Celebrity Plus F1 Tomato

I've had Celebrity tomatoes from the big-box stores but they never got as big as these did. I was really pleased with the size - about the size of a tennis ball - and the flavor of these tomatoes. The plant was a little leggy, but was a solid producer with tasty flesh.

When I first started growing tomatoes, the original Celebrity was one of my go-tos. I migrated to heirloom tomatoes, where I stayed for many years. The 2021 and 2022 seasons were rough in my garden, with lots of blight, so in 2023 I decided to try my old faithful again...to find it improved! Straight up, I have to say that this variety is not heirloom-tasting. It's just average in taste, but way better than those red things in the grocery store they call tomatoes. So why do I give it 5 stars? It's super-duper productive and quite disease-resistant. The fruit size averaged between baseball and softball in size, and I quit counting at 40 tomatoes. It is relatively short -- maybe 5 feet tall, but if you let it, it will grow wider than it is tall. I had no splitting at all, and I only saw disease starting after I quit counting tomatoes. It's definitely good enough to east fresh in a salad, but I really like using it in sauces. No, it's not a paste tomato, but it still cooks down nicely. I think it would be very nice in a salsa, too. My heart still lies with the heirloom tomato varieties, but I am definitely growing Celebrity Plus again this year!