Tomato Kumato - mid-season black tomato with excellent taste characteristics

Tomato Kumato is a black-fruited indeterminate variety without GMO content. Attracts the attention of gardeners due to the black color of the fruit and the increased content of nutrients. For example, it contains 2-3 times more vitamin C than yellow and red varieties. What is the reason for this composition of Kumato, how to grow and use it, we will understand further.

Tomato seeds "Kumato"

Tomato variety "Kumato" in section

Kumato tomato fruits are aphrodisiacs

Breeding history and distribution

The origin of this variety is quite ambiguous. According to the main version, its homeland is the Galapagos Islands, where the tomato grows in the wild. In its current form, it appeared on the European market thanks to the scientific work of Belgian breeders, who, without any genetic engineering, crossed wild tomatoes with “domesticated” varieties of tomatoes. The fruits are black in color due to the blackberry-based pigment they contain.

According to another popular version, concrete work on breeding this hybrid form was started almost 50 years ago by geneticist Luis Ortego. In the 1970s, a farmer was driving around his fields in the village of Agra (almeria coast, Spain) and noticed that the tomatoes in the last rows, where salty soil predominates and moisture is least, had a different color, but a more intense taste and bright aroma. Since then, Ortego decided to grow only such tomatoes, creating specific conditions for this, which was not difficult in the Mediterranean.

Subsequently, the Spanish company Syngenta received the right to breed black tomatoes. The bred tomato was named Olmeca F1, but in many countries it is more recognizable under the Kumato brand.

Today the variety is very popular in Europe, Turkey and Australia, but in the CIS countries it is not particularly widespread.

In Russia, the variety is not included in the State Register of Breeding Achievements, but can be grown throughout the country, especially in the southern regions.

History of Kumato tomatoes

Kumato is not the name of a variety or hybrid, but a product brand owned by the Swiss agribusiness Syngenta. Under this brand, grocery stores all over the world, including Russian ones, sell tomatoes obtained from the Olmeca hybrid plant in branded packaging.

Kumato is not a variety, but a trademark

Olmeca tomatoes were discovered in the 1970s by Luis Ortego on the outskirts of his father's farm in Almeria (Spain). These plants are a creation of nature, obtained through natural cross-pollination of cultivated varieties with wild ones. Their fruits are dark in color and sweeter than regular tomatoes.

It is unknown how Syngenta employees discovered these tomatoes. According to one version, Luis Ortego subsequently began working as a geneticist in this company. Its leaders saw huge commercial potential in Almek. The tomato was received for further development under the experimental number SX 387.

In 2006, Syngenta registered the Kumato trademark and received a patent for growing and selling seeds. Unlike the seeds of other tomatoes, Kumato is not widely sold.

The patent owner, Swiss agribusiness Syngenta, said it would never make Kumato seeds available to the general public because the Kumato tomato is grown as a so-called “club variety.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumato

As part of its business expansion, the agricultural company began offering licenses for the right to grow and sell Kumato fruits to other companies around the world. At the same time, Syngenta itself selects candidates, and in the process of cooperation controls all stages: from sowing seeds to selling tomatoes, regularly charges licensees fees for using the brand and takes a part of the income received from sales. In addition, partners must purchase new Kumato seeds every year from the patent holder, since Kumato are hybrid tomatoes, and parental qualities may not be transferred to seeds from their fruits.

The use of the KUMATO trademark to designate tomatoes of unknown origin or tomatoes resulting from the illegal propagation and distribution of the above-mentioned protected varieties (SX387 and OLMECA) is detrimental to SYNGENTA and its authorized resellers and licensees and constitutes an infringement of SYNGENTA's intellectual property rights, which will be prosecuted by anyone by appropriate legal means.

https://www.kumato.com/en/all-rights-reserved

There is no official manufacturer of Kumato tomatoes and seeds in Russia. Seeds, as it turns out, can only be purchased from Syngenta (with a license). But how then do our gardeners manage to grow Kumato? Resourceful Russians, not at all afraid of threats and the prospect of being held accountable for the illegal propagation of forbidden fruits, buy Kumato tomatoes in grocery stores, take seeds from them and sow them. Not only that, they also share seeds with each other and send them by mail. What is surprising is that friendly shoots appear from the seeds of store-bought fruits, grow and bear fruit as real Kumato tomatoes.

