📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Aligote
- 🌍 Origin: A commercial French cherry tomato from the well-known seed company, Vilmorin. Often discussed online as an F1 Hybrid, though sometimes sold without the hybrid label.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Can reach up to 1.5m (5 ft) tall. The official seed packet suggests severe pruning (topping the plant after just 2-3 trusses) for a small “aperitif” harvest, but the plant is vigorous enough to handle multiple suckers and a much heavier fruit load.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Tiny, elongated red cherry-plum tomatoes weighing around 10g (0.35 oz). Known for having an outstanding fruit set in absolutely any weather conditions.
- 👅 Flavor & Storage: Delicious, rich flavor with more sweetness than acidity. Whole trusses can be picked slightly underripe to finish ripening indoors, and they have excellent shelf life.
Aligote from the French company Vilmorin. It is sold here without any indication that it is a hybrid, but information on the internet states that it is an F1 hybrid. The packaging features an excellent, very attractive photo of a multitude of cherry-plums.
The instructions on the packet suggest the following: to optimize plant growth and yield, keep the main stem, wait for 2 trusses with little tomatoes to form, pinch off the top (top the plant), and then let a sucker grow further to form a third truss. That’s it—that’s supposedly enough for an aperitif. The little tomatoes weigh about 10 grams (0.35 oz), and the fruit set is excellent in absolutely any weather.
I decided to increase the yield (though can you really call 3 trusses a yield?), by leaving additional suckers to grow, and the bush handled the extra load perfectly fine. I guess the breeders just assume that 3 trusses are enough for some people.
The tomatoes are delicious, with more sweetness than acidity. We harvested them by the whole truss to finish ripening indoors, and they stored very well. The bush shot up to 1.5 m (5 ft) tall.
Overall, it was just a novelty (just for fun); we don’t plan to grow it again.
I have this one on my planting list for next year too.
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