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With the modern variety of varieties, the appearance of the tomato has long moved away from the image of the rounded giant familiar to everyone from childhood, with a slightly flattened shape and a bright red color. At the moment, there are tomatoes of almost all shades, except perhaps blue, even purple ones can be found. How diverse are the shapes and sizes of tomato fruits? In this sense, tomatoes are interesting, since their appearance is more reminiscent of other vegetable crops, for example, eggplants or cucumbers. Such varieties of tomatoes have become very popular in recent years, and one of the brightest representatives of tomatoes with an original fruit shape is the French bunch.
Even the name of this variety of tomatoes can attract an inexperienced summer resident, since a rich imagination immediately imagines bushes hung with bunches of tomatoes, like lady finger grapes. By the way, in this regard, the name of the variety more or less corresponds to reality, since bushes of ripening tomatoes actually somewhat resemble grape vines. But the word “French” was added solely for the beauty of the image, since the tomato has nothing to do with France at all.
Nevertheless, the French grape tomato has already gained quite a lot of popularity among gardeners and summer residents, reviews of their productivity and photos are evidence of this.
Description of the variety
The French grape tomato variety is the brainchild of specialists from the Siberian Garden company. Tomato bushes of this variety have great growth vigor and are capable of forming a bush of considerable size.
It is interesting that in the description and characteristics of the French grape variety, it is positioned as determinant. Indeed, in open ground it rarely grows more than one meter. But in good greenhouse conditions, this tomato can grow up to 1.8 meters or even more.
Manufacturers also assure that the bush must be tied up, but it does not require pinching or shaping. This issue has always been quite controversial among gardeners. The fact is that it is really better not to plant ordinary determinate varieties - in this case they are able to show much better yield results, especially when grown in greenhouses. But here it is necessary to take into account the fact that heavily overgrown bushes require increased nutrition and watering, and this should not be forgotten. In addition, they need to be planted at a considerable distance from each other so that all shoots with tomatoes can receive a sufficient amount of sunlight.
Therefore, if in the southern regions, even in open ground, it is really not customary to plant many determinate varieties of tomatoes, then in more northern regions they may not have enough light to ripen all the fruits.
And for varieties of medium and late ripening, this can be very noticeable, especially in northern latitudes, where most tomatoes simply do not have time to ripen. Therefore, each gardener must decide on the issue of pruning and pinching tomatoes individually, based on their specific climatic conditions.
Moreover, in terms of ripening time, this variety belongs to mid-ripening tomatoes; the harvest can be obtained no earlier than 120 days from the moment of emergence. But in greenhouse conditions it is able to bear fruit until the onset of the first frost.
The yield of a variety is directly dependent on the conditions of care and the ability to grow it without pinching. According to reviews from gardeners, when grown in greenhouses and growing it in 4-5 trunks, the yield can reach 5-6 kg per bush, but on average you can get about 2 kg of tomatoes from one bush.
A valuable advantage of the French bunch variety is its resistance to all major diseases to which tomatoes are usually susceptible, and its general ease of care. This allows even novice gardeners to grow it.
Characteristics of tomatoes
Tomatoes of the French grape variety are distinguished by the following characteristics:
- The shape of the tomatoes is very original - they are somewhat elongated in length, slightly reminiscent of fingers with some thickening near the stalk and a prominent nose.
- The fruit has a standard color and is red when fully ripe.
- Tomatoes have a very smooth and dense skin, thanks to which they are not at all susceptible to cracking.
- The size of tomatoes is small, on average their weight is 85-100 grams. On the bush, the fruits grow in large clusters of 8 to 14 pieces each. On average, one bush can have 3-4 similar clusters.
- Naturally, the more shoots left on a tomato bush, the more clusters it can form and ripen with proper care. Hence the secrets of possible high yields. But in this case, caring for the tomato must be very intensive.
- The taste of tomatoes is good, experts rate it a solid four, but due to its thick skin, it is more suitable for pickling rather than salads.
- An ideal pickling variety, because the size is suitable for any jar, even a small one, it does not crack and looks very beautiful when canned whole.
- Tomatoes of the French bunch variety are stored very well and can be stored in a cool place for several months. They also withstand long-term transportation very well, making them suitable for industrial cultivation.
Reviews from gardeners
Reviews from those who grew this variety of tomatoes are mostly positive. Tomatoes delight with their unpretentiousness and productivity. As for taste, opinions differ here, since this parameter is very subjective.
Conclusion
The French bunch tomato is an unpretentious and productive modern variety, ideal for a variety of twists for the winter. Thanks to its disease resistance, it will delight you with a harvest even in conditions when other tomatoes do not ripen.
