Belize Pink Tomatoes?

[Gardener123]

Anybody ever grow these? If so, how was the yield?

[hendi_alex]

Interesting name for a tomato. I visited Belize in 2007 and again in 2010. Mostly visited interior area around San Ignacio. Anyway, I had expected to see lots of tomatoes being grown. But when we went to the fresh market, while they had quite a few tomatoes, all were of what I would consider inferior quality. There were no uniform, decent slicing tomatoes, in fact there were few with any size at all. Yet they didn't appear to be salad tomatoes either. They just looked like poorly formed medium sized tomatoes. I just assumed that for some reason, tomatoes just don't do very well in Belize.

I have no knowledge of the Belize pink, but thought my anecdotal experience might be of interest.

[Gardener123]

Yep, I was in Belize for 12 days in 1999 on my honeymoon. I can't say as I can really recall what the tomatoes were like, but I can say that most fruit that I had there was awesome. We stayed in Placencia, San Pedro, and in a jungle lodge south of San Ignacio, called Chan Chich.

Belize had the most friendly people I ever met while out of the USA. They also had awesome Belizean coffee, but by their law, I was limited to 5 pounds to take home.

[hendi_alex]

The market that we visited did have a wide array of awesome fruit and vegetables, but as posted earlier, the poor quality tomatoes were a negative surprise. My impression of the native Belize people was a little different. Those with Mayan ancestors seemed to tolerate outsiders, but had a somewhat distant and maybe even superior posture toward them. That said, they were pleasant and easy enough to engage in conversation.

I was struck by what appeared to be wide spread poverty. Most houses in the country side looked like multi generational projects. The hospital was straight from the third world. My overnight visit came as a result of a peccary attack.

In the future, I might would consider visiting the coast at some resort, but that would be the extent of any interest. Belize is a lovely country and the people are pretty friendly, but the weather is pretty nasty for much of the year, and the humidity is far worse than here in the southern U.S.

Here are a few of my hospital photos:

Ambulance that picked me up! (grin)


Rusty I.V. stand


Nasty overhead fan, and gecko on celing


Room had holes in the screen, so lots of pesky insects!


E.R. entry


Lots of security, don't know why.

[Gardener123]

You should see a jail, LOL...... I actually did.

Also, I am a hot pepper freak. And Melinda's Hot Sauce is made in Belize.... you can buy that in many stores in the USA... Well, I actually visited their "Manufacturing Plant" if you can call it that. It was about the size of a 6 car garage, and half the place was filled with hot peppers.

OK, so having had a time to think on it, I do now remember that I had a hamburger at a San Pedro restaurant, and I do agree; the tomatoes on the bun were not good. But I have no idea what variety there were.

I have 2 vivid memories while in Belize....

1. Getting off the plane and it was so hot and humid that it was hard to breathe.

2. Walking in the jungle with a nice cold hydro pack, with my wife. The heat was brutal. She asked me for the water, but she had never drank from a hydro pack before... She didn't realize that the water that sits in the "straw" is warm / hot, and that you spit that out and then the cold water comes up the straw. She drank really warm water, and not being ready for it, she ended up gagging, falling to the ground, and wanting to go home from our honeymoon. She is not a "nature" person. She did enjoy Placencia, and San Pedro a whole lot, though.

I also remember the degree of poverty I saw. It was 1999, and I know that most people there were making about $1 a day if they were not in tourist areas. They are tied to the US Dollar. ( or were, when we went ) But I think it is much different at the tourist areas... Nobody is probably rich. but we saw people's homes, and they were fine.... certainly much nicer than the shacks in the jungle.

ADDED: Alex, in Placencia, which was the fishing village, the people were awesome! We were there for 4 days and we ate inside two homes of the locals. Also, we partied and danced with the locals on a pier one night.... they gave us food and drink and wouldn't take any money. But what I did do was supply a bottle of liquor for the event, which had been given to us by the manager at the jungle lodge we had stayed in. Also, in Placencia, I played basketball with the locals at midnight. I remember so many people asking us if we were enjoying their country.

[gixxerific]

Is this the tomato? If so you may have a winner, save me some seeds, I have plenty to trade.

https://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/wiki ... Pink_Heart

[Gardener123]

Is this the tomato? If so you may have a winner, save me some seeds, I have plenty to trade.

https://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/wiki ... Pink_Heart

That is the one.

[Gardener123]

Is this the tomato? If so you may have a winner, save me some seeds, I have plenty to trade.

https://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/wiki ... Pink_Heart

So far, this may be the the least impressive tomato I have ever grown... But there is still time, I guess... Each plant has a few flowers, and no actual tomatoes yet.

[Gardener123]

OK, so now the plants looks incredibly scruffy, but they are loaded with tomatoes that are about 2.5" diameter. But I must say the plants look like death warmed over... But that might not be the plant's fault.... we literally have had less than 10 days of sunshine since June 1st, and rain about 20 - 25 days... some days torrential rain.

[mattie g]

Your plants are just upset that the US beat Belize 6-1 in soccer last night.

[Gardener123]

I was able to harvest 2 tomatoes. Everything else died. But those 2 tomatoes were very tasty.