In 2023, the Blossom-End Rot Toolkit project was initiated. The goal is to develop methods that farmers can use to profitably produce dry-farmed tomatoes while reducing the incidence of blossom-end rot (BER) and other physiological disorders like yellow shoulders, sunscalding, splitting, cracking, and internal whitening. The tools in the toolkit are as follows:
On February 1st, 2022, a tomato grafting workshop was held at the Oak Creek Center for Urban Horticulture. The name of the workshop was The Principles of Tomato Grafting. The workshop was led by Cassandra Waterman and Matt Davis and featured a panel discussion with four Oregon farmers and tomato grafters.
The new Oregon State University-developed tomato Midnight Roma follows in the steps of 10-year-old Indigo Rose, the first antioxidant-rich purple tomato available on the market.
The new Oregon State University-developed tomato Midnight Roma follows in the steps of 10-year-old Indigo Rose, the first antioxidant-rich purple tomato available on the market.
Indigo Rose was bred by Jim Myers, vegetable breeder and professor in the OSU College of Agricultural Sciences. Midnight Roma is the result of crossing Oregon Star, a big, fleshy tomato good for slicing or paste with excellent flavor, and Indigo Rose, a dark purple tomato that contains anthocyanins, the same healthy antioxidants found in blueberries. Both varieties were also developed at OSU.
OSU HORTICULTURE DRY FARM TOMATO PROJECT
A three year project (May 2020 - April 2023) funded by Western SARE.
Project leader: Alex Stone: alex.stone@oregonstate.edu
Project coordinator: Matt Davis: davisma3@oregonstate.edu
The overarching goal of the project is to jump-start a dry farm tomato production system for the Willamette Valley of Oregon.
The project is: