Rutgers Tomato Plants

Let’s talk about Rutgers tomato plants—those classic, all-American backyard tomatoes with a history as rich as their flavor. If you’ve ever browsed a seed catalog or stood, ankle-deep in garden soil, looking for a tomato that’s truly worth the effort, you’ve probably come across Rutgers. People throw around words like “legend” and “heirloom,” but what’s the big deal? Why does this particular tomato keep showing up on homegrown caprese salads and in old family spaghetti sauce recipes? I’ve grown Rutgers myself, toggling between curiosity and nostalgia, and I can tell you: there’s a lot to unpack.

A Tomato with History: Why Do Gardeners Still Love Rutgers?

I’ve always found it fascinating how certain plants embrace the culture around them. Rutgers tomatoes were bred during the Great Depression—yep, the 1930s—by Rutgers University in New Jersey, intended as a commercial canning tomato. It’s one of those classic varieties that genuinely changed what people expected from a tomato: sturdy skin, rich taste, and lots of adaptability. It dominated the commercial tomato scene for decades, which you can tell just by asking anyone over 60 what kind of tomato their parents grew. It was probably Rutgers, or something very close.

The numbers back this up. According to historical reports, about 60% of all commercial tomatoes in the U.S. during the mid-20th century were Rutgers. I sometimes wonder if any modern hybrid can claim that sort of fame (spoiler: probably not). Rutgers eventually faded out of commercial fields as growers shifted to firmer, longer-shipping types in the 1960s, but home gardeners—like me and maybe you—kept planting them for sheer flavor.

• Origin: Rutgers University, 1934
• Flavor profile: Balanced acidity, rich, old-fashioned taste
• Fruit size: 7–9 ounces per tomato on average
• Type: Determinate (mostly) with some indeterminate variants
• Best for: Slicing, canning, sauces, sandwiches, and salads

What Really Makes Rutgers Tomato Plants Different?

Here’s where things get interesting—especially if you like to geek out about varieties. Rutgers tomato plants are technically open-pollinated, sometimes called “heirloom,” but there are actually a few different strains. It’s like hearing people debate New York-style vs. Chicago pizza, but for tomatoes.

Key Traits of Rutgers Tomatoes

• Vigorous Growth: Rutgers can get pretty bushy. I’ve had plants stretch up to 4 feet, especially in fertile soil with lots of compost.
• Medium-Size Fruits: Not a cherry and not a beefsteak, Rutgers tomatoes hit this pleasant medium that feels tailor-made for sandwiches—and the skin is sturdy enough for canning, which is how a lot of grandmothers preserved summer’s bounty.
• Taste That Actually Tastes Like Tomato: If you’ve ever bitten into a grocery store tomato in winter, nodded politely, and wished you were eating something else, Rutgers brings back the flavor: sweet, tangy, not watery.
• Moderate Disease Resistance: Slightly better than heirlooms like Brandywine, but not as bulletproof as modern hybrids.

Rutgers Varieties: A Quick Comparison

Some gardeners end up confused because seed catalogs sometimes list “Rutgers Improved,” “Rutgers VFA,” and so on. Here’s the deal:

• Rutgers (heirloom/open pollinated): The original. Superb flavor. Determinate.
• Rutgers Improved: Selected for better disease resistance or slight tweaks in plant habit.
• Rutgers Select: Often selected for uniformity or yield.

I’ve grown both the classic Rutgers and improved strains. Honestly, they’re close. Unless you’re dealing with major blight, go classic for flavor — but don’t sweat it if you pick up a pack marked “VFA” (Verticillium, Fusarium, Alternaria disease resistance). The difference is often subtle.

Growing Rutgers Tomato Plants: My Experience & Tips

I remember the first year I tucked a Rutgers transplant into a bed next to peppers and basil. It was late May, the soil just nicely warmed up, and I gave the plant a mix of compost and basic 10-10-10 fertilizer. Here’s what stood out:

1. Spacing Matters: Give them at least 2–3 feet. These aren’t spindly little things; Rutgers like to spread out, especially if you prune less aggressively.
2. Water Deeply but Not Daily: I watched the leaves droop dramatically on scorching afternoons—a common sight in tomatoes, but especially bushy ones like Rutgers. Water deeply a couple times a week, not a little every day, or you’ll get shallow roots and maybe even cracked fruit.
3. Be Patient: 75–85 Days: Rutgers typically set fruit mid-to-late summer. If you live in a cooler region, start them indoors about 6–8 weeks before your last frost.
4. Support, but Don’t Overdo It: Rutgers are mostly determinate, so they grow to a set size and then stop. Some people skip cages, but I’ve had fewer fruit rotting on the ground when I support them lightly with stakes or cages.

Strengths & Limitations: The Real-World Pros vs Cons

No tomato is perfect. I’ve seen Rutgers thrive, and I’ve watched them sulk, too. Here’s my honest take:

• Pros:

• Classic tomato taste that people actually remember
• Great for both slicing and canning
• Reliable and not too fussy about soil differences
• Good yields: I average about 20–25 pounds per plant in a decent year

So, are Rutgers tomato plants good for beginners? Absolutely—if you want the full flavor experience and don’t need a perfectly polished, photo-shoot tomato every time. They won’t mind if your soil isn’t perfect. But if blight runs rampant in your area (the Pacific Northwest and Southeast in bad years), you may want to rotate them or consider newer disease-resistant types as a backup.

