This is a wonderful deep-red, sweet and rich tasting beefsteak tomato that was developed by Prof. Abelardo Piovano of Argentina in the 1950s. Although we aren’t sure, we think it must have the ‘High Crimson’/’og’ gene (and therefore be high in lycopene) because of its brilliant red colour and sweet/rich taste which is characteristic of the High Crimson/og tomatoes. For more information on High Crimson/‘og’ tomatoes check out this LINK.
Caleplata was first offered in the Glecklers seed catalogues of the 1950s but has largely been lost to the seed trade since then. Just like we keep our eyes open for Tim Peters’ tomatoes, the same for Prof. Piovano’s tomatoes. He was a master breeder that more people should know about. We also like his naming conventions, all of his tomatoes have some reference to Argentina. For instance, Caleplata, which can be translated as ‘almost silver’ or ‘not quite silver’ (we might use the term ‘Sterling Silver’ in English) is a play on Argentina’s name. Argentina comes from ‘argentum’, the Latin word for ‘silver’ and Argentina is the Spanish word for ‘land of silver’.
Here is a description of Caleplata from the 1954 Glecklers’ seed catalogue:
Another tomato developed by Prof. Abelardo Piovano at the University of Argentina, the man who developed the Peron tomato. The outstanding characteristics of Caleplata is its extreme drought and disease resistance. Large indeterminate vine growth with dense, heavy, dark green foliage. Maturity in season with Rutgers. Fruits ripen to a medium red, evenly colored, fine flavor, mildly acid and having an average size of 10 ounces. Highly crack resistant, exceptionally solid. This variety will be of value to tropical areas and extreme Southern States needing a variety with extreme resistance to drought and disease.
As mentioned above, Caleplata has an excellent sweet taste. It is also productive and early. Fruit size is variable; early fruits are smaller/rounder and mid-season fruits are more beefsteak size ranging from 100g to 150g; plants are about 3 feet tall.
Our original seedstock comes from the Seed Savers Exchange (USA).
How to Plant: Start seeds indoors 6 weeks before the last frost. Plant seed 5mm (¼ inch) deep. Transplant after the danger of frost has passed/later spring.
