About this variety
What to expect from Rosso Sicilian Tomato Seeds
Determinate red stuffing and paste tomato with squat, fluted, thick-walled fruit.
Read the complete product descriptionTraits, flavor, garden use, variety notes, and the full catalog record
Rosso Sicilian: Determinate red stuffing and paste tomato with squat, fluted, thick-walled fruit.
About this variety
Rosso Sicilian is a determinate heirloom tomato producing squat, fluted red fruit around 6 ounces. Cornell describes thick walls and a mostly hollow interior, making the fruit useful for stuffing as well as paste and sauce preparations.
Growing
Start tomato seed indoors six to eight weeks before planting outside. Sow 1/8 inch deep in sterile seed-starting mix and keep the seed zone about 75 to 90°F until emergence. Provide strong overhead light after seedlings emerge. Harden plants gradually, then transplant after frost danger has passed, nighttime temperatures are consistently above about 45°F, and the soil has warmed. Grow in full sun in fertile, well-drained loamy soil near pH 6.0 to 6.5. Space plants about 24 in apart with about 36 inches between rows and install a cage at planting. Support loaded branches as the determinate plant sets its concentrated crop. Water deeply and consistently, allowing the soil surface to begin drying between waterings without repeatedly stressing the plants.
Harvest and use
Harvest when the fluted fruit is evenly red and gives slightly to gentle pressure. The thick-walled, mostly hollow fruit can be stuffed, roasted, or cooked into sauces and paste.
Saving seed
Select healthy plants that match the characteristic Rosso Sicilian fruit and plant traits. Tomatoes are primarily self-pollinating, but crossing can occur. For home-use seed, separate modern round-fruited varieties by at least 10 feet and heirloom, potato-leaf, or strongly lobed types by at least 40 feet, or bag unopened blossoms when purity is especially important. Let selected fruit become fully ripe. Scoop the seed and gel into a labeled container and ferment at about 72 to 86°F for roughly two to three days, stirring twice daily. Add water, allow dense seed to settle, pour off floating pulp and light seed, and repeat until the water runs clear. Spread the cleaned seed thinly on a nonstick screen or similar surface until thoroughly dry. Store fully dry seed in a cool, dark, dry place with the cultivar, year, and lot clearly labeled. Confirm the original seed lot's reproductive classification before relying on saved seed to reproduce the cultivar, because seed from an unverified hybrid lot may segregate.
History
Cornell lists Russo Sicilian Togeta as an alternate name for Rosso Sicilian.





