Aurora de Constanta

greenthumbomaha · March 7, 2019

Looks like it might be a bicolor from the only post I could locate on this tomato, and it had a small photo with no description. On many grow lists. Does anyone have info to share?

- Lisa

zipcode · March 7, 2019

It should be pink or red, certainly not bicolor, not sure there are any actual romanian heirlooms that are bicolor.
Aurora kinda became a known name for tomatoes, like Inima de Bou (ox heart), so you can have many beefsteaks that are large under that name lately (just like oxheart nowadays is anything big, not just hearts). In my region they are known to be pink (I'm not from around Constanta however).

This trend started since some years ago, 10, maybe 15, where people just got transplants from the market and they were labeled as such, but what you got varied wildly from vendor to vendor. Imagine any black tomato being sold as Cherokee Purple because it's a known name, you'd have people arguing about which one is the real one after a few years.

Moshou · March 7, 2019

Hi,

It is a Romanian hairloom.

The location is Constanta (Constantza), a town on Black Sea side
Here, a lady gardener (her name is Aurora) grows this variety for about 30 years
It is indeterminate, season red oxheart, 8-10 oz, well-balanced tomatoey flavors, good for paste, normal leaf.

greenthumbomaha · March 8, 2019

Thank you both for the information. I'm sure it will be useful to others. How fun, I associated the name of the tomato with The Aurora Borealis. I thought it might be something exotic with a multi color swirl to it. Instead a nice story of a dedicated gardener growing in an area that maintains locally grown plant varieties.

- Lisa

March 7, 2019	#1
greenthumbomaha Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Omaha Zone 5 Posts: 2,514	Aurora de Constanta Looks like it might be a bicolor from the only post I could locate on this tomato, and it had a small photo with no description. On many grow lists. Does anyone have info to share? - Lisa

March 7, 2019	#3
Moshou Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Romania Posts: 470	Hi, It is a Romanian hairloom. The location is Constanta (Constantza), a town on Black Sea side Here, a lady gardener (her name is Aurora) grows this variety for about 30 years It is indeterminate, season red oxheart, 8-10 oz, well-balanced tomatoey flavors, good for paste, normal leaf. __________________ Knowledge is knowing the tomato is a fruit, wisdom is not putting in your fruit salad

March 7, 2019	#2
zipcode Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Romania/Germany , z 4-6 Posts: 1,582	It should be pink or red, certainly not bicolor, not sure there are any actual romanian heirlooms that are bicolor. Aurora kinda became a known name for tomatoes, like Inima de Bou (ox heart), so you can have many beefsteaks that are large under that name lately (just like oxheart nowadays is anything big, not just hearts). In my region they are known to be pink (I'm not from around Constanta however). This trend started since some years ago, 10, maybe 15, where people just got transplants from the market and they were labeled as such, but what you got varied wildly from vendor to vendor. Imagine any black tomato being sold as Cherokee Purple because it's a known name, you'd have people arguing about which one is the real one after a few years.

March 8, 2019	#4
greenthumbomaha Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Omaha Zone 5 Posts: 2,514	Thank you both for the information. I'm sure it will be useful to others. How fun, I associated the name of the tomato with The Aurora Borealis. I thought it might be something exotic with a multi color swirl to it. Instead a nice story of a dedicated gardener growing in an area that maintains locally grown plant varieties. - Lisa