The Sturdy Tomato Variety Gardeners Turn To Year After Year

The thought of biting into a freshly picked, wonderfully ripe tomato is hard to beat. Juicy, tangy, and naturally sweet, tomatoes are the ultimate refreshment on a hot summer day. But that comes as no surprise, considering this climacteric fruit is made up of approximately 95% water. If you're planning to grow them in your home garden, you should avoid buying tomato plants if you spot red flags like wilting leaves or spots. That's why gardeners continuously choose the trusted cultivar, the celebrity tomato, to ensure a sturdy, reliable crop with consistently high yields.

The celebrity is a hybrid variety hailed for its strong disease resistance, which means growing it is an easy way to prevent pesky bottom rot on your tomato plants. Its reputation is supported by its Texas Superstar status, which is only awarded to plants that have been thoroughly tested by Texas A&M AgriLife for performance, durability, and superb quality. Due to its impressive resilience, this variety can be grown anywhere across the country. However, it thrives in zones five through nine, where it yields large red fruits with a firm texture and balanced flavor. 

Celebrity tomatoes are round, smooth, and feature crack-resistant skin. Wonderfully flavorful and meaty, they work well in most recipes. They're perfect for pasta sauces, pizzas, creamy tomato soups, or light and crisp salads. Because of their size and firm texture, they're considered a slicer variety, meaning they are also ideal for sandwiches and burgers.

In contrast to heirloom varieties, which often lack disease resistance and can be challenging to grow, celebrity is easy to cultivate for both experienced gardeners and beginners. The plant also thrives in sunlight, needing a minimum of four hours per day. It requires well-drained and acidic-to-neutral fertile soils. Moreover, it should be watered regularly — usually up to three times a week — though it's strongly recommended to avoid watering the plant during extreme heat. The celebrity produces medium to large fruits, which usually weigh around 8 ounces.

Celebrity tomato plants can easily reach up to 4 feet tall. They should, therefore, be supported with stakes or cages to hold the heavy fruit. This variety performs best when planted after the last spring frost, though mid-summer planting works great for fall yields. It thrives at temperatures up to 85 degrees Fahrenheit.

One particular detail to keep in mind is not to plant it next to other solanaceous crops, also known as nightshades, such as eggplants, peppers, potatoes, and even other tomato cultivars, as they're not the best things to plant alongside your tomatoes. Despite their strong resistance to pathogens, planting celebrity tomatoes near other nightshades increases the risk of soil-borne infections and pests and also drains the soil's nutrients. Once transplanted, it takes them roughly 70 to 75 days to fully mature and be ready for harvesting.