Fama tomatoes
Growing Instructions
Everything you need to know to grow and store your Fama varieties — from sowing through long-term storage.
Sowing & Transplanting
Sowing: Begin sowing 4 to 8 weeks before average last frost date. Locations with a longer season can delay sowing up to a month later than main season tomatoes.
Sowing depth: 1/8"–1/4"
Transplanting: Transplant after danger of frost when soil temps have reached 50°F.
Planting & Growing
Sun & Soil: Plant in full sun. Amend soil with a balanced fertilizer, avoiding too much nitrogen early on.
Pruning: These heirloom varieties perform better with minimal pruning. For ease of trellising and airflow, prune the first four suckers at the bottom of the plant and thin bottom leaves.
Watering: Water regularly. Once established, you can allow the top 2–3 inches of soil to dry out between watering. Restrict irrigation after first ripe fruit for improved flavor and storage. Remove all ripe or blushing fruit prior to irrigation.
Harvesting & Storage
Harvest: For best storage, harvest tomatoes slightly under-ripe.
Storage Method: Pack tomatoes no more than 2 layers deep in perforated boxes or hang from a string. Do not attempt to store any cracked, damaged or blemished fruit, especially removing tomatoes with signs of fruit-worm.
Storage Conditions: Choose a storage location out of direct sunlight with adequate airflow and a relatively stable temperature, ideally 55–65°F (they can often tolerate higher temps without serious issues). Excessively dry locations will cause premature wrinkling and shorter storage.
Maintenance: Remove any fruit that becomes soft and discolored or shows obvious signs of spoilage.
Additional Notes on Storage Tomatoes
Storage tomatoes are often later maturing, unlike more modern early-maturing varieties. They benefit from a long, warm and relatively dry growing season with ample sunlight where they can be planted up to a month later than main season tomatoes.
Cold, waterlogged soils may cause pest and disease issues or delayed ripening. Any of the varieties described as "ripening mutants" can often take several weeks longer to ripen than 'Piennolo del Vesuvio' or 'Piennolo Nero' due to a mutation that slows ripening. Many of these varieties will ripen post-harvest, especially when harvested at "breaker stage."
While these varieties are known for their potential for long storage, results may vary based on climate, variety, growing conditions, ripeness at harvest, storage environment and post-harvest handling. Therefore we make no guarantee on length of storage or flavor of long stored tomatoes. Any information provided regarding the average storage length is based on our personal observation and is not a guaranteed result.