Solanum lycopersicum 'Big Boy' syn. Solanum lycopersicum 'Burpee's Big Boy'

Tomato 'Big Boy'

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. 'Big boy' (or 'Burpee's Big Boy' as it is sometimes sold as) is an indeterminate tomato producing large red beefsteak fruits weighing up to a 1lb, and with very good flavour.

plant Features

Full sun
Occasional watering
Not Frost hardy
Rich and free draining

plant information

Common name

Tomato 'Big Boy'

Latin name

Solanum lycopersicum 'Big Boy' syn. Solanum lycopersicum 'Burpee's Big Boy'

type

Fruiting Vine

family

Solanaceae

ph

5.0 - 7.0 Acid - Neutral

Light

Full sun
Frost

Not Frost hardy

Soil

Rich and free draining
Water

Occasional watering

Plant & bloom calendar

Best time to plant
When to harvest

full grown dimensions

The size of a fully grown Tomato Big Boy is 0.80meters x 2.00meters

0.80 M 2.00 M

Solanum lycopersicum 'Big Boy' syn. Solanum lycopersicum 'Burpee's Big Boy'

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.

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