Everglades tomato

Solanum pimpinellifolium

Pea-sized tomatoes that fruit through Florida heat that stops other tomatoes.

Type: herb or perennial · annual vegetables, herbs and grains
Hardiness: zones 9 to 11
Light: full sun
Size: about 4 ft tall, 4 ft wide
Harvest: year-round
From: Peru, naturalized in S. Florida
Drought-hardy once established
Here: Too tender to overwinter outdoors on the Lake Erie shore (zone 6b to 7a): grow it in a pot and bring it in, or treat it as an annual.

Good for: food, pollinators.

Native to: Southeast, Andean highlands. Hardy in zones 9 to 11.

The story

The Everglades tomato is a wild currant tomato from Peru that went feral in South Florida, where it was picked along ditches by Seminole and Cracker families and fruits through summer heat that stops every other tomato; seed savers keep it going.

Planting

Full sun, any soil, heat; sow seed after frost or let it self-sow. It sprawls 6 feet; give it a fence.

Growing

Water modestly; it needs nothing. No feeding, no staking required, no fuss.

Harvest and use

Pea-sized red tomatoes by the hundred all summer and into winter in Florida; pick by the handful. Intense flavour.

What to watch for

Almost nothing; it is tougher than any cultivated tomato.

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More annual vegetables, herbs and grains

General guidance, not professional advice. Conditions vary by yard and year; for local specifics ask your county extension office. Never eat a wild plant you cannot identify with certainty. Traditional uses are shared as history, not medical advice. © 2026 Sean Priest · Irie Orchard. Terms & credits · Privacy · Home