Hanging Tomatoes from Majorca

[Noelle]

I have posted a recipe for pa amb tomaquet or pan con tomate in the Kitchen Korner which is simple and fast to make. Can be made in the dead of winter with Campari tomatoes. However in Spain people like to use a winter tomato that they sell in hanging strings: tomates de colgar They use a variety of different tomatoes for hanging but the ones I am interested in come from Majorca where they are called Tomatigas de Ramallet which is roughly translated into English as cluster tomatoes. I have also seen them called tomatigas de ramayet secas.
I grew them once from seeds smuggled in by my sister on a piece of dry toast. They grew much larger than I thought they would and were rather tasteless, truth be told. Subsequently I learned that they are usually cultivated in Majorca with dry farming techniques so that mediocre result made sense. Less water and I might have gotten closer to the right taste and size. I have found a seed source for them in North America (Reimer Seeds under the name Mallorca de cogar (combines the hanging with Mallorca so I assume this is the right kind). Batlle in Spain is another seed source selling Tomate de Colgar Mallorquín.
But in my reading I have found that there are many open pollinated strains that are saved by local farmers and it is some of these that I would like to try. Does anyone have clues as to where I could start to look to find some of these other seeds? Anyone have any Spanish gardening connections? Otherwise it is back to dry toast and customs anxieties.
I would also appreciate hearing about anyone else's experiences growing these tomatoes. Mine was less than successful.

[jcm05]

You would not be able to receive seeds from the US by mail? Are there restrictions?

[Noelle]

Well I could get seeds by mail. I guess my real question( besides how could I really grow them well) is if anybody has a source for these seeds outside the two I found. I think I need more varieties to work with. I did read one study about how these tomatoes were significantly drought resistant and so I wanted to explore that quality here in Canada. ( I am on the hunt for some tomatoes that can stand extreme conditions of wind and little water on my rock in Georgian Bay). So if anyone has any ideas......

[jcm05]

There are thousands of varieties of tomatoes and many people here that would be more than willing to share theirs with you. Windy, dry conditions are things many people here in the states deal with each and every season.

[tucsontomato]

Noelle-

Make sure you read reviews for major seed websites before buying from them.

For Example: Reimer Seeds = Buyer beware.

[Sunfreak]

Do you mean this tomato?

tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Ramillete

- Michael

[Noelle]

Thanks for your responses: I've been busy busy busy but at last I can catch up. First I wanted to reply to Michael (Sunfreak) about his suggestion of the ramalette tomato on Tatiana's site. I imagine this is the same tomato type (I guess you don't call them families) and I will follow up on those seed sources. Merci.
Thanks for the seed source warning: I have a sense this is sensitive territory and once burned….
So back to my tomato search. Jcm05 comments that (hard to respond to that name…Jcm maybe??? Help please) lots of people have drought and wind resistant tomatoes that they would be willing to share. I appreciate the sentiment and it’s right of course and if anyone has the perfect one (oh yes did I say shorter growing season cause it’s Canada and flavourful too) bring it on!!!. But the thing with the Mallorca tomatoes is that they came to me on a dried up piece of toast and so I have an interest in them. Especially after my first attempt bombed. This tomato business is totally overwhelming just because there ARE so many varieties that one could grow. And grow and grow. So ….. with these little tomatoes I wanted to start the classic experiment: get seeds from as many sources as possible and see if I can work through the variables to get the right taste and figure out why they are being studied as Mule suggested. I found this article which I put through Google translate: www.agroecologia.net/recursos/Revista_Ae/Ae_a_la_Practica/fichas/No.4/ficha-revista-AE-4-semillas.pdf

I also read another (which I didn’t bookmark of course) about the drought-resistance. Anyway I take it no-one on the forum has grown them and so I will keep looking. Anyone with a cousin in Mallorca? I will report.

[Sunfreak]

I tried them last year (as Ramillete), but just one plant. It was a strange plant. Rudiment roots until to the top of the plant. I had trouble with fruit set. Also low fruit growth. Probably the plant doesn't liked the cold & wet summer here in germany. No ripe fruit at the end, late blight was faster.

My seed source was Manfred Hahm-Hartmann, Germany:
tomaten.bplaced.net/tomatenhahm.html

- Michael

[Noelle]

Strange rootlets. I don't remember those from when I grew them but thanks Michael for the post. English is great.
So in conversation with my Spanish brother-in-law, it turns out he has a student from Mallorca who goes home frequently. So you know where this is going of course. ;D

We shall see....she giggles.

[littleminnie]

When I have pots on the deck, my husband always sees the rootlets and asked what is wrong with that plant. I tell him the stem is yearning for soil and trying to make roots. They are funny looking LOL. ;D

[barbarita]

I grew 3 Mallorcan hanging tomatoes (Batlle seeds purchased in Mallorca) in large pots in tropical Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, last winter. They did remarkably well, to my surprise, in the high humidity here. They never colored up much (kind of light orange-pink/orange with green still showing on some) but were disease and pest-free. I have had very little luck with any but cherry tomatoes here in the past. They are (we still have a few hanging) quite tasty, but last only a short time hanging here especially now as it is now (June) hot and extremely humid. I am very interested to be in contact with anyone else growing these. I am saving seeds and will plant again in the early fall for winter harvest, with subsequent plantings until the end of the year.

[harrytunu22]

I guess my real question( besides however may i actually grow them well) is that if anybody includes a supply for these seeds outside the 2 I found. i believe i would like a lot of varieties to figure with. I did scan one study regarding however these tomatoes were considerably drought resistant so I needed to explore that quality here in Canada.

[ilex]

Tomatiga de ramellet / de ramallet / de colgar / de penjar / del pinxo / tomaca ... is not a variety, it's a family of tomatoes. It's like saying beefsteak, or salad tomato. There are hundreds of long storage tomatoes varieties just in North East Spain, not just in Mallorca. Good varieties should store 6 months easily, up to a year. I opened some for seed last week as my wife was getting tired of having them in the kitchen (11 months in storage).

Relative humidity in North East Spain is high, specially in winter, so storing dry tomatoes was not an option. Winter storage tomatoes were the perfect solution. Most are not that good for salads, specially after some months in storage, but are the best for other uses.

Be very careful with comercial seeds of these, most are not the real thing, there are a few hybrids. Impostors look better, and produce more, but don't store well, and don't have the special flavour and aroma of the real ones. Impostors also are not good for rubbing on a piece of toast.

Some of these varieties are dry farmed, but not only these, many varieties of tomatoes were dry farmed. But note that dry farming tomatoes is kind of an art, it's much more than having the right variety.

[sicilianu]

Hi Noelle. I came across this thread before. A family friend gave me a few seeds of tomatiga de ramellet recently which he got in Catalonia (originally from majorca of course). Also I obtained seeds from the USDA from the Balearic Islands which has the description of "Small round fruit, 1 1/2 in. diameter, few seeds, brilliant red color, strong but agreeable tomato flavor. About 90 fruits to a bunch, are strung up and dried in special rooms then shipped to Spain, has extraordinary drying qualities." so it sounds like it may be this kind as well. Please let me know if you would like seeds and you can contact me!