How Rutgers Tomatoes Stack Up: A Quick Comparison

I sometimes get asked, “Should I grow Rutgers, or something else?” Here’s a little head-to-head. Let’s break it down with a personal slant (your mileage may vary):

• Brandywine: More finicky, bigger fruit, incredible flavor, but much slower and more blight-prone than Rutgers.
• Celebrity: A hybrid that’s more disease-resistant and keeps producing longer, but the taste is not quite as rich or memorable as Rutgers—at least to me.
• Roma: Denser and more paste-like. Great for sauce, but much less juicy, and not what you reach for when craving a perfect summer BLT.

If you want one main-crop tomato that does a bit of everything except keep fruiting all season, Rutgers is a winner. It’s less indulgent than Brandywine, less corporate than Celebrity, and more versatile than Roma. That’s why I keep coming back to it after dabbling with the latest fancy hybrids.

The Human Element: Why Rutgers Finds Its Way Into Gardens Again and Again

Gardening, in my opinion, is half nostalgia and half curiosity. Rutgers tomato plants straddle those lines neatly. When I visit older neighbors, their faces light up talking about the “Rutgers patch” they grew up with, the smell of the leaves, or the marathon canning sessions in August. There’s a particular reliability here—the plant’s ability to deliver a real, tomato-flavored tomato, whatever the weather throws at it. That steady performance is comforting in a world that changes too fast for my liking.

Even garden clubs still do taste tests. In one informal survey I read (and participated in, many years ago), Rutgers regularly ranked among the top three for overall flavor and usability, beating out showier newcomers. That’s not nothing.

Harvest, Storage & Kitchen Magic: What To Expect

When to Pick Rutgers Tomatoes

The best time? When the fruits are deep red all over and give just slightly to a gentle squeeze—usually about mid-to-late July in northern gardens, earlier if you started indoors. Don’t let them hang too long. In one rainstorm, I’ve lost a third of my crop to cracking. That’s a typical tradeoff with tomatoes that pack a lot of juice and flavor inside a reasonably thin skin.

Kitchen Uses & Storage

• Fresh Eating: The classic BLT or a thick slice on a burger—still the highest use in my opinion.
• Canning: Rutgers were literally bred for this. Skins slip off easily after a quick boil, and the flesh holds together nicely.
• Freezing & Sauces: Chop, bag, and freeze—flavor holds up better than many hybrids after thawing.
• Storage: On the counter, Rutgers will keep about five days at peak ripeness. In the fridge, they lose some flavor (as all tomatoes do), but stay edible for up to ten days.

Common Problems & Fixes: Real-Life Lessons from the Rutgers Patch

Over my years with these plants, I’ve faced all the usual tomato headaches. Rutgers isn’t immune. Here’s what I’ve learned through messy hands and a bit of cursing:

• Fruit Cracking: It almost always happens to a few fruits, especially if we go from dry weeks to sudden rains. Mulch helps keep moisture even. Picking just before full ripeness can help, too.
• Early Blight: Remove lower leaves that turn brown. Rotate between garden beds yearly—Rutgers are tough but not invincible.
• Blossom End Rot: Usually a calcium problem, which is almost always due to irregular watering, not lack of calcium in the soil. I add crushed eggshells, but truthfully, maintaining even soil moisture is more important.
• Hornworms: Keep a sharp eye out—I pull them off by hand. Rutgers bushiness means there are more places for pests to hide.

Is all this manageable? Yes, especially if you enjoy the rhythm of gardening and accept that a few imperfect tomatoes are inevitable. Honestly, it’s a fair price for real flavor. Besides, what’s a summer without checking your plants twice a day just “to be sure”?

Rutgers Tomatoes: Mythbusting & Surprising Facts

• Myth: Rutgers are “hybrids.”—Nope. The original is open-pollinated and stable generation to generation. Seed savers love them.
• Myth: Tomatoes are best refrigerated.—Never refrigerate unless you must. Flavor and texture drop off fast.
• Fact: Rutgers were bred to combine the best traits of Marglobe and JTD.
• Fact: Rutgers nearly disappeared commercially, but gardeners kept demanding seed—leading to periodic revivals of old strains.

FAQ About Rutgers Tomato Plants

Are Rutgers tomato plants determinate or indeterminate?

Mostly determinate, which means they grow to a certain size and produce the bulk of their fruit in one window. But there are a few indeterminate strains floating around, especially from seed-savers. If you like one big harvest (great for canning), go with classic Rutgers. For a longer harvest, check your seed pack carefully.

A Gardener’s Reflection: Why Rutgers Endures

Sometimes, you just want a tomato that tastes like the idea of a tomato—reliable, no-nonsense, and with a flavor that stirs up memories. Rutgers tomato plants don’t promise miracles, and that’s the point. They deliver what people remember loving, what grandparents passed down, and what we crave at the sunniest, juiciest part of summer. In a world that’s always changing—new gadgets, new fads, new tomato fusions—Rutgers is proof that a little tradition still matters. And that, to me, is reason enough to make room in the garden bed every year, come what may.