• 'King Humbert' (aka 'Roi Umberto') tomatoes.
  • 'King Humbert' (aka 'Roi Umberto') tomato slice.
  • 'King Humbert' (aka 'Roi Umberto') tomato plants.
  • 'King Humbert' (aka 'Roi Umberto') tomatoes.
  • 'King Humbert' (aka 'Roi Umberto') tomatoes.
  • 'King Humbert' (aka 'Roi Umberto') tomatoes.
  • 'King Humbert' (aka 'Roi Umberto') tomatoes.
  • A woodcut of 'King Humbert' (aka 'Roi Umberto') tomatoes from Vilmorin-Andrieux.
  • 'King Humbert' (aka 'Roi Umberto') tomato.
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King Humbert (Roi Umberto) Tomato

King Humbert (Roi Umberto) Tomato

$2.95 USD
$2.95 USD
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King Humbert
(Roi Umberto)

90 days, indeterminate — The regular-leaf plants of 'King Humbert' are productive and vigorous, but fairly compact for an indeterminate variety. Its fruit are a blocky, elongated plum-shaped, red colored, two to three ounce, paste-type tomatoes borne in clusters. They are meaty but are pleasantly juicy and deliver an interesting, slightly sweet, mild flavor.

They are good for drying or sauces, yet quite suitable for fresh eating. It does well both in the ground as it does in a greenhouse.

Introduced by the W. Atlee Burpee & Company in their 1884 seed catalog.[1] They described it as follows:
"This new Tomato, which we secured the past summer from an Italian grower, will prove of value to family gardens. It is pear-shaped, 2 to 2-1/2 inches long, by 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 inches wide, and of a beautiful rich red color, with very few seeds ; they grow 6 to 8 fruit in a cluster."
It was also described in 1885 by Vilmorin-Andrieux.[2] Over the decades, it has been sold as 'Roi Humbert', 'King Umberto', and 'Re Umberto', which are merely the same name in various languages honoring Umberto I, who became King of Italy in 1878. The original source for our seed was USDA GRIN accession PI 645082. Each packet contains at least 20 seeds.
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Although the name or description of this variety refers to a modern company's name, the seed we are offering is in no way sourced from, "owned by" or connected with that company. The name is simply the historically accurate, common name for the variety giving credit to the seedsmen that originally released it.
Informational References:
  1. "Burpee's Farm Annual," W. Atlee Burpee & Co., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1885.
  2. "The Vegetable Garden: Illustrations, Descriptions and Culture of the Garden ... ," by M. M. Vilmorin-Andrieux, 1885.
  3. "The Heirloom Tomato: From Garden to Table: Recipes, Portraits, and History of the World's Most Beautiful Fruit," by Amy Goldman, Bloomsbury Publishing, New York, NY, 2008, page 134-135.

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