Description of the variety

The Kumato tomato belongs to the mid-season varieties, closer to the late ones. The harvest can be harvested 100-120 days after the first shoots appear. How the bushes develop, how the fruits differ, besides the black color, we will consider separately.

Bushes

The external qualities of this plant are traditional and correspond to the category of tall varieties:

• Height . By type of growth, Kumato is indeterminate and reaches a height of 2-2.5 m. The tip of the shoot must be pinched until it reaches 2 m in order to provide favorable conditions for the development of fruits.
• Rhizome . Dense, grows wildly in all directions by more than 0.5 m and occupies an area with a diameter of up to 50 m. Its distribution occurs without depressions.
• Stem . It is persistent, bristly and liana-like (resembles a liana in appearance) with medium foliage. Continues to grow even during the fruiting period.
• Leaves . They are small in size, have a normal structure characteristic of most tomato varieties, have a wrinkled cellular surface and a dark green color. There are no pubescences.
• Articulation . It is simple and intermediate, that is, the first inflorescence is formed above the 8-9 leaf, and the subsequent ones - every 1-2 leaves.
• Brush . Up to 8 simple flower clusters can appear on one plant. Each of them produces 6-8 tomatoes.

Fruit

The fruits collected in clusters are distinguished by their exotic appearance and original taste:

• Color . Unripe fruits have a pale green tint, without spots or inclusions, uniform around the stalk. As they mature, the color begins to gradually darken, first turning into dark burgundy and then chocolate. Sometimes the color may be uneven and have thin green stripes.
• Shape and dimensions . The shape of the fruits can be either round or oval with a small number of ribs. Their sizes are average: diameter is about 5-7 cm, weight is on average 80-100 g. All ripe tomatoes look almost the same.
• Pulp. Meaty and dense, but tender. It has a rich dark red color, but sometimes greenish notes are visible. By the number of ribs, you can determine the number of seed chambers inside a ripe tomato. There are 2, 3 and less often 4. Thus, the seeds occupy a smaller part of the fruit and are evenly distributed throughout the chambers. The proportion of dry matter in tomatoes is more than 5%, which is significantly higher than that of ordinary red tomatoes.
  

  The structure of the pulp is sugary-oily with thick walls and a high juice content.

• Taste . Black tomatoes have an original taste - sweet with light fruit and berry notes and complementary sourness. The aroma is bright and rich. It is noteworthy that the taste is preserved even after heat treatment.
• Application . Kumato is a dessert variety and is more intended for fresh consumption. The fruits can be served as slices or as part of various salads. Meanwhile, they can also be used to prepare soups and main courses. Some farmers also prefer to can tomatoes, which tolerate heat treatment well due to their high density.

The fruits are well stored and can easily be transported because they do not crack due to their thick skin.

You can see what black tomatoes look like in the following video:

Characteristics table

The main characteristics of the Kumato tomato can be found below:

We collect seeds and prepare them for planting next year.

Tomatoes of the Kumato variety have not passed varietal tests in Russia, and therefore are not included in the registers of vegetable crops. The seeds of this vegetable variety are considered scarce.

To increase the yield of tasty and healthy vegetables, seed material is collected independently. To do this, during the process of harvesting vegetables, several fruits are left on the bushes. Overripe tomatoes are cut from the branches, and the seeds are selected, peeled from the pulp and dried at room temperature. The seeds are placed in a paper bag and stored in a dry place until the start of the next season.

Beneficial features

The Kumato tomato is not a genetically modified product (no GMOs!) and has an improved chemical composition compared to other domestic and wild varieties of tomatoes. Thanks to this, it has the following unique properties:

• They contain anthocyanins, which give the tomato its characteristic color. These substances are important for human health, but they are not formed independently and cannot accumulate in the body, so it is extremely important to get them from food. Anthocyanins strengthen the walls of blood vessels, relieve swelling, strengthen the immune system and improve vision. In addition, they are strong antioxidants, so they help prevent cancer.
• They contain high amounts of vitamin C, a powerful antioxidant and immune stimulant. Thus, eating tomato helps strengthen the body’s defenses, as well as the cardiovascular system.
• Contains special pigment substances that stimulate tissue regeneration and suppress malignant activity.

Due to the content of a large number of vitamins and microelements, tomato has the qualities of an aphrodisiac - a substance that stimulates or enhances sexual activity.

