Big Beef Tomato (Garden Starter Plant)

For years gardeners wanted a large, beefsteak-type tomato that was delicious, early to bear, and highly disease resistant. Finally in 1994 those wishes came true with Big Beef. The large fruit has old-time tomato flavor and the vines are resistant to many of the problems that can discourage gardeners. The fruit is borne on vigorous, indeterminate vines from summer until frost. Compared to other beefsteak types, Big Beef is early and will set fruit reliably even in cool, wet weather. We harvest dozens of tomatoes from each plant in our Alabama test garden, where the harvest season lasts two full months and the growing conditions are very good. Vines grow long, so give the plant the support of a tall cage or stake.

Resistant to verticillium wilt (V), fusarium wilt (F) races 1 and 2, nematodes (N), and alternaria stem canker (ASC), gray leaf spot (St), and tobacco mosaic virus (TMV).

• Light:  Full sun
• Fruit size:  12 to 16 oz.
• Matures:  73 days after planting
• Spacing:  36 inches apart
• Plant type:  Indeterminate

* Photos and description courtesy of Bonnie Plants.