Description of the Everett Rusty Heart tomato and cultivation techniques

Everett's Rusty Heart is a tomato with an exotic flavor and unusual coloring. It appeared on the Russian market several years ago, although it has been featured in American garden catalogs since 2007.

General appearance of the plant

Rusty Heart is an indeterminate variety with an indefinite main stem. Over the course of a season, the plant can reach a height of 1.8–2 m. Like most heart-shaped varieties, the bush has a thin stem prone to breakage, so it requires staking under each fruit cluster.

Fruit yield:

• The yield of the variety is average, but in good conditions it can be high.
• One bush can produce about 10 kg of tomatoes.
• To increase the yield, it is recommended to form a bush into 2-3 stems.
• Plants need to be side-sonned throughout the entire growing season, and 20-30 days before the end of the season, the top should be pinched so that the last fruits have time to gain weight.

The bush has medium foliage. The variety is resistant to macrosporiosis, but it is advisable to remove the lower leaves to ensure good ventilation.

Everett's Rusty Heart can only be grown in greenhouses in central Russia and northern regions. When grown outdoors, gardeners are not immune to problems during cold and rainy summers. The plant can experience reduced fruit set due to fluctuations in daily temperatures, but it tolerates heat and dry soil well.

Fruit qualities

The Everett's Rusty Heart variety is bicolor. This means it combines two primary colors (red and green). These colors blend to give the fruit an unusual striped appearance in rusty-brown hues. This is what inspired the variety's original name. A greenish spot may develop near the stem, which almost disappears as it ripens. The flesh replicates the red and green color combination.

The fruit is heart-shaped, tapering toward the apex but slightly flattened at the base, with slight ribbing. The seed chambers are small but numerous, making this tomato a fleshy variety. The flesh is dense, and the skin is strong and resistant to cracking.

The average fruit weight is 250-300 g, but the first tomatoes can reach 400 g. Ovaries are collected in clusters of 5-6. Tomatoes ripen in 90-95 days from sowing; when grown in a greenhouse, the first harvest can be harvested as early as June.

Gardeners' reviews indicate that the Everett Rusty Heart tomato has a unique flavor. The fruit's sugar content reaches 6.8%. Organoleptically, this value is described as sweet, without tartness. The delicate fruity aroma is perfectly balanced with the sweet taste. When grown outdoors during cold summers, the sugar content in the pulp significantly decreases, and the tomatoes' flavor is lost.

Rusty Heart is recommended for salads and appetizers, and as a complement to dishes of traditional cuisines that call for tomatoes. Due to their unusual color, these tomatoes are practically unsuitable for juice and puree, although they make a delicious lecho. Due to their large size, this variety is not suitable for whole-fruit canning.

Agricultural technology of the variety

Sow seeds for seedlings approximately 60 days before planting in the greenhouse. Prick out seedlings in 10x10 cm spacings after they have 2-3 true leaves. To ensure strong, low-growing seedlings, supplement with 10-12 hours of daylight.

The most convenient way to plant in a greenhouse is to arrange the plants in a 50x100 cm pattern and grow them in 2-3 stems. After transplanting to their permanent location, the first feeding (nitrophoska, 1 tablespoon per 10 liters) should be done no sooner than signs of active growth appear. After the first flower cluster appears, tie the seedlings to a trellis. Remove the leaves below the cluster, leaving a 1 cm petiole.

When ovaries appear on the lower cluster, apply a second feeding. For this, use a potassium-phosphorus complex fertilizer (Kemira, Signor Pomidor, and others). Dose according to the manufacturer's instructions.

When growing tomatoes in a greenhouse, proper watering is crucial. The Everett Rusty Heart variety doesn't suffer from lack of moisture even if it's over-watered. Its fruits may grow slightly smaller under these conditions, but will be sweeter; if the soil is too wet, the flavor will be less pronounced.

Watering can be done as the soil dries out to a depth of 3-5 cm. However, it is not recommended to spray tomato leaves or increase the humidity in the room.

If you follow the proper growing guidelines, Rusty Heart tomatoes will be very responsive. These unusual tomato bushes will delight their owners with sweet and juicy fruits.