Comparison of Kumato tomatoes with other varieties

Among the huge number of tomato varieties, Kumato stands out for its dark color. The appearance of the fruit is related to the content of nutrients.

Table. Comparison of lycopene, anthocyanin and fructose content in tomatoes.

Lycopene (a substance from the carotenoid group) is a natural pigment. It is an antioxidant that actively suppresses the oxidative effect of free radicals in the body. Free radicals (substances with free chemical bonds) participate in chemical reactions that lead to the formation of harmful and dangerous compounds in the body.

Lycopene

Many of these compounds cause the formation of bad cholesterol and can destroy DNA structure. Free radicals can cause the onset of cancer and diseases of the cardiovascular system. Ingesting lycopene through food (particularly tomatoes) reduces these risks.

Anthocyanins suppress inflammatory processes and act as antioxidants. These substances improve intestinal function with excess consumption of fats and some carbohydrates, reduce the risk of cancer, have a good effect on heart function, and improve vision. Intestinal barrier functions increase with regular consumption of anthocyanins.

Natural fructose, found in large quantities in Kumato tomatoes, is healthier than synthetic white sugar. It is this that gives the fruits an unusual taste for tomatoes.

Fructose

Agricultural technology

When growing such an original tomato variety, you should consider the following rules:

• You need to sow seeds for seedlings 60-65 days before the intended planting in a permanent place. Depending on the region, the optimal period is the end of March - the first ten days of April.
• Kumato should be planted in open ground with the possibility of insulation or in a greenhouse. In the second case, the plant will need to be shortened due to its high growth.
• You need to sow seeds in well-prepared soil, pre-approved with phosphorus, disinfected and steamed from pathogenic microflora.
• After planting, the soil must be moistened and covered with polyethylene or glass to create favorable conditions for seed germination. Keep containers with seedlings in a well-lit and warm place.
• When planting seedlings in open ground, you should proceed from a ratio of up to 4 plants per 1 square meter. m. In this case, the optimal distance between them is 50 cm.
• Caring for seedlings consists of tying them to a support using synthetic material, proper watering, feeding with fertilizers, removing weeds, etc. There is no need to form a bush, but you need to take out the lateral and lower shoots.

A black tomato is grown in the same way as a regular one, but it needs to be moistened less often so that it grows sweet and with harmonious acidity.

Optimal growing conditions

The Kumato variety is characterized by a high need for sunlight. In the southern regions, these tomatoes are planted in open ground, and as they ripen they acquire a rich dark color. In the middle zone, they are planted only in greenhouses, where Kumato tomatoes gain average weight, but their color becomes brownish-brown.

The optimal temperature for growth is in the range of + 22-28 ° C. The stratification procedure improves the quality of seeds. Kumato seeds disinfected with a solution of potassium permanganate are placed on a damp cloth and placed in the refrigerator for several days. Then the usual sowing is carried out.

Collecting seeds and storing them

Planting material can be purchased at a garden store or prepared with your own hands, following these instructions:

1. Carefully collect the seeds using a toothpick.
2. Rinse the seeds with clean water to remove tomato coating.
3. If desired, soak the seed in a weak solution of potassium permanganate to disinfect it.
4. Dry the seeds for 2-3 days, wrap in newspaper and store until spring.

Some gardeners do not wash the seeds, but immediately put them in storage, however, this is a gross mistake, since after they are soaked in potassium permanganate and planted in the ground, the tomato coating will begin to peel off, which will negatively affect the plant’s productivity.

How to grow seedlings?

You can often start preparing from the end of March. Growing seedlings is carried out in several stages:

1. Pre-sowing preparation of seeds . Soak the seeds for a few minutes in a 5% saline solution. Remove those that rise to the top, and disinfect the rest in a pale pink solution of potassium permanganate, and then rinse and soak in a growth stimulator for a day. When the seeds swell, harden them on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator.
2. Substrate preparation . You can buy it at a garden store or make it yourself by mixing peat, humus and river sand in a ratio of 60:30:10. Add a glass of wood ash to the finished mixture. Next, it needs to be treated from pathogenic microorganisms by heating it for several minutes in a preheated oven.
3. Planting seeds. The prepared substrate should be poured into a spacious box or separate cups and moistened with warm water. Its optimal temperature is 22°C. The seeds need to be deepened by 2 cm, maintaining a distance of 2 cm between them. Water the crops, cover with film or glass and transfer to a well-lit place where the air temperature is kept at 25°C.
   

