With varieties of tomatoes available, the most popular among the home gardeners in the Tomato Money Maker. Interestingly, the name closely matches the result that the fruit offers to the gardeners. Yes, the high-yield fruit in almost any condition has helped the farmers make a lot of money in the past.
The best part about the crop is that it can grow in poor conditions and still offers a high yield. It is indeed a popular fruit that is grown in the UK. But, one must also realize that the popularity of these bright red tomatoes is not as green as in the past. That’s one of the prime reasons we have got this exhaustive article that helps you with.
Fun Fact: Money Maker Tomatoes shall grow in clusters. 8 to 10 seeds in a pot can offer a yield of 200 tomatoes in a season.
Interesting, isn’t it?
All About Money maker Tomato
Appearance and Texture
The bedding plants offer a reddish fruit in just 80 to 90 days. While the fruit appears red, the skin is not thick and not too thin as well. The shape can be described as ‘Globe-shaped’. The fruit can grow up to 9 cm in diameter. You can imagine a billiard ball, and that shall be its average size most of the time.
One must also realize that money maker tomato care can be very minimal. But, if you do not prune the plant and allow it to grow on its own, the size of the fruit might reduce, and that’s how you can also get to see well-ripened cherry-like tomatoes.
Usage of Money Maker Tomatoes
So, why was this fruit a massive moneymaker? What was it used for? For you to understand this, we must experience its taste.
These tomato plants are grown on a huge scale in the past for their usage in salad and soup. The taste of such varieties of tomatoes is
– Slightly Sweet
– Lacks the actual tomato taste
– Meaty Flavour
This combination of tastes is well suited for the custom-made sauce as well. With the skin being average, it can be used in salads. Also, the tomato can be eaten as it is and shall give a meaty mixed sweet flavor which is indeed delicious.
Fundamentally speaking, this variety of tomatoes can be used for
A. Tomato Sauces
B. Tomato Soups
C. Tomato Juices
D. Salads and
E. Garnishing Purposes
The stocks of the cooked tomatoes are good for making soups.
Medicinal Benefits of Tomatoes
One significant reason that made tomatoes pretty famous and people started growing moneymaker tomatoes is their medicinal properties.
Though it was not identified in the beginning, with the other tomatoes coming up as a staple crop, the moneymaker tomato has splendid qualities to
1. Reduce Cholesterol in the body
2. Reduces Stroke Symptoms
3. Prevents Heart Disease
The good news for women, this fruit has anti-ageing properties. The anti-oxidant present in the fruit keeps your skin and hair healthy too.
Types of Money maker Plant
The Money Maker grows in bushes. Of course, it might grow taller if unattended, but it is ideal for keeping the height to 5 feet maximum. This is the ideal height for the plant to yield the best quality tomatoes.
Further, the tomatoes shall grow in clusters and looks like a bunch of cherries. The red colour skin is a fantastic combination of colours; Green and Red. The tomatoes are generally grown as a cordon type.
In fact, this is a prescribed way to grow this type of tomato. It is a flowering plant that is followed by fruit growth.
Conditions For Growing Money Maker Tomatoes
Growing Money Maker Tomatoes outdoor is advised but not on hanging baskets. We shall look at the growth process in detail later in this article. But for now, let us understand that the plant requires hot and humid conditions for growth.
This is one of the reasons it is recommended to grow this plant outdoors. Further, you can also grow the same in greenhouses. The moneymaker tomato seeds germinate well in warmth.
If you are planning to harvest a yield of 200 or more tomatoes per plant, then outdoor planting is the best. One must watch out for a few situations mentioned below :
- You must water the plants regularly, but allow the surface of the land to dry before doing so. Too much water and moisture cannot help its growth appropriately. It may bear small fruits, or it may grow later in the season.
- As you water the plants, pour water on the surface, not on the foliage. This might cause an insect attack. Though, the plant can by itself withstand such conditions of insect attack, why welcome them unnecessarily.
How To Grow Money Maker At home?
You can grow this plant either in the greenhouse or outdoors. The debate over which one is the best? It still revolves around every farmer’s mind.
But, one aspect is to be kept in mind. Wherever you grow, this plant requires sunlight. So, if the greenhouse shall be a lot warmer than the backyard. If you are planning to grow in your backyard or your garden, ensure that the plant is near a wall and it must be sunny.
