Solanum lycopersicum 'Ailsa Craig'
Tomato 'Ailsa Craig'
Tomatoes - which are, scientifically speaking a fruit, not a vegetable, but are used as a culinary vegetable - are cultivated as cherry, plum, beefsteak and common round, and there are many different varieties of each type. Best results are achieved for all varieties if grown under glass. Tomatoes are typically fruiting vines. Cordon types will grow up to 1.8m when supported on a stake, or string. Shrub varieties do not need supporting. Yellow flowers are held on trusses and produce up to 10 fruits (or more, in the case of cherry tomatoes). Cordon types need to have side shoots pinched out at leaf joints. Careful watering is a must to stop fruit splitting and for flavour. Keep water off the foliage as blight can be a problem. 'Ailsa Craig' is a indeterminate variety usually grown under glass, but can be grown outside. It has good flavour and uniform sized fruit.
Contributed by @JillDudley
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Full sun
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Occasional watering
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Not Frost hardy
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Rich and free draining
Common name
Tomato 'Ailsa Craig'
Latin name
Solanum lycopersicum 'Ailsa Craig'
type
Fruiting Vine
family
Solanaceae
ph
5.0 - 7.0 Acid - Neutral
Plant & bloom calendar
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Best time to plant
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When to harvest
full grown dimensions
Solanum lycopersicum 'Ailsa Craig'
Tomatoes - which are, scientifically speaking a fruit, not a vegetable, but are used as a culinary vegetable - are cultivated as cherry, plum, beefsteak and common round, and there are many different varieties of each type. Best results are achieved for all varieties if grown under glass. Tomatoes are typically fruiting vines. Cordon types will grow up to 1.8m when supported on a stake, or string. Shrub varieties do not need supporting. Yellow flowers are held on trusses and produce up to 10 fruits (or more, in the case of cherry tomatoes). Cordon types need to have side shoots pinched out at leaf joints. Careful watering is a must to stop fruit splitting and for flavour. Keep water off the foliage as blight can be a problem. 'Ailsa Craig' is a indeterminate variety usually grown under glass, but can be grown outside. It has good flavour and uniform sized fruit.
Propagation by seed
From Early Spring TO Mid Spring
Grow from seed in early spring in heat, one seed per tray division, or pot. Fill 9cm (3½in) pot with seed or multipurpose compost.Level and firm the compost, then water. Sow seeds on the compost surface, spacing them evenly, about 1/2" apart, (to help prevent "damping off" disease). Cover the seed with a layer of vermiculite, or sifted soil or compost. Keep at approximately 21°C (70°F), ideally in a heated propagator, When seedlings are big enough to handle, plant out in to a greenhouse - at least 16" apart - or, although less satisfactory, to a sunny windowsill
Planting
From Mid Spring TO Early Summer
Plant tomato plants grown from seed into the greenhouse border, when they are big enough to handle, and when risk of frost has passed. For outdoor varieties, young tender plants need to be hardened off, gradually, first in a cold-frame, and then in the open, before planting into their permanent position.