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Red Lightning Tomatoes Review

9/6/2014

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red lightning tomatoes
Red Lightning Tomatoes (hybrid)
Some of you may remember my excitement this spring when I ordered my red lightning tomato seeds. I fell in-love with these fiery little tomatoes and knew I had to grow them in my garden. Here are the results:


Days to Maturity: I started the seeds sometime in late March or the first week of April and set the seedlings out in the garden around the first of June. The first tomatoes began to ripen in the middle of August. This means the it took them about 70 days to reach maturity. Not bad for tomatoes with an expected days to maturity of 82 days.


Size: Burpee's plant description lists 'Red Lightning' tomatoes as 1- to 2-ounce fruit with a diameter between 2-1/2 to 3 inches.  My largest 'Red Lightning' tomato measured just under 2 inches and weighed in at 2.6 ounces. I'm not sure how Burpee came up with their figures for the size and weight of these tomatoes. My 'Red Lightning' tomatoes fell considerably short of Burpee's size description, yet exceed the weight.


Appearance: This is an attractive tomato that lives up to the image and description of fiery orange with red 'flames'. The stripes are evident when the tomato is green. It gradually progress from two-tone green to green and yellow-orange, and finally to orange and red (with several subtle variations in between).


Growing Habits: This is an indeterminant tomato that grows to a height of 4 feet or more. The foliage resembles the sprawling vines of cherry tomatoes. If you grow red lightning tomatoes, plan to stake or cage them. Otherwise, the branches crack and break under the weight of the tomatoes.The tomatoes grow in clusters of 6 or 8, making this a showy plant.

Flavor: The flavor of red lightning tomatoes is a bit of disappointment. Although they have decent flavor they do not compare with 'Early Girl' or 'Big Boy'. These tomatoes are best for salads where they add a splash of unexpected color but don't depend on rich tomato flavor.

Problems: The red lightning tomato is susceptible to blossom end rot. When grown in the same beds as my other tomatoes ('Chocolate Cherry', 'Early Girl' and 'Big Boy') the 'Red Lightning' tomatoes showed signs of blossom end rot while the others did not. This suggests that red lightning tomatoes either require higher amounts of calcium or are more sensitive to moisture fluctuations than other tomatoes.  


I will definitely try 'Red Lightning' tomatoes again next year, but I will probably grow them in containers to maintain more control over the moisture level. Adding organic matter to the soil and mulching may also prevent problems with blossom end rot.
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  • Home
  • Garden Thyme Blog
  • Themes
    • Butterfly Gardens
    • Moon Gardens
    • Sensory Gardens
    • All About Fairies
  • Flowers
    • Annual Flowers >
      • Alyssum
      • Cosmos
      • Geraniums
      • Marigolds
      • Morning Glories
      • Nasturtiums
      • Petunias >
        • Reviving Petunias
      • Snapdragons
      • Sunflowers
      • Sweet Peas
      • Zinnias
    • Perennial Flowers >
      • Golden Glow (Rudbeckia laciniata ‘Hortensia’)
      • Lupines
      • Purple Coneflower (Echinacea Purpurea)
    • Maine Wildflowers
  • Veggies
    • Warm Season Vegetables >
      • About Beans >
        • Growing Beans
        • Growing Pole Beans
        • How to Make a Teepee Trellis
      • About Corn >
        • Growing Corn
        • What is Baby Corn, anyway?
        • Can you grow corn in containers?
      • Cucumbers >
        • Grow a cucumber in a bottle
        • Growing Pickling Cucumbers
        • Growing cucamelons (Mexican Gherkin)
        • Why do cucumbers blossom but fail to set fruit?
        • Trellising Cucumbers
        • Making Cucumber Relish
        • Powdery Mildew on Cucumbers
      • Melons
      • Peppers >
        • Growing Peppers
      • Squash >
        • Growing Zucchini
        • Spaghetti Squash
      • Tomatoes >
        • How to Harden Off Tomato Plants
        • How (and when) to Prune Tomatoes
        • Magnesium Sulfate (Epsom Salt) for Tomatoes
        • Blossom End Rot in Tomatoes
        • Growing Cherry Tomatoes in Hanging Baskets
        • 4 Best Tomatoes for Short Seasons - Early Tomatoes
        • 5 Early Maturing Tomatoes for Short Season Gardening
        • How to Ripen Green Tomatoes
        • How to Make Sun-Dried Tomatoes at Home
        • How to Grow a Pomato Plant
    • Cool Season Vegetables >
      • Cole Crops
      • Greens >
        • How to Grow Spinach
        • How to Grow Malabar Spinach
        • How to Grow Swiss Chard
        • Harvesting and Cooking Beet Greens
        • How to Grow Microgreens
      • Onions & Garlic >
        • How to Grow Garlic
        • How to Grow Onions
      • Peas >
        • Growing Garden (shelling) Peas
        • Growing Sugar Snap Peas
      • Potatoes >
        • How to Grow Potatoes in Containers
        • How to Grow Potatoes in Hay Bales
      • Root Crops >
        • Growing Beets
        • How to Grow Carrots
        • Turnips vs Rutabagas
  • Herbs
    • Growing Basil
    • Growing Chives
    • Growing Lavender
    • Herbal Tea Garden
    • How to Grow a Culinary Herb Garden
    • How to Grow Herbs in Sponges
    • Colonial Herb Garden - Classroom Project
    • Herbed Butter
    • Making Herbed Oils
  • Gardening Basics
    • Seed Starting Basics
    • Grafting Basics
    • Soil >
      • Starting a New Garden
      • How to Prepare Soil
      • How to Test Soil Drainage
      • What Type of Soil Do You Have
      • Soil Mix Recipe for Containers
      • How to Make Compost Tea
      • How to Use Mulch
  • Garden Pests
    • How to Control Japanese Beetles
    • How to Control Blister Beetles
    • How to Get Rid of Colorado Potato Beetles
  • Birds
    • Hummingbirds >
      • DIY Hummingbird Feeders from Recycled Bottles
      • Annuals for Hummingbird Gardens
      • Perennials for Hummingbird Gardens
    • About Birdseed
    • Choosing a Birdfeeder
  • Fiddleheads and Fairies
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • How to Marinate Roasted Vegetables