Are you on the hunt for large, low-acidity heirloom tomatoes that perfectly complement the later summer and early autumn months? Then the Amana Orange Tomato is what you’ve been looking for! This delicious variety is great for home growing and makes a perfect addition to a variety of dishes.
Read on to learn all about how to grow, care for, and enjoy a heavy-weight harvest of these delicious tomatoes.
Looking to buy Amana Orange Tomato seeds? Check availability
Characteristics of Amana Orange Tomatoes
Let’s start with the most defining trait of the Amana Orange Tomato… its color! A ripe Amana Orange Tomato can range anywhere from a pale yellow-orange to a rich orange with blush tones. This truly sets it apart from many of its red tomato counterparts.
The Amana Orange Tomato is an heirloom variety. It is considered “fluted”, referring to the tomato’s jagged, knobby shoulders and nonuniform shape. Like wide heirloom varieties, Amana Orange Tomatoes are large and meaty, weighing in at an average of two pounds.
When it comes to flavor, the Amana Orange Tomato is tough to beat! This tomato is low in acidity and high in sweetness. It has even been said to have a flavor profile reminiscent of citrus.
Fast Facts About The Amana Orange Tomato
Eating Them
Due to their size, texture, and sweet taste, Amana Orange Tomatoes can be enjoyed in a variety of ways. They are a great slicer tomato for use on sandwiches like this Hero Sandwich in addition to burgers, wraps, and the like. Their taste lends excellently as a component in veggie trays and salads or as a base for an easy salsa recipe.
In fact, due to their robust flavor and color, Amana Orange Tomatoes make a great base for tomato products. Think of the uniquely-colored, delectable homemade tomato sauce, tomato paste, or even tomato juice you can make with these!
If you want to get extra fancy, try using your Amana Orange Tomatoes in pasta dishes, baked goods, and more. A great way to start is to use them in a colorful and decadent heirloom tomato tart, complete with mozzarella and pesto.
Health Benefits
Like all tomato varieties, there are lots of health benefits to be found when consuming Amana Orange Tomatoes.
These tomatoes pack a great punch of healthy vitamins and nutrients. These include vitamins A, B, C, D, and K. All of these vitamins work together to support heart health, boost the immune system, reduce inflammation, and help you feel your absolute best.
Tomatoes also offer a great source of lycopene, a powerful antioxidant that helps combat free radicals in the body. This can help mitigate unpleasant symptoms like headaches, muscle and joint pain, menstrual pain, brain fog, and much more.
These tomatoes also contain plenty of dietary fiber, which helps keep your digestive system running smoothly and regularly.
This is just a high-level view of all tomatoes have to offer. There’s, even more, you can learn about the health benefits of tomatoes on our blog, including detailed nutrition facts.
Growing Amana Orange Tomatoes At Home
Amana Orange Tomatoes are a great variety for home growing. They have a long growth life and are resistant to heat and tolerant of drought. Though they can be grown in containers, they do best in the soil.
Preparing and Planting
Like all tomato varieties, Amana Orange Tomatoes do their very best when started indoors, about 10 weeks before the annual final frost in your area. Begin them indoors in seed cells or seed pots, watering regularly and allowing them to germinate beneath a grow light or in direct sunlight.
While your Amana Orange seedlings germinate, it’s a good time to find the best place in your garden for them. These tomatoes require 6 hours minimum of sunlight in order to thrive. They also require well-draining soil.
One of the most important things you can do to help your Amana Orange Tomato plant thrive is to make sure you prepare the soil before planting. A composted, fertile soil will help them fare their best.
About one week before it’s time to transplant, you can harden off your Amana Orange seedlings by placing them outdoors in a sheltered area during the day.
Continue to bring them inside at night. Then, with the last threat of frost passed and the soil warming to about 70 degrees Fahrenheit, it’s time to transplant.
You will want to place your Amana Orange Seedlings roughly two to four feet apart in a single row, with several feet of space between your rows of tomatoes. Bury them up to the second set of leaves and water generously, but don’t oversaturate the soil.
This is a good time to cage your tomato plants. Since Amana Orange Tomatoes are so heavy, a cage will help support the branches and ensure they don’t become overburdened under the weight of their fruit.
Caring and Maintaining
Once your Amana Orange Tomato plants are established, continue to feed them every two weeks with a fish emulsion blend or tomato-specific food blend. You can also regularly compost the soil to maintain a healthy pH balance in the soil.
Your tomato plants should receive one to two inches of water per week. You can usually water every other day or so, but in times of drought, you may need to increase slightly until the rain returns.
Keep an eye out for any signs of tomato pests or diseases, and address any issues that arise quickly. This will help prevent the spread of any diseases and keep your tomato plant as healthy as possible for as long as possible.
Because Amana Orange plants have a long and late growing season–about 80 to 90 days until you can begin to harvest them–you will have to be a bit patient. But your hard work and labor of love will pay off, with plenty of large, sweet tomatoes to enjoy from the first harvest all the way to the first frost of the season.
Check out our Tomato Plant Care guide for more in-depth resources on caring for tomato plants.
Where To Buy Amana Orange Tomato Seeds
Amana Orange Tomato seeds can often be sourced at your local nursery, lawn, and garden center, and occasionally in grocery stores and supermarkets. If you are purchasing your tomato seed online, we recommend sourcing from reliable seed seller True Leaf Market.
Wrapping up the Amana Orange Tomato
Excited to grow some Amana Orange Tomatoes in your own backyard? Before you get started, be sure to check out our Tomato Plants page. This resource has all the information you need to grow, care for, and harvest the biggest and best bounty of tomatoes possible.
- About the Author
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Renee Dugan is a lifelong writer, professional editor, and lover of all things nature, gardening and the big outdoors.
A Midwest girl who’s been in the garden since she could first hold a hand trowel, Renee’s love of growing things has bloomed into a passion for healthy living, holistic lifestyle, and knowing where our food comes from.
Now a mother and maturing gardener herself, Renee is passionate about channeling everything she knows and continues to learn about gardening into lessons for her son and others. Her excitement for sharing this knowledge is only superseded by her excitement about being able to finally grow her own citrus plants in pots.
Renee can be reached at renee.s.dugan@gmail.com