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When the bottom of your heirloom tomato turns black, the plant may have blossom-end rot. This is a disease that attacks both hybrid and heirloom tomatoes -- and is caused by either too much or not enough water, or a lack of calcium. Applying lime to the soil brings up the calcium level and helps prevent the disease and save your tomato crop. It is applied to the soil before planting or to the foliage and stems after planting.
Most heirloom tomatoes are 50 to 100 years old, according to a report written by the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service. Many varieties of heirloom tomatoes are available and most are grown for their flavor. This differs from other hybrid seeds which may be grown for their size, color or resistance to disease. Heirloom tomatoes are sometimes susceptible to disease or prone to cracking, so extra care must be taken when growing them.
The term "heirloom" does not have an official definition, leading to some perceived abuse of the word. Most heirloom seed companies tell you how they define an heirloom, usually referring to open-pollinated plant varieties developed before a certain date. Heirloom garden seeds have been saved and preserved by individual growers and groups over time, and the process is ongoing.
Heirloom plants are nonhybrid types passed down in time and preserved through a family or group, have the ability to adapt to environmental factors found within a specific area. This makes the plants better able to endure local conditions, according to the Seed Savers Exchange website.
An heirloom plant is any non-hybrid plant grown for at least 50 years. A hybrid plant is created when two different varieties of the same plant are cross-pollinated with one another to create a unique variety. Heirloom garden plants have stood the test of time, and although not always easy to grow, edibles have unique flavors and more fragrant flowers, thanks to the purity of their genes. Also, their seeds can be saved, allowing you to grow heirloom plants year after year.
Heirloom seeds are those varieties that have been passed down from farmers and gardeners to their descendants through the decades. These seeds reproduce true to their parent plant and have not been altered, or hybridized, in any way from how they originally grew, sometimes a hundred years ago. Many varieties of vegetables and perennials grow in Montana's United States Department of Agriculture hardiness zone 3 through 5.