   Some gardeners do not cover their crops with protective material. As a result, this leads to poor seed germination as a result of excessive dryness of the soil.

4. Care . Around day 5, when most of the shoots appear, the coating should be removed. When 2-3 true leaves grow, plant the seedlings in separate disposable cups or peat pots. The big advantage of the second option is that seedlings can be immediately planted in open ground. After picking, water the seedlings as the soil dries out (moisten it, preventing water from getting on the seedlings themselves!) and fertilize it twice with mineral fertilizers with an interval of 2 weeks. If there is insufficient lighting for seedlings, use fluorescent lamps several times a day.
5. Hardening . 2 weeks before planting in a permanent place, the sprouts should be hardened off so that they can quickly adapt to new conditions. To do this, you need to take them out to the balcony or outside for a couple of hours every day.

Growing seedlings will take about 1.5 months. They can be planted in open ground or in greenhouse beds. At the same time, they should have a height of about 35 cm, a healthy appearance, a developed root system, strong stems and a leaf plate not affected by diseases. As a standard, a seedling bush should have 8-10 leaves about 0.6 cm thick.

Transplanting seedlings to a permanent place

The seedlings are transplanted into the beds from mid-May. When grown in open ground, transplantation can be postponed for 2 weeks so that the threat of repeated frosts has completely passed. Thus, it can be carried out in the last days of May or even at the beginning of June. Transplantation of seedlings is carried out in the following order:

1. Prepare holes at a distance of 50-60 cm from each other. In this case, it is better to use a 50x50 or 60x60 cm pattern. The optimal planting is in a checkerboard pattern.
2. Fertilize the prepared holes with complexes containing phosphorus. It is prohibited to apply fresh manure under the plants.
3. Transplant the seedlings, deepening the stems by 2.5-3.5 cm, and those that have outgrown them - even deeper.
4. Moisten the planted plants abundantly and mulch with peat.
5. Each seedling is immediately tied to an individual support, using only synthetic material.

If you use other materials other than synthetics when staking plants, you can cause them to rot.

Features of growing Kumato tomatoes

Sow seeds from Kumato fruits in early March. At a temperature of +25 °C, seedlings will appear in 5–7 days. Keep them in a bright window. In the phase of the first pair of true leaves, plant in individual containers. As they grow, you may need to replant these tall tomatoes again into larger pots. Care as usual: water, feed once every 10–14 days with mineral fertilizer for seedlings. Start hardening 2 weeks before planting.

Mid-season and late-season tomatoes are best grown in a greenhouse. Plant in a garden bed in protected soil in mid-May, in open soil - 2 weeks later. Planting pattern - 50x50 cm. Immediately tie the slender stems to the supports and in the future do not forget to regularly wrap them around a rope or re-tie them to stakes.

Form into 1–2 stems, removing all excess shoots. Buy special tomato fertilizers and feed them to your specialty tomatoes every two weeks. Do not use homemade infusions of mullein, dung and herbs; they contain too much nitrogen, which will provoke the growth of stems and leaves, to the detriment of yield. Such fertilizing is good only at the beginning of growth, before flowering.

Harvest as it ripens or begins to color. Real Kumato, even when fully ripe, remains firm and stays fresh for a long time. The degree of ripeness can only be determined experimentally by color and taste. Fully ripened tomatoes have a rich sweet taste and aroma characteristic of dark-colored tomatoes.

Seedling care and harvesting

To get a good harvest of the Kumato hybrid tomato, it is necessary to provide the seedlings with competent care, which consists of carrying out the following agrotechnical measures:

• systematically water the plant with warm water as a thin crust forms on the top soil layer;
• after moistening, carry out shallow loosening of the soil and removal of weeds;
• mulch the soil around the bushes (for example, with organic matter) to create favorable conditions for the growth and development of bushes;
• feed the tomato with mullein and other mineral complexes strictly according to the schedule - once every 10 days;
• shoot the lateral and lower shoots without forming a bush, since the tomato grows in 2-3 stems;
• for preventive purposes, spray the seedlings with special store-bought products against diseases and pests (disinfection of seeds and soil will prevent many major diseases, but preventive treatment of seedlings should not be neglected!).

If you follow all the rules for caring for seedlings, already at the end of July you can get the first harvest of black tomatoes with excellent taste. They should be collected in a timely manner so that the plant can continue to bear fruit. Ripe tomatoes should be inspected for damage to select the best ones, which can be stored in boxes for 14 days.

