Orange oxhearts are enjoyed for their meaty texture and superior flavor.
Orange Oxheart is an heirloom tomato cultivar enjoyed for its unique nature and fruit characteristics including heart shape, large size and rich flavor. These characteristics, as well as its indeterminate plant habit, make it a favorite of many gardeners. In addition to the tomato cultivar Orange Oxheart there are several other similar cultivars that are orange or red in color and also have a heart shape. Does this Spark an idea?
Origin and Sources
The Orange Oxheart tomato is a heirloom variety from the Virginias. Like many heirlooms, seeds from this tomato are often only available through specialty seed houses or greenhouses or heirloom seed companies or exchanges.
About the Fruit
Orange Oxheart reaches fruit-bearing maturity after 80 days. The fruit of this tomato has deep orange skin and flesh. The flesh is meaty, firm and solid. This fruit, which can weight over 1 lb., is prized for its aroma and superior flavor. It is excellent for canning and salsa. The fruits also have few seeds and are suitable for cooking and sauces.
Plant Habit
Orange Oxheart plants have an indeterminate form, meaning that the plant has a single vining stem, rather than a determinate habit, which terminates in a flower cluster and retains a bushy form. Although indeterminate cultivars like Orange Oxheart mature later than determinate cultivars, they produce fruit for an extended period of time if given proper care and kept in a suitable climate.
Cultivation Considerations
Because of this cultivar's indeterminate, vining habit, it is best to grow the plant in cages or with adequate staking. It can grow several feet long and is less susceptible to fungal problems and pests if it is kept off the ground. Tomato plants perform best with full sun and well-drained, enriched soils. When planting, set the young plant deep in the ground, as it will develop roots along the buried stem. The tomato plant may benefit if some side shoots and perhaps even the top of the plant are removed.
Similar Cultivars
There are number of tomato cultivars that share some similarities with the Orange Oxheart and may prove suitable substitutes, depending on desired plant or fruit characteristics. Other cultivars that produce large (beefsteak or oxheart) orange fruits include Amana Orange, Hawaiin Pineapple, Kellog's Breakfast, Orange Strawberry, Persimmon, Verna Orange and others. Other oxheart cultivars include Bull's Heart, Anna Russian, Hungarian Heart, Japanese, Kosovo and Russian. Most oxheart-type tomatoes are enjoyed for the meaty, flavorful and large fruits with few seeds.
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