Maglia Rosa

[Salsacharley]

Maglia Rosa is a fantastic tomato. My plant is compact and loaded with delicious, beautiful tomatoes, and it continues to flower and set fruit.

Here's today's harvest, plus a Sugar Drop I snagged before devouring.

[KarenO]

that one is on my list. Beautiful!
Karen

[Fred Hempel]

Maglia Rosa is the first tomato we bred that people at our farmers' markets judged to be something special. The first tomato many folks bought from us, even though they had strong loyalties to other tomato sellers. They still bought Cherokee Purples from their long-time farmer friends, but they would also sneak down and buy pints of Maglia Rosa from us.

It is very productive, but, unfortunately it can also be very bushy when field grown and trellised. It just doesn't vine up well, and because it is so bushy, it can be a magnet for disease and pests.

That's why we developed Pink Tiger -- which vines up better.

However, we have recently seen that in intensive greenhouse culture, when trimmed to one or two stems, Maglia Rosa vines up fine, and it is very productive (more productive than Pink Tiger).

It's also a great patio plant, as the bushiness, and high production, work well when growing in containers.

Seed can be ordered at our Artisan Seeds website. We are just cleaning a new batch.

[Iva]

Now I REALLY can't wait to try them!! Mine are grown in a pot on my balcony and the plants are loading up nicely.
The only thing I noticed is that my fruits are smaller than the ones pictured here, I'd say almost half that size. They really look like an elongated small cherry and they have been that way for some time now, the first ones should start to color up soon...

[Fred Hempel]

They are an elongated cherry.

[Iva]

Yes, I know, and I was expecting that. But does the size seem right to you? The fruits are smaller than those of Blush which I grow every year and are my favorite 'cherry' tomato.
Thank you!!

[Fred Hempel]

Hi Iva,

Maglia rosa fruits are typically smaller than blush fruits, although sometimes they can be almost the same size.

[Iva]

Thank you so much, Fred! I'll post more pics when the fruits start to ripen

[Fred Hempel]

Sounds great! I want to remind everyone that one of Maglia Rosa's quirks is that peak flavor comes before peak color (according to most people's taste buds). You'll want to sample fruits at varying "ripeness" to find out where peak flavor is for you.

'

[Fiishergurl]

Does blush flavor peak before color also?

Ginny

[Fred Hempel]

It often does. We typically pick blush by feel. Sometimes it has blushed, and sometimes it has not. But once it gets soft, it is going downhill.

[Iva]

Thanks for the input, Fred. I'll sure try the fruits at different stages. But Blush was always great for me at full color and firm texture. It tasted like candy!!

[Fred Hempel]

If you are getting full color and full texture together you have your growing conditions just right!

Blushing comes on late in sub-optimal growing conditions, and sometimes only after peak flavor has passed (and tomatoes are soft).

[Iva]

I finally have ripe fruits and I must say I'm rather impressed. I picked a few while still very firm but what seems like fully colored - and a beautiful color that is. The texture is very crunchy and the flavor is superb, I can almost taste a plum aroma in there. Yummy!!
I will try some when they get softer to see the difference in flavor, but they make me happy already. Here they are:

[Fiishergurl]

Iva

Those are beautiful!! Can you post a picture of the full plant with some in the picture for size reference?

Did you prune them?

Ginny