Nichol's Heirloom

A friend gave me these seeds as a gift and they have been the most reliable and prolific producer in the Los Angeles heat for the past 5 years. I start these seeds inside mid-February and they produce from first fruit through October and into early November some years. I build large bamboo cages around my tomatoes to assist them growing upwards and have developed healthy soil to guarantee healthy plants. I water less than with other tomato plants and they still produce hundreds of fruit per plant. My plants have reached seven feet and grown back down the other side of the cage. They are susceptible in my area to spider mites and horned worms but not much else.
The only downside is that this variety in the inland LA climate are not very flavorful for fresh eating and are slightly mealy. I dry them and cook them for canned tomatoes and they are outstanding as both.
Again, they are prolific on limited water, not an ideal fresh eating tomato but outstanding dried and canned. For our urban farm, this fits a perfect niche.

I have had good luck growing these from seed directly in the soil with the bottom of a milk jug cut out and placed over the prepared seed area to form a little greenhouse effect. They were somewhat slow to produce fruit but once the heat came on and other tomato plants were starting to fizzle out these took off and produced incredibly healthy plants with bunches and bunches of tomatoes right up til frost. I'm in zone 7 in Georgia so our summer heat makes it difficult at times to grow food crops. This past year, 2019, we had no rain for six weeks from labor day to the middle of October. We also had temperatures in the mid 90's during this time. This plant survived and produced fruit even without water. When the rain came again, the plant took off with continued healthy growth and a good supply of fruits. I will continue to grow this hearty plant.