- Authors: Brad Bates, USA
- Name synonyms: Lucid Gem, Clear Gem, True Gem
- Category: grade
- Growth type: indeterminate
- Appointment: universal
- Ripening period: mid-season
- Ripening time, days: 110-120
- Growing conditions: for open ground, for film greenhouses
- Bush size: tall
- Bush height, cm: 180
Tomato Bright gem (Lucid Gems, Real Jewel, Clear gem) - a variety with an original color and excellent taste. It was launched in the USA in 2015. The author of the variety is Brad Bates, owner of Wild Boar Farms in California.
Breeding history
The Wild Boar company specializes in exotic varieties of tomatoes with an unusual color or taste. The assortment of the company already includes more than 100 varieties, the Bright gem is one of the five most frequently purchased. This variety is the twin of another famous Blue Beauty variety. Both varieties are similar in shape, texture, taste, but differ in color. Blue Beauty - black-fruited tomato with bright red pulp, Bright gem - the owner of violet-amber fruits with orange-red pulp.
Description of the variety
The variety is indeterminate, up to 1.8 meters in height. The foliage is medium-green, medium-sized, without a stitch. Average leafiness. Bushes are thin, graceful, narrow. The stems are not thick, but beautiful. The bush has a harmonious structure; in seedlings it quickly becomes one of the tallest. The vigor and growth rate are quite high.
The main qualities of the fruit
Fruits are flat-round, medium-sized, weighing 150-200 grams. Ribbed. The color of unripe fruits is light green with streaks. Gradually the tomatoes turn yellow. When fully ripe, they turn bright orange-yellow with anthocyanin spots on top. The fruits look very elegant. The pulp is rich yellow-orange with a redder center. The tomatoes are multi-chamber inside, the chambers with the seeds are small, the walls between them are thick, fleshy, located around a solid center - all this allows the variety to be classified as beef-tomatoes. One cluster can contain up to 3 fruits.
Taste characteristics
The taste is great, sweet with fruity notes. The tomato is ideal for fresh consumption unprocessed. It looks less like a tomato than an exotic fruit that can decorate the table by itself. Keeping quality is excellent, tomatoes are able to maintain excellent taste and consistency for 3-4 weeks.
Ripening and fruiting
The variety is mid-season, ripens 110-120 days after germination. Tomato has a unique ability to maintain its qualities. Even if you are late in harvesting, without picking ripe tomatoes, you can not be afraid that the fruits will become bitter or soften. Overripe or lying tomatoes lose some of their fruity aroma, otherwise they remain the same.
Yield
The yield is excellent - 8-10 kg per 1 sq. m.
The timing of planting seedlings and planting in the ground
Seedlings are sown at standard dates: mid-late March. They are planted in a permanent place from mid-May to early June, depending on the possibilities and conditions. In the Urals and Siberia, planting tomatoes in open ground is not possible until the first half of June, earlier planting is risky, or shelters are needed.
Growing tomato seedlings is an extremely important process, because it largely depends on whether the gardener can harvest at all. All aspects must be taken into account, from seedbed preparation to planting in the ground.
Landing scheme
For 1 sq. m 2-3 plants are planted.
Growing and caring
The bush is indeterminate, it can be formed in 3 trunks, in the conditions of the Russian Federation it is better in 1-2. The garter is required, the trunks of the variety are not too strong, and the harvest is heavy. The variety is capable of knocking down a fragile support.
The variety was bred in California, so it loves abundant sun. It is better to pick off the leaves during the ripening period. It is advisable to keep the trunk completely bare at the bottom.
The variety is resistant to heat, does not shed flowers, but, like all tomatoes, there may be problems with setting. Watering twice a day (morning and evening, regular portion), shading, manual shaking of brushes, or transferring pollen with a brush will help. The pollination procedure is carried out in the morning, after which the plants are immediately watered.
Tomatoes love abundant moisture, but too much moisture will negatively affect the flavor of the Bright Gem fruit. They will become a little more bland. To avoid problems with water balance, careful preliminary soil preparation is required. It should be very loose and moisture permeable. In such soil, there is less risk of overflowing tomatoes. To determine when to water, you can manually check the soil - if it's 2.5 cm dry, it's time to water.
Despite the origin, the variety is quite persistent and healthy, does not suffer from apical rot and late blight. But spraying with boric acid, ash solution, "Fitosporin" or calcium nitrate will be useful. Tomatoes will become even sweeter, and the plants themselves will become more resistant to bacterial and fungal diseases.
A plant needs different micronutrients at each stage of growth. All fertilizers can be divided into two groups: mineral and organic. Folk remedies are often used: iodine, yeast, bird droppings, eggshells.
It is important to observe the rate and period of feeding. This also applies to folk remedies and organic fertilizers.
Review overview
Variety Bright gem is unmatched. The combination of dark purple and amber-orange in the color of the fruit is very impressive. The fruits seem to glow. The pulp looks amazingly appetizing, resembles a mango, pineapple or passion fruit, and lives up to expectations in taste.
Yield reviews are different. Gardeners rate the collection as either medium or high. The bush is active and hardy. There are no negative reviews. Almost everyone who has tried to grow the variety prescribes it on an ongoing basis.