Diseases and pests

The varieties Besrassadny, Honey Drop and Kumato are resistant to most diseases and pests. If the rules of agricultural technology are not followed, only late blight can affect it. This disease affects the above-ground part of the plant; it provokes rotting of the stem and leaves, accompanied by the appearance of a gray coating. In a short time, this disease can destroy an entire tomato crop. If it occurs, diseased plants must be removed from the garden bed. Their fruits cannot be eaten. This material will tell you about Dutch varieties of tomatoes.

To prevent the appearance of late blight, it is recommended to treat tomatoes with Baktofit or Pseudobacterin-2. You can also use the chemicals Quadris or Strobi. These chemicals can be purchased at a hardware store. Plants should be treated with such preparations 2-3 weeks after replanting tomatoes on the ground.

Advantages and disadvantages

Lovers of everything exotic often try to grow the black Kumato tomato, although in Russia it is not included in the State Register of Breeders' Achievements. Meanwhile, in addition to the original appearance, this variety has a number of advantages. These include:

• high yield (about 15 kg of fruits from 1 sq. m of bed);
• high taste qualities;
• content of a group of substances that are responsible for cell restoration and rejuvenation of the body as a whole;
• increased content of vitamins (for example, the concentration of vitamin C is 2-3 times higher than in ordinary tomatoes);
• absence of GMOs;
• good tolerance to high temperatures;
• resistance to long-distance transportation;
• resistance to many common tomato diseases.

As for the disadvantages, some indicate the same original color, because not everyone will like black tomatoes.

However, the original taste of tomato with fruit and berry notes negates this nuance. In addition to black color, the variety has the following features:

• almost all fruits have the same round shape, which is quite rare among other varieties;
• the seeds germinate quite quickly, but then their growth slows down.

Farmers' reviews about tomatoes

1. Sergey Nikolaevich. Krasnodar region. I grow Kumato variety tomatoes on my farm plot for further delivery to shops, markets and supermarkets. For those who have planted this variety of tomatoes, it is no secret that caring for the crop is very simple and does not require additional knowledge and skills. I do some of the plantings in open ground, and the other part I grow in a greenhouse complex. The yield is approximately the same; I get up to 15 kilograms of vegetables per square meter of beds. But the ripening time and color of ripened tomatoes differ. In the greenhouse, tomatoes do not get enough sunlight, which is why their color turns brown. But in vegetables from open ground, by the time they ripen, the skin turns dark purple. Tomatoes are perfectly stored and can be transported for a long time.
2. Igor Leonidovich. Leningrad region. I have been growing Kumato tomatoes in my greenhouse complex for almost 10 years. Ripe vegetables are purchased mainly by restaurants and supermarkets. The yield of the variety is excellent. The maximum figure reaches 20 kilograms of vegetables per square meter of plantings. The variety does not require care, but with additional lighting the tomatoes become darker and sweeter. The taste is excellent; ripe tomatoes can be stored for up to 3-4 weeks without loss of quality and presentation.

Previous
TomatoesWhy seeds don’t germinate and tomato seedlings grow slowly - let’s understand the reasons

Next

Tomatoes Danko tomatoes: description and yield of the variety

Video: growing black tomato

In the following video, an experienced gardener will share his experience of growing Kumato, paying attention to all stages of this process - from seed preparation to harvesting:

Tomato Kumato is an indeterminate mid-season variety that bears fruit with sweetish tomatoes with thick skin and fleshy pulp. Their main distinguishing characteristics are black color and original taste with fruit and berry notes. This variety is grown in the same way as traditional tomatoes, but it will delight you with additional beneficial properties, as it stimulates cellular regeneration and activates rejuvenating functions.

1

0

Copy link

Advantages and disadvantages of the variety

The main advantage of these tomatoes is their excellent taste and unique composition of nutrients, which was mentioned earlier.

There are other advantages:

• high productivity;
• sweet fruity taste;
• pleasant aroma;
• smooth, uniformly shaped fruits;
• rapid seed germination;
• fruits are well transported;
• shrubs are resistant to high temperatures and many diseases.

A conditional minus is the unusual color of the fruit. Many gardeners are skeptical about such tomatoes. But people who love everything unusual, on the contrary, consider this property an advantage.