Don’t you just love a tomato that is something other than red? Add stripes or some sort of ombre color gradient to the skin—better yet, make them change from green to purple to orange!—and the anticipation of eating that fruit rises a hundredfold. These novelties just make the tomato all that more interesting in my mind. Of course they have nothing to do with the flavor (or maybe they do?), but the different skin tones add some extra pizzazz to the garden and to the final plate, as well.

Love Gourmansun Sunrise Tomato

We can find that fun and excitement in a new tomato from Burpee Home Gardens. It’s called Love Gourmansun Sunrise Tomato, and it’s not only a different-looking tomato, it’s also got a fun and different shape.

The conical shape and the striping make it look like an upside-down circus tent, if circus tents were yellow-and-red striped. It’s a beefsteak, too, so it’ll be juicy and hopefully flavorful.

Growing and Habit Facts

You’ll want to know how to grow Love Gourmansun Sunrise Tomato. It’s actually quite similar to growing other tomatoes. Here’s some general knowledge:

• This is an indeterminate tomato. That means it will grow to be about 5 ft. tall. It will also spread outward to about 30 inches. That’s a lot of plant! You’ll need to give it some support in the form of stakes or cages.
• Love Gourmansun Sunrise is also an F1 hybrid. The hybridity means this variety has been bred to incorporate disease resistance to several common yet detrimental afflictions, including against fusarium, late blight and verticillium wilt.
• You’ll want to keep the water consistent and fertilize once fruits begin to form with a formulation that has less Nitrogen and more Phosphorus and Potassium. Use a fertilizer specially formulated for tomatoes and you’ll boost your tomato’s calcium and magnesium levels which helps with fruit development. Here’s what I wrote a few months ago about fertilizing tomatoes.
• This variety takes about 85 days—a little less than 3 months—to produce harvestable fruits. The fruits will be about 10 ounce, which I think is the perfect size for slicing up to make two or three yummy (and colorful!) tomato and mayo sandwiches (depending on bread size, of course).

I happen to have a Love Gourmansun Sunrise in my garden right now. According to my estimates I have about another 50 days to dream of my tomato sandwich.