Litchi Tomato

For lack ofbetter way to link the l author of this post, I just copied and pasted the entire message board page here!
In my quest to find out more about this strange Litchi Tomato plant, I came across this message board thread. It sounds as if it is better suited to be out amongst regular landscaping plants or even potted up somewhere, due to its thorny nature, but also very good for bees, and works as an effective means of luring some undesirable insects from other veggies. I think I will be planting this near my potato cages! Read on for interesting info on it! For lack of a better way to link the author of the original post, I just copied and pasted the entire message board page here with the name of the original poster. I am surprised however, that this person is growing these in Wisconsin! Sometimes it pays to push the boundaries and experiment!

For lack of a better way to link the original author of this post, I just copied and pasted the entire message board page here!

April 6th, 2008, 01:20 AM	#16
zeedman Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Wisconsin USDA Zone: 5a Posts: 298	Re: Can you tell me more about the Litchi Tomato I have several good photos, but haven't figured out how to post them here yet. The Litchi Tomato can be started indoors at the same time as eggplant or tomatoes, and transplanted along with them. The seedlings develop thorns very quickly - only a curiosity when small, but as the plants grow larger, the thorns become numerous & quite wicked. All surfaces are covered with them... leaves, stems, and the husk of the fruit. "To stake or not to stake"... My personal recommendation is to stake them, or better yet, cage them with fencing. The plants are quite rampant, growing easily as large as the tallest indeterminate tomatoes. Left to their own devices, they will sprawl 4-5 feet in all directions, and be virtually impenetrable. If you intend to harvest the fruit without injury, you will want to train them vertically. The plants are very free-blooming, and are actually good bee plants. They will bloom until frost, regardless of the fruit set. The 1.5-2" white flowers are attractive, as is the interesting foliage - just don't plant them where you (or anyone else) will be walking frequently. If you have small children, you might not want to grow it at all. The fruit are borne in long trusses like cherry tomatoes... but unlike the tomatoes, are covered with a thorny calyx. When fully ripe, the calyx peels back, and the fruit will separate from the stem with a slight pull. If not harvested promptly, some of the ripe fruit will fall; but they do not rot quickly, so you could still harvest them from the ground. The fruit are bright red, and anywhere from .5" to 1.5" across. The skin of the berry has a tacky feel, and is as tender as a cherry. To me, the flavor was a combination of cherry/gooseberry, sweet and very pleasant; it seemed to get better in the cooler days of early Autumn. You do have to get past the seeds though, which are larger than a ground cherry's. I add the fruit to apples cooked for jelly; it lends a wonderful flavor to the jelly. The yield starts slowly, increasing substantially late in the season - but to harvest them seriously, you'll need leather gloves (preferably with gauntlets) and a jacket with heavy sleeves... maybe even goggles! Litchi Tomato is frost hardy down to about 28 degrees F; while it may stop blooming after the first frost, the foliage will survive, and the fruit already set will continue to ripen. It is also a good trap crop for Colorado potato beetles; they passed up my eggplant for it. With the cut foliage & open habit, the beetles were easy to find & kill. One cautionary note (aside from the thorns): Even in my Wisconsin location, I have a lot of volunteers, so it shows the potential to naturalize. Birds didn't seem to be interested in the berries here (probably due to the thorns) but that may not be the case elsewhere. The volunteers didn't have time to mature here; but in Southern climes, it might become invasive. Last edited by zeedman; April 6th, 2008 at 01:23 AM.. Reason: typo

April 6th, 2008, 09:47 AM	#17
Denninmi Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 4,212	Re: Can you tell me more about the Litchi Tomato Quote: Originally Posted by zeedman The fruit are bright red, and anywhere from .5" to 1.5" across. The skin of the berry has a tacky feel, and is as tender as a cherry. To me, the flavor was a combination of cherry/gooseberry, sweet and very pleasant; it seemed to get better in the cooler days of early Autumn. You do have to get past the seeds though, which are larger than a ground cherry's. I add the fruit to apples cooked for jelly; it lends a wonderful flavor to the jelly. The yield starts slowly, increasing substantially late in the season - but to harvest them seriously, you'll need leather gloves (preferably with gauntlets) and a jacket with heavy sleeves... maybe even goggles! Thank you for that excellent firsthand report on all aspects of this plant, but especially for the paragraph above -- after all, if it's an edible, I guess the most important aspect is "how does it taste?" If I enjoy them as much as you seemed to last year, I think this will be a crop which sticks around in my garden. I love any kind of fruit, but especially exotic ones.

April 7th, 2008, 09:53 PM	#18
zeedman Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Wisconsin USDA Zone: 5a Posts: 298	Re: Can you tell me more about the Litchi Tomato OK, I found the instructions for posting photos on this board. Here is a photo of the plants in full bloom: And a truss of ripe fruit:

April 8th, 2008, 01:33 AM