No. 098 · open-pollinated
Polar Baby
Polar Baby is a determinate open-pollinated slicer with bright red fruit. It ripens in about 60 days.
Flavor
Described as sweet and surprisingly well flavored for such an early tomato. This is the recurring catalog and grower description, not a measured claim.
Origin
An early, cold-tolerant determinate tomato developed by plant breeder John Holm in Fairbanks, Alaska, for short, cool seasons.
What it does well
- Very early and bred for cold climates
- Sets fruit with night temperatures in the 40s
- Compact 18 to 24 inch plant, good for containers and short seasons
Where it frustrates
- Small fruit and a concentrated determinate harvest
- Flavor is good rather than complex
Growing it
- Determinate bush. It sets most of its crop in one concentrated flush, which suits batch cooking and canning, and needs only light support.
- Ripens early, under about 70 days, one of the safer picks where the summer is short.
- Generally forgiving and beginner-friendly to grow.
- Reliably sets and ripens in cool, short seasons.
- One of our picks for the cold, short-season gardens of New England.
Disease resistance
An open-pollinated variety, sold without formal disease-resistance codes.
Why no hardiness zone?
Tomatoes are warm-season annuals, so variety choice comes down to days to maturity and your local frost dates.
Like Polar Baby, but...
Sold out, or after a change? The closest alternatives, and how they differ.
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Where to buy seed
Related reading
Common questions
- Is Polar Baby determinate or indeterminate?
- Polar Baby is a determinate variety. Determinate bush. It sets most of its crop in one concentrated flush, which suits batch cooking and canning, and needs only light support.
- How long does Polar Baby take to ripen?
- Polar Baby ripens in about 60 days from transplant. Ripens early, under about 70 days, one of the safer picks where the summer is short.
- Is Polar Baby an heirloom or a hybrid?
- Polar Baby is open-pollinated, so seed saved from it comes back true to type.
- What can I grow instead of Polar Baby?
- A close swap is Sub-Arctic Plenty, but reported sweeter for an ultra-early.
Sources
- Tomato: Polar Baby · Best Cool Seeds
- Polar Baby Tomato · Tomato Growers Supply Company
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