SAN LUIS OBISPO — More than 70 different types of tomato plants will be available at Cal Poly’s annual Tomato Spectacular plant sale (formerly known as Tomato Mania) from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, April 6 and 7, at the Horticulture Unit near the Poly Plant Shop.

Brandywine, Early Girl, Kellogg’s Breakfast, Homestead, and a selection of cherry tomato plants, including Nature’s Bites, are some of the unique cultivars that will be available during the student-run enterprise project — one of several such hands-on courses offered by the university’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences.

The plants cost $7, with a quantity discount given for five or more plants.

This year the program is directed by a team of six students who have grown more than 5,000 tomato plants from seed to provide home gardeners with quality plants that will produce fresh tomatoes throughout summer. Students began seeding the plants in early February and have tended to them in the campus greenhouses.

“Tomato Spectacular really embodies Learn by Doing at Cal Poly and gives students the opportunity to get involved directly in the industry and experience hands-on learning,” said Beth Funke, a junior agricultural and environmental plant sciences major. “There are so many different dynamic aspects of working in agriculture. Being involved in the tomato enterprise demonstrated that developing social media skills to sell the plants was just as important as growing them.”

The sale will take place at the Environmental Horticultural Sciences Building (No. 48) on Via Carta Road off Highland Drive. For more information, follow Cal Poly Tomato Spectacular on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CalPolyTomatoSpectacular and Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/calpolytomatospectacular.

View the full Tomato Spectacular 2019 catalog here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/14qzJuLpJh6rzxR6CzyF4_EFp0GENKIUTveSEUKbMTlI/edit?usp=sharing.

Photo information: Justin Williams, a senior agricultural and environmental plant sciences major and head grower for the project, working in the greenhouse. 

About Cal Poly’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences
Cal Poly is a nationally ranked, comprehensive polytechnic university. The university’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences is comprised of expert faculty members who take pride in their ability to transform academically motivated students into innovative professionals ready to solve the complex challenges associated with feeding the world in sustainable ways. Students have access to state-of-the-art laboratories, including ranchland, orchards, vineyards and forests, all of which provide the basis for Cal Poly’s Learn by Doing methodology. It is the fifth-largest college of agriculture in the country, with about 4,000 undergraduate students.

Contact: AnnMarie Cornejo
805-756-2427; ancornej@calpoly.edu

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