Named after one of the first women to become a microbiologist and professor on the subject of tomatoes, the Green Doctors tomato is one of several color varieties bearing Dr. Carolyn’s name. Its low acidity level makes it a top choice for those with a sensitive stomach, and tomatoes taste sweeter and sweeter as the season goes on. This is one tomato whose taste keeps getting better with time.
If you haven’t yet tried a ripe-when-green tomato, then this the perfect place to start! Keep reading to learn about the Green Doctors tomato and how to add it to your garden lineup this spring.
History of the Green Doctors Tomato
First, there was the Dr. Carolyn tomato, an ivory-colored cherry tomato first discovered by a professor of microbiology, Dr. Carolyn Male (affectionately known as “Dr. Carolyn”). First produced in 2022, the Green Doctors tomato is a green variety of the Dr. Carolyn tomato. It’s named after tomato experts, Dr. Carolyn and Dr. Amy Goldman.
Characteristics of the Green Doctors Tomato
Green Doctors tomatoes are round heirloom cherry tomatoes with a light yellow-green color. They tend to have a mild taste early in the season, but as time progresses and their indeterminant vines produce more and more fruit, their taste becomes sweet with a hint of tartness.
Ripening Season
These little green gems ripen mid-season, around 70 days after transplanting.
Tomato Qualities
Green Doctors tomatoes are always firm, but their flavor changes from mild to sweet and tart as the season progresses.
Tomato Size
These cherry tomatoes are less than two cm thick and weigh less than one ounce.
Planting Zones
Green Doctors tomatoes grow best in zones 3-9.
Size and Spacing
Because these are indeterminate tomato plants, which means they will continue to grow and produce fruit until the first frost, they need plenty of space to expand as needed. For this reason, young tomatoes should be planted two to three feet apart and staked or caged to provide support for the vines as they grow and produce heavy clusters of fruit.
Pollination
The Green Doctors tomato is an heirloom tomato, meaning that it is produced naturally by open pollination rather than by hand pollination as with hybrid varieties. This means that you can take seeds from the green doctors tomatoes you grow, plant them, and the same kinds of tomatoes will grow from them.
Plant Care
The following sections will provide highlights about tomato care. For a complete guide on optimal tomato plant care, from planting to harvesting and storage, please check out our article on How To Grow Tomatoes: The Complete Guide For the Best Tomatoes.
Sunlight
These tomato plants thrive with full sunlight (six or more hours of full sun exposure per day).
Soil
Green Doctors tomato plants flourish in well-drained soil with a pH between 6.2 and 6.5. Soil for these tomato plants should be kept moist but not saturated. Adding mulch on top of the soil will help retain water and prevent evaporation.
Water
These tomato plants should be watered every day to every other day, depending on how quickly the soil in your garden dries.
Fertilizer
Add tomato fertilizer to the soil when you transplant your starters and again every four to six weeks until the plants succumb to the frost. To learn how to determine what your tomatoes need, consult our ultimate tomato fertilizer guide.
Pruning/Pinching
No pruning or pinching is necessary for this tomato variety.
Disease
As amazing as heirloom tomatoes are, they have one big drawback–little to no disease resistance. One common Green Doctors tomato disease is early blight.
Early blight is a fungus that shows up as dark brown spots. This fungus likes humidity, so it forms first on the underside of the lowest leaves where the humidity is greater from the shade and proximity to the soil. The spots enlarge and merge until they eventually kill large sections of the plant at a time.
The spores of this fungus live in the soil and can survive for months or years there. To prevent your plants from getting this disease, keep them well-fed and watered, and take care not to damage any part of them when handling them. Malnourished plants are more likely to succumb to a disease, and injuries in the plants’ stems or leaves are openings through which the fungus can enter. It’s also a good idea to keep new mulch over your soil so that no mold spores from the past can splash onto your plants during watering.
To learn how to detect, treat, and take steps to prevent diseases, read our tomato diseases guide.
