Arkansas Marvel
solanum Lycopersicum

days to maturity: 100 days
plant spacing: 1 per square foot, trellised
sunlight requirements: 8-14 hours hours
look out for: all the pests love tomatoes, they require a good amount of management
harvest notes: harvest fruit after allowing it to vine ripen
annual
indeterminate

Arkansas Marvel is one of the only beefsteak type tomatoes we’ve successfully grown here in Miami. Beefsteak is a very popular type of tomato for home growers but really its the worst type to grow here in Miami because its quite challenging to keep a tomato plant healthy in our humidity for as long as you need for the plant to mature (100 days) and then for the fruit to ripen (another 20 days). We are always trying to talk people into growing smaller tomatoes like cherry and grape, however we definitely see the appeal of trying to grow a beautiful monster like this one, which is swirled red & yellow tones on its skin and in its flesh. Each fruit can weight a pound, which means that even if you do only get like 4 happy fruits off of your plant it’ll still mean lots of delicious homegrown tomato goodness for you.

Photo courtesy of Tomatofest.com