I grew my first multiflora tomato variety back when I had the rooftop garden. Multifloras (aka compound inflorescence) are tomato varieties that produce legions of fruit, usually cherry-sized, per cluster. In a hot year, some multifloras have been known to produce as many as 50-100 fruits on a single cluster! I can’t recall which variety I grew first, but what I do recall was that I stupidly grew it in an undersized pot and it did not produce well. The clusters were well-sized, but there wasn’t many of them. Lesson learned.

Years later, when I moved into this space, I broke out an old packet of ‘Mirabelle Multiflora’ from 2007 (yes, tomato seeds can be viable at least that long) and tried again, this time in the ground. They took off, and how. I reaped baskets and baskets of delicious fruit that kept coming literally right to the frost. By the end of the season I was picking armfuls of ripe fruit out of the surrounding mulch. I wasn’t so careful season before last and boy was I in for a surprise when I came back from vacation to hundreds, if not thousands of volunteers plants! Lesson #2 learned.

Having experienced so much success with ‘Mirabelle Multiflora,’ I decided it might be fun to try a red multi-flora variety. I grew ‘Rose Quartz Multiflora’ at the back of the garden, some distance from the golden variety (so that they would not cross) and it too did well. Despite last year’s cold, wet weather I was able to glean a very large harvest from this plant — much more prolific than any of the other cherry varieties I had going. Unfortunately, this variety is quite susceptible to splitting, a condition that is caused by excess rain at the time of ripening. Splitting tends to result in fruit that is a bit mealy and lacking in flavour, two issues that are also exacerbated by cold, wet weather. Despite these problems, the fruit was still tasty and I suspect that a hot season would turn out much sweeter fruit with improved texture and shelf-life. I’ll be trying again this year and crossing my fingers.

One added bonus: my dog Molly LOVED them and was happy to gobble up any squished fruit offered to her.

The details:

• 65-75 days
• Indeterminate/regular leaf
• multi-flora variety
• Deep pink/light red, cherry sized fruit
• Open-pollinated
• Ripens: Mid-season and keeps producing until frost.
• Story: Unknown.
• Container Growing: You’ll need a really big pot, 16?+ deep.
• Further Notes: Stake diligently. This plant is an octopus.

Related: You can read more about the science behind compound inflorescence in tomatoes over here and here.