Boys and Girls in the Tomato Patch

Variety names are important for catching the public eye and in selling a certain variety. Nowhere does this seem more evident than in the variety names of the tomato, today the most popular home garden vegetable. In addition to the word "big" as part of the variety name, both the words "boy" and "girl" seem to attract attention. The trend seems to have started in the 1950's with the introduction of a variety named Big Boy. This name appealed to so many home gardeners that Big Boy soon became the most popular home garden tomato.

It is still one of the top selling varieties today at the time it was introduced, it was one of the first hybrid tomatoes to gain popular acceptance. It had excellent plant vigor and large sized fruit. However, after its introduction tomato breeding continued, and new varieties appeared that combined these qualities with other benefits. Big Boy suffered from having little disease resistance and temperature sensitivity, which prevented fruit set during the hottest part of summer. Newer varieties overcame these difficulties.

The next "boy" variety to rise to fame was Better Boy. The name implied that it was better than the popular Big Boy. This variety also boasted large fruit size and excellent plant vigor. However, it had the additional advantage of being VFN. VFN following a tomato variety name means that it has resistance to two fungus diseases. Verticillium and Fusarium as well as to nematodes which may be in the soil.

With the success of these two "boy" varieties, other "boy" varieties appeared. Wonder Boy produces medium large firm red fruits on plants with disease tolerance. Ultra Boy is a large fruited type with VFN designation. Ultra Buy also boasts slightly earlier production than the other "boy" types. Even a yellow tomato named Golden Boy became part of the fad. Some who like masculine designations, may choose to ignore the "boy ' varieties in favor of a variety named He Man.

The first tomatoes with "girl names" promoted earlier production and smaller fruit. One of the first varieties to appear was Early Girl which produces medium small fruit. It has limited disease resistance and carries only the V designation. Ultra Girl is another early producing variety, with medium large fruit. It possesses the VFN designation for triple resistance.

The newest introduction to the "girls" varieties is called Big Girl. Whether it will achieve the fame of Big Boy is still to be seen. It matures in about the same length of time as Big Boy and has similar fruit size shape and plant vigor. To these characteristics it adds VF disease resistance "Boy" and "girl in tomato variety names do not indicate different types of plants and should not be confused with male and female plants such as occur in hollies and some other plants. Remember that there are many excellent tomato varieties not named "boy" or "girl".

The Vegetable Gardener's Bible, by Edward C. Smith.