Matina Sweet is a potato leaf, indeterminate, red, salad tomato carried by Uprising Seeds (among others). Listed as one of Amy Goldman’s “100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden,” Matina originates in Germany.

Matina’s highlight is how early it started producing. The plants were the largest at transplant time, but proved susceptible to the onslaught of fungal diseases both in the greenhouse and in the field. The plants were vigorous, readily growing through the disease pressure. I don’t like their architecture, with extremely long internodes, the fruit is prone to sunscald. I was also a little disappointed in the fruit size, which often ripened while still the size of a cherry.

A lot of Matina’s downfall  is mitigated by it’s taste and flavor: juicy and sweet, but still balanced, floral and fruity. I’d be interested to try a different trellising method with this variety. As a small salad type, the double-leader method I think doesn’t allow for maximum production.

First Ripe Fruit:

All harvest data represents two Matina plants from each block, or six plants total:

Harvest 1 (August 11, 2017)

Picking Ease (5=easy, 1=difficult): 3

Marketable Fruit: 13 fruit weighing 621g (1.37 lb.) Unmarketable Fruit: 10 fruit weighing 357g (12.59 oz.)

Reasons why unmarketable: zippers, too small

Harvest 2 (August 18, 2017)

Picking Ease (5=easy, 1=difficult): 3

Marketable Fruit: 18 fruit weighing 833g (1.84 lb.) Unmarketable Fruit: 9 fruit weighing 370g (13.05 oz.)

Reasons why unmarketable: scabbing, splitting, too small

Average Fruit Size: 4.73 cm x 4.21 cm      (1.86″ x 1.66″)

Brix: 4.8, 6.2, 7.6

Harvest 3 (August 25, 2017)

Picking Ease (5=easy, 1=difficult): 4

Marketable Fruit: 25 fruit weighing 1158g (2.55 lb.) Unmarketable Fruit: 7 fruit weighing 271g (9.56 oz.)

Reasons why unmarketable: scabbing, cracking, too small

Harvest 4 (September 1, 2017)

Picking Ease (5=easy, 1=difficult): 4

Marketable Fruit: 23 fruit weighing 1056g (2.33 lb.) Unmarketable Fruit: 15 fruit weighing 474g (1.04 lb.)

Reasons why unmarketable: scabbing, sunscald, too small

Harvest 5 (September 8, 2017)

Picking Ease (5=easy, 1=difficult): 4

Marketable Fruit: 18 fruit weighing 802g (1.77 lb.) Unmarketable Fruit: 8 fruit weighing 228g (8.04 oz.)

Reasons why unmarketable: sunscald, too small