Rutgers Tomato

75 days, indeterminate — The plants are beautifully well behaved and compact for an indeterminate variety. Its fruit typically weigh about six ounces, are bright red in color, globular and slightly flattened in shape with smooth, thick walls that are crack resistant. Good for fresh slicing, cooking, juicing, as well as for canning — an excellent all-purpose variety.

'Rutgers' is the result of stabilizing a cross made in 1928 between 'J. T. D.' and 'Marglobe' by Dr. Lyman G. Schermerhorn at the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station^[1,2] and introduced in 1934.^[2,3] Developed for New Jersey's tomato processors, companies such as Campbell's Soup and Heinz, it remained popular with commercial growers throughout the mid-twentieth century.

Home gardeners quickly "discovered" its fine juice and canning properties. Long after it was replaced by newer varieties in the commercial tomato industry, it remains a popular home garden variety to this day. Each packet contains approximately 20 seeds, and there are about 90 to 100 seeds per 0.25 gram.