San Marzano Tomato

Solanum lycopersicum


The classic Italian paste tomato — long, tapered, pear-shaped fruit up to 10cm, ripening to a deep red in heavy clusters on tall vines. Firm, meaty flesh with a high proportion of solids, low water content, and few seeds, which is what makes it the benchmark tomato for sauces and passata. The skins are notably crack-resistant and the fruit stores well after picking. Handles dry stretches better than most tomatoes, another reason it has held its ground in Mediterranean gardens for generations. Indeterminate (climbing) variety — requires sturdy staking or caging.

Days to harvest 72–80 days from transplant
Fruit size Long pear-shaped fruit up to 10cm
Sowing depth 6mm
Germination 6–12 days at soil temperature 18–25°C
Spacing 50cm apart
Aspect Open, sunny position; deep, well-drained soil enriched with organic matter
Frost tolerance Sensitive to frost; plant out only once frosts have finished

Growing notes

A warm, sheltered position in the garden or tunnel suits it best. San Marzano rewards a long, steady run in the ground rather than a short, forced push.

Soil preparation: Deeply worked beds with well-rotted compost and a balanced feed high in phosphorus. Mediterranean-heritage varieties like this respond well to a lean, well-structured soil over a rich but soggy one.

Support: Tall vines carry heavy trusses of long fruit — strong stakes, a solid cage, or a string trellis is essential from planting out. Tie regularly as the plant grows.

Containers: Suits a large pot of 40L or more with sturdy support; keep water and feed consistent, as pots dry out faster than beds.

Watering & feeding: Deep, consistent watering at the base. Overhead watering invites disease. San Marzano handles a drier regime better than most, but avoid wild swings between wet and dry to prevent blossom-end rot. Side-dress with a potassium-rich feed once flowering starts.

Harvest: Pick when fully coloured and slightly yielding. The crack-resistant skins hold well on the vine, so a batch pick every few days works well for sauce runs.

Timing: First ripe fruit around 72–80 days from transplant.

Key features

  • The classic Italian sauce and paste tomato
  • Long, tapered pear-shaped fruit in heavy clusters
  • Firm, meaty flesh with few seeds
  • Crack-resistant skins
  • Stores well after picking
  • Better drought tolerance than most tomato varieties

Short season tips


Sow 6–8 weeks before your last frost. Grow on under cover until night temperatures sit reliably above 12–14°C. In Coonabarabran and similar inland zones, plant out from mid-October. A hoop tunnel or cloche buys earlier plantings — well worth doing for a paste tomato like this, since a longer season means more fruit in the preserving pot.

  • Spring
  • Summer

Tender perennial — almost always grown as an annual in Australia

  • Basil, chives, parsley, marigold, carrots
  • Other nightshades (potatoes, eggplant, capsicum), brassicas, fennel, corn


A traditional Italian paste tomato from the Sarno Valley in Campania, southern Italy, grown in the volcanic soils around Mount Vesuvius since at least the early 1800s. Long regarded in Italy as the essential tomato for pizza and pasta sauces — the true regional strain carries a DOP designation — and now cultivated by gardeners worldwide for the same qualities: dense flesh, low water content, and a deep, sweet-tart flavour that reduces down beautifully.