Pests
Aphids
If you notice your tomato plant leaves suddenly vanishing a few at a time for no apparent reason, you may have an aphid infestation. These little bugs like to hide in droves on the undersides of tomato leaves and eat the leaf while they’re at it.
They’re small, but mighty in numbers. They can take out tomato plant leaves quickly, preventing the plant from performing photosynthesis and stealing the shade away from the delicate fruits. To stop an aphid invasion, you’ll need to get some help from some ladybugs. Ladybug insects are a natural enemy of aphids, and you can buy them in bulk from Amazon if you don’t have any around already.
Set the ladybugs loose on your tomato plants and they’ll eat the aphids and probably save your plants within a couple of days.
Tomato Hornworms
The larvae of the five-spotted hawk moth, tomato hornworms grow very large very quickly. A clutch of hornworm eggs can consume most of a tomato plant in a week, and they don’t stop at the leaves like aphids.
The best way to eradicate tomato hornworms is to pick them off by hand. If you have chickens or a pet bearded dragon or similar, you can offer them some tomato hornworms as a treat over the next few days. If not, however, then dropping the larvae into some soapy water is the best way to finish them off.
For information to help you spot, eliminate, and deter 15 kinds of pests, visit our guide on common tomato pests.
When to Harvest Green Doctors Tomatoes
Green Doctors tomatoes are ready for harvesting approximately 70 days after transplanting. Since they’re indeterminant, they’ll keep on producing throughout the summer and fall, so you’ll get a lot of tomatoes from these plants.
Common Uses For Green Doctors Tomatoes
Uses for the Green Doctors tomato are limited only by the size — no slicing for sandwiches or burgers and no big stuffed tomatoes, obviously! But this tomato offers a lot of options in the kitchen! If you’re unconvinced, check out this gardener’s review.
What Does This Tomato Taste Like?
The first few tomatoes of the season probably won’t have much of a taste. As time progresses, however, these fruits get sweeter with a hint of tartness.
Cooking
These tomatoes can be used for cooking, but they are far better raw.
Eating Raw
Green Doctors tomatoes are firm and juicy and great for snacking. Chop them up and add some lime for a sweet and tangy salsa verde. They’re also delicious on salads.
Canning / Freezing / Drying
All of these preservation methods are acceptable for green doctors tomatoes.
Recipe Ideas
Health Benefits of Green Doctors Tomatoes
Green Doctors tomatoes are rich in vitamin C, vitamin A, and antioxidants. They also contain plenty of fiber and are very low-calorie. This is true of a lot of tomatoes.
What’s special about this variety is that it is one of the lowest-acidity tomatoes in the world. If you love tomatoes but also have a health problem related to acid in your diet, such as heartburn or acid reflux, ask your doctor if a low-acid tomato like the green doctors tomato could be safe for you to enjoy.
Where to Buy Green Doctors Tomato Plants or Seeds
Green Doctors tomato seeds are easy to find on Amazon. The plants are a little more challenging to find. Check with your local garden store or farmer’s market to see if you can find some Green Doctors tomato plants available near you.
Where to Buy Green Doctors Tomatoes
Green Doctors tomatoes aren’t often available in grocery stores. If you aren’t able to find any in your grocery store, check with your local farmer’s market to see if you can find some tomatoes available to buy. We hope you’ll be able to find some because they are too delicious to miss out on!
Wrapping Up the Green Doctors Tomato
This sweet-and-tart little jewel is a delight to the eyes and the palette. With its low acidity, it’s easier on the digestive tract as well. Each Green Doctors tomato plant will produce so many tomatoes throughout the season that you’re unlikely to ever run out. Enjoy!
Have you already discovered the culinary joys of the Green Doctors tomato? We’d love for you to tell us about your experiences in the comments section below! Excited for more tomato content? Then visit our tomato page for growing tips, comprehensive guides, and tasty recipes!