You may follow this if your plan is to make more than 100 fruits in just one harvest with 4 to 5 plants in place.
Now, that we saw the conditions required for its growth, the type of soil also matters.
Types Of Soil
We recommend compost for moneymaker tomatoes to grow the best and offer a high yield. As such, you can grow this plant in a tub or even the growing bags. Ensure that the holes are available for the proper drainage facility. The water has to drain out, and only then can you water the plant.
Further, if you plan to plant the crop outdoors, treat the soil with organic material. The main reason behind compost is the soil shall retain moisture and dry out appropriately. This condition is required for the growth of the tomatoes properly.
Where to get the Seeds?
Usually, many purchase the seeds from online vendors, and you may find the seeds with the gardeners too. Any gardening centre shall have tomato seeds.
The seeds are very cost-effective, and you may get them for free from the gardeners too. You need 8 to 10 seeds for one-pot that help grow one plant. A pack of seeds that you get from the gardeners usually has 50 seeds.
Step 1: Sow the Seeds
The action starts now. You cannot sow the seeds directly to the soil outside and see them germinating. You need a controlled environment for this, and for that, you are advised to sow seeds in a pot or a tray and watch them germinate.
Let us take pot as an example and tell you how to sow the seeds. Fill the pot with compost and use a spreader to sow the seeds evenly.
Cover the seeds with more compost. The depth between the seed and the compost on it shall be 1/8th of an inch. The idea is the seed must be inside but still shallowly immersed.
Now, as you complete this, water the pot. Just spray water and do not overwater the pot. As it may decay the seed. Once watered, place the pot in bright sunshine and allow it to germinate for 7 to 14 days.
Keep watching the pot every day. If you find the surface dry, then spray some water. If the greenhouse or garden weather is less warm and cold, you may cover the pot with a cling film to retain moisture and warmth inside.
Step 2: Germination – Transplanting
The seeds shall start germinating in 2 weeks maximum. And allow it to grow a little more, say around 8 cm. if your pot is small and the plant has grown till 8 cm, you may shift it to a bigger flowering pot. Or, if you have grown it in a tray, you can change it to a pot now.
This current plant stature must increase up to 15 cm. Until then, keep watering as and when the soil’s surface is dry. As you change it to the other pot, ensure that the pot is filled with compost, and you transfer it with the existing compost too.
Once the plant has reached the15 cm height, you can transfer it to the last destination, where you want to grow the cordon. It can be the backyard, garden, or even a bigger container.
Wherever you want to shift, make sure that it has a good drainage facility. You may find the crop growing well and shall yield a good number of tomatoes soon.
Remember, Moneymaker Tomato care is necessary, and the plant requires water in the morning as well as in the evening if the weather is extremely hot.
Ideal Time for Growing Money Maker
Though the plant grows well irrespective of the weather, we shall give you the timeline that is considered ideal for its growth. You may use this as the scale of calibration whenever you sow the seeds.
- Mid March – Sow the Seeds
- Early April – Germination Happens
- Mid-April – Transfer the Plant to a Pot and allow it to grow 8 cm in height
- Early May – The plant would have grown up to 8 cm – leave it for two more weeks
- Last Week of May – The plant would have grown up to 15 cm – Transfer it to the last destination
- June, July, and August – are the ideal time for harvest.
Tomato Care Tips
As we have seen more care aspects so far, this one is more important, and it is the right time for you to know it as well. As the tomato plant grows, it is highly recommended to prune the plants often to get a high yield of a good-sized tomato.
The tomato plants grow very fast. And the focus of the energy shall be on bearing flowers and branches. This causes a delay in bearing the fruit. So, it is ideal for you to prune the plant appropriately.
- Firstly, pinch the branch that grows on the first branch and starts as a branch joint. These are called suckers and shall not help flowers to bloom in the first case.
- Secondly, if you find the flower clusters and another fruiting branch nearby, pluck the flower cluster. The focus shall be on the flower and not on the fruit. This makes the process of bearing fruit late, and you may also find the size of the fruit to be small.
- Thirdly, remove most of the unwanted branches and allow the plant with 4 to 5 branches for a high growth rate. Lastly, pinch the leaf tips and a few inches in each branch. This shall not allow the plant to grow taller, causing the fruit to grow small and late.
You may also attempt to pinch the plant when it is 4 to 6 cm in height in a pot. This regularizes the growth of the plant too.