrity Tomatoes
What Do They Need to Grow Well?
Celebrity tomato plants need lots of sunshine to grow tall, make fruits, and produce a big harvest. They can grow in many types of soil, but they do best in loose, nutrient-rich soil.
You should plant the seeds about 6-8 weeks before the last frost of spring. The seeds usually start to sprout in 6-10 days. To get the most tomatoes, the soil should have a pH level between 6.2 and 6.8. It's a good idea to add Fertilizer to the soil when the plant starts to flower.
These plants need a lot of water all season long. The water needs to soak at least 6 inches deep into the soil to help the roots and plant grow strong. You can help the soil stay moist by using mulch. Mulch is a layer of material, like black landscaping fabric, placed on top of the soil. This can also warm the soil faster, letting you plant seeds earlier. Mulching also helps the soil stay healthy and reduces weeds that can compete with your tomato plants. Without enough water, the plants might not grow well, and the tomatoes can get a problem called blossom end rot.
It's important to give each plant enough space, about 2 feet apart. This helps prevent diseases from spreading. Since Celebrity tomatoes can grow very tall (up to 10 feet) and their fruits get heavy, you'll need to use stakes or cages to support them.
Planting other plants nearby, like chives, marigolds, and basil, can be helpful. These "companion plants" can stop weeds from growing, keep pests away naturally, and even make your tomatoes taste better!
It's also a good idea to plant Celebrity tomatoes in a different spot in your garden every three years. Don't plant them where other plants from the same family (like potatoes) have grown recently. Celebrity tomatoes need a lot of nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus from the soil. Planting beans and peas in that spot before tomatoes can help add more nitrogen to the soil. Moving your tomato plants around helps keep the soil healthy, reduces pests, and prevents diseases.
Eating Celebrity Tomatoes
What Nutrients Do They Have?
| Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz) | |
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| Energy | 74 kJ (18 kcal) |
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3.9 g
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| Sugars | 2.6 g |
| Dietary fiber | 1.2 g |
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0.2 g
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Protein
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0.9 g
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| Vitamins | Quantity
%DV†
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| Vitamin A equiv.
beta-Carotene
lutein zeaxanthin
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5%
42 μg
4%
449 μg123 μg
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| Thiamine (B1) |
3%
0.037 mg |
| Niacin (B3) |
4%
0.594 mg |
| Vitamin B6 |
6%
0.08 mg |
| Vitamin C |
17%
14 mg |
| Vitamin E |
4%
0.54 mg |
| Vitamin K |
8%
7.9 μg |
| Minerals | Quantity
%DV†
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| Magnesium |
3%
11 mg |
| Manganese |
5%
0.114 mg |
| Phosphorus |
3%
24 mg |
| Potassium |
8%
237 mg |
| Other constituents | Quantity |
| Water | 94.5 g |
| Lycopene | 2573 µg |
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Link to USDA Database entry
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| †Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults. | |
Celebrity tomatoes are very low in calories, with only 18 calories in about 3.5 ounces. They have almost no fat. They are a good source of fiber, vitamins, and minerals that are important for your health. These tomatoes also contain something called Lycopene, which is an antioxidant. Antioxidants help protect your body's cells.
How to Use Them in Cooking
Celebrity tomatoes are often eaten fresh in sandwiches or chopped up in salsas. They are great for making thick sauces for pasta, tomato soups, and salads. You can also cook them and add them to dishes like tomato purée or tomato fritters. Their tangy taste makes dishes even better! Sometimes, they are used as a colorful topping for savory meals. Other dishes that use Celebrity tomatoes include stuffed tomatoes, tomato basil bruschetta, and broiled tomatoes with cheese.
Green, unripe tomatoes can be used to make chutneys or pickles. They are also good for canning or frying to add to other recipes.
How to Store Them
After you pick ripe Celebrity tomatoes, keep them at room temperature for up to 2-3 days. This helps them keep their best taste and freshness. Don't put them in the refrigerator right away! Tomatoes are sensitive to cold. While refrigerating them might slow down ripening, it can make them lose their original flavor.
Store them away from direct sunlight, as this can make them spoil faster. Carefully remove the stems and store the tomatoes upside down.
If you pick unripe Celebrity tomatoes, you can help them ripen faster. Put them in a paper bag with an apple or a banana. These fruits release a gas called Ethylene, which speeds up the ripening process for tomatoes.
Celebrity tomatoes can last up to a week if stored correctly. How long they last also depends on how ripe they were when you picked them. It's best to eat ripe tomatoes within 1-2 days to get the most vitamins and minerals from them. Instead of refrigerating them, it's better to preserve them if you want to keep their texture and flavor for longer.
Diseases and Pests
Celebrity tomatoes are very strong against certain diseases. They can resist Verticillium Wilt, a fungus that makes leaves turn yellow and die. They also resist Fusarium Wilt, another fungus that infects roots, stopping growth and killing leaves. Plus, they are resistant to tiny worms called Root-knot nematodes and the tobacco mosaic virus, which can both stunt growth and reduce how many tomatoes you get.
Even though they are very resistant to many problems, Celebrity tomatoes can still be affected by other pests.
- Aphids are tiny insects that can harm the fruits and leaves. They suck the sap from the plant, causing leaves to curl.
- Cutworms and hornworms are caterpillars that eat the important parts of young plants. This can stop leaves and shoots from growing and even kill the plant.
- Spider mites and scales are pests that poke holes in tomato leaves to feed on the sap. This can make leaves turn yellow or wilt, cause fruits to ripen too early, and stunt plant growth.
- Slugs and snails can chew on the leaves and low-hanging fruits.
- Russet mites can make leaves look greasy, then turn them bronze.
- Pinworms and fruitworms are caterpillars that eat plant leaves, causing a lot of damage.
How to Control Pests
You can reduce the number of snails and slugs by removing their hiding spots, like under rocks or wooden boards, and by clearing away lots of weeds. You can also pick snails out of your garden by hand or set up snail traps. Using special dust or sprays with sulfur can help prevent russet mites.
It's best not to plant Celebrity tomatoes near other plants from the same family, like petunias and potatoes. Planting potatoes near tomatoes can increase the chance of your tomatoes catching potato blight disease.
For pinworms, pesticides and natural enemies don't help much. After you harvest your Celebrity tomatoes, it's a good idea to immediately dig up and turn over all the plants. This helps reduce pinworms. To control fruitworms, you can use a natural insecticide called Bacillus thuringiensis. This helps protect helpful insects while getting rid of the harmful ones.
Images for kids
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Ripe Celebrity tomato
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Unripe Celebrity tomato
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Celebrity plants in their early stages
