Rutgers
Open-pollinated tomato
- Breeding
- Open-pollinated
- Growth habit
- Semi-Determinate
- Days to maturity
- 74-80 days 3 sources, 1 independent · basis unstated
- Fruit
- red, medium
- Weight
- 6-8 oz 3 sources, 1 independent
Grey captions say what stands behind that particular figure. Breeding, growth habit and fruit characters carry no caption because they rest on the record's sources as a whole rather than citing their own; closing that gap is ordinary outstanding work, not a finished job.
The breeder attribution here is supported by Rutgers 250 tomato re-release. These claims name their own evidence rather than resting on the record's source list as a whole, because a species that distinguishes a variety, or an attribution to a breeding programme, is worth being able to check on its own.
Origin & history
Bred at the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station from a Campbell Soup selection and released in 1934, Rutgers became the mid-century American tomato, by some accounts the majority of U.S. processing acreage before hybrids took over. Rutgers 250, a re-selection from original breeding lines, marked the university's 250th anniversary in 2016.
Measurements
| Measurement | Value | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Days to maturity | 74-80 days | Consensus range across the cited sources, which include both independent references and commercial catalogs. |
| Fruit weight | 6-8 oz | Typical range for the cultivar, as a consensus across the cited sources. Not a measured mean from any single crop: fruit weight varies with season, spacing and where on the plant the fruit set. |
Against the rest of the tomato database
Where this variety sits among every tomato we hold a comparable figure for. Position is not merit: earlier is not better than later, and hotter is not better than milder. Only cultivar-level figures are compared, never trial results, and maturity is only ranked against figures counted the same way.
later than 54% of the 258 tomatoes we hold a figure for. None of these figures state whether they are counted from sowing or from transplant, so they are ranked against each other on the assumption that suppliers use one convention, which is not something any of them says.
lighter than 86% of the 72 tomatoes we hold a figure for.
Traits
Disease resistance
No documented disease resistance, typical of heirlooms and older open-pollinated varieties. See tomato diseases for the cultural playbook that fills the gap.
Related varieties
- open-pollinated
Ace 55
75-80 days · Determinate
- heirloom
Bonny Best
70-75 days · Indeterminate
- open-pollinated
Box Car Willie
78-82 days · Indeterminate
- open-pollinated
Homestead 24
78-82 days · Semi-Determinate
- open-pollinated
Marglobe
73-77 days · Determinate
- heirloom
Marmande
70-78 days · Semi-Determinate
Explore all tomato varieties · compare any two · when to plant it where you are
Sources & References
Evidence: 3 sources, including 1 independent reference.
- Rutgers 250 tomato re-release · Rutgers NJAES (2016), University or Government
- Victory Seeds variety histories · Victory Seed Company, Seed Catalog
- Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners · Cornell University Cooperative Extension, Community Collection