Are you someone looking to grow a quality slicer tomato with the characteristics that define the classic tomato? Look no further than the Big Boy Tomato! Living up perfectly to its name and the reputation of its kind, this is the quintessential tomato that’s been loved for years.
Read on to learn all there is to know about Big Boy Tomatoes.
Characteristics of Big Boy Tomatoes
The Big Boy Tomato’s most notable quality, first and foremost, comes along with its namesake. This is a large tomato! The Big Boy variety most often grows to be up to 8 to 10 ounces per fruit, but a healthy plant may produce tomatoes that weigh up to a pound each.
The appearance of a Big Boy Tomato is another defining characteristic. These tomatoes are hefty, classically round, and smooth to the touch, with a bright red exterior and interior. They tend to be larger than your average grocery store tomato but smaller than an heirloom variety.
The flavor profile is another quality that sets Big Boys apart from the rest. While many hybrid varieties like the Big Boy are known for having an unremarkable flavor, the Big Boy Tomato busts that stereotype.
It delivers an assertive flavor profile that is classic “tomato”, balanced perfectly between sweetness and acidity.
More About The Big Boy Tomato
There’s a lot more to Big Boy Tomatoes than just their characteristics. Here are some things you should know about this delicious fruit.
Eating Them
The hefty size, smooth skin, tender flesh, and balanced flavor profile of the Big Boy Tomato make it truly the ideal slicer. This tomato cuts easily and holds together well, so it’s perfect for enjoying on sandwiches, burgers, and salads.
Other ways to enjoy Big Boy Tomatoes raw would be combined with mozzarella slices, fresh basil, and balsamic glaze on grilled bruschetta for an unforgettable Caprese salad. They can also serve as a garnish on pasta dishes or be diced for salsa.
You can also use Big Boys to make tomato sauces, purees, or even juices. Their robust flavor and large size make them quite ideal for this application, actually, as you can make more products with fewer tomatoes when they’re this size.
Health Benefits
Like all different tomato varieties, the Big Boy Tomato brings a powerhouse of health benefits to the table. This tomato is chock full of Vitamins C and A, which are great for boosting your immune system, improving your eyesight, and overall helping your body feel its best.
When eating and enjoying a Big Boy Tomato, you will also be ingesting plenty of potassium, dietary fiber, and iron. These key nutrients help with your energy levels, overall feelings of wellness, and the regularity of your digestive system.
Tomatoes like the Big Boy variety are also very high in an antioxidant called lycopene. This carotenoid is what gives tomatoes their bright red color, so it’s clear from just a glance that the Big Boy packs a powerhouse punch of lycopene.
As an antioxidant, lycopene helps reduce inflammation throughout your body by combatting free radicals. This can help boost your energy and immune system, reduce joint pain, menstrual pain, and other achiness, and help you overall feel your best.
Growing At Home
Big Boy Tomatoes are a great variety for growing at home! They do need a decent amount of space and some sturdy caging to give these weighty tomatoes the necessary support. But when you provide those things, these plants will thrive and bring a great harvest!
Preparing and Planting
Before you begin growing your Big Boy Tomatoes, you should ensure you have the right space and the proper soil type to help your plants flourish. Big Boy Tomato plants require full sunlight for a minimum of 6 hours a day and well-draining, loose soil with a pH balance between 5 and 6.5.
Like most tomato varieties, Big Boys do best when transplanted as opposed to direct sowing the seeds in the soil. You will want to begin your Big Boy Tomato plants indoors about 6 to 8 weeks before the final threat of frost has passed in your area.
Once your tomato seedlings are sprouted, keep them well-watered and fertilized. About 1 week before your intended transplant date, begin to harden the seedlings off by placing them outdoors in the sunlight during the warmth of the day. Then, bring them indoors at night.
Prepare your garden bed ahead of time with a granular fertilizer worked into the top 6 inches of the gardening soil. Then, water the bed deeply to help the slow-releasing fertilizer activate and truly soak in.
Now it’s time to plant your Big Boy seedlings! Prepare a planting hole deep enough that you can bury the seedlings up to about the second leaves on the plant. Your planting holes should be about 24 to 36 inches apart, with 3 to 4 feet of space between your rows.
Once they’re planted, fill up the hole around your Big Boy seedlings and pat the soil down, but be sure not to pack it too tightly. Then, give your Big Boy seedlings a good watering and lay down a layer of organic mulch to help retain that moisture.
Make sure to cage your Big Boy plants! They will become quite heavy as their fruit comes in, so giving them a cage to grow in will ensure the stems don’t buckle and there’s no breakage in the vines.
Caring and Maintaining
After they are established, continue to water your Big Boy Tomato plants deeply a couple of times a week. You can supplement more water in times of drought; just be careful not to overwater them. This can lead to mildewing and other complications, causing your plants to struggle.
Make sure to tackle any weeds in your garden area as soon as they crop up, and watch out for any tomato pests or signs of disease, such as blossom end rot. If you notice any pests or diseases, be sure to address them right away in order to preserve your crop.
Big Boy Tomatoes take about 85 days to ripen fully. Once the tomato has turned a deep red, it’s ready to be enjoyed! You should have fruit from your healthy plant until the first frost.
Where To Buy Big Boy Tomato Seeds
Big Boy seeds are often sold in lawn and garden centers and stores. For sourcing online, we recommend True Leaf Market’s seeds.
Wrapping Up the Big Boy Tomato
Before you get started growing a bumper crop of Big Boy Tomatoes, be sure to check out our Tomato Plants page! This resource will help you learn everything you need to know about tomato growing, caring, and more.
- 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