Tangella Tomato

£2.60

15 in stock

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A rare English heritage variety, exclusive to the Wales Seed Hub in the UK. Vigorous plants produce large trusses of juicy, flavoursome orange fruits. High in Tetra-cis-lycopene, a potent antioxidant with reputed anti-cancer properties.

Approx. 20 seeds.

Botanical name: Solanum lycopersicum

Seed Story: This particular strain of Tangella has been saved by Wales Seed Hub member Simon Powell for 15+ years, for many years in Brighton and recently in S Wales. “The original seed was probably obtained from Brighton Seedy Sunday in the early 2000s as in those days it was an excellent place to get hold of unusual varieties: a ‘ seed crossroads’, akin to a miniature Silk Road trading post.”

“We grew it along with many other tomato varieties on the Whitehawk Community Food Project site in Brighton. This variety always stood out for me and so I started growing it on my own allotment and in my garden and saving the seeds.”

A sibling of the more common, and stripy Tigerella, Tangella ripens to a beautiful shade of orange, which look fantastic on the vine; and are perfect sliced with a pinch of salt, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and fresh basil, to allow the abundant juices to merge with the dressing.

“It’s been a labour of love to get to this point, where we can safeguard my Tangella strain by releasing it into the world. We nearly lost the strain as our 2023 seed crop unknowingly cross-pollinated with a very bland volunteer tomato and I had to ditch the 2024 crop grown from this seed, which we had planned to sell. So in 2025 I had to fall back on seed reserves from 2019 and 2021; thankfully they were still viable.”

“During the course of my research I discovered that it’s almost extinct in the UK, though popular in New Zealand.” How many other UK gardeners maintain their own strain of Tangella is unknown, but it hasn’t been available to buy here – until now.

However, that isn’t the end of the story; there is another thread to the Tangella tale… Simon’s research led him to discover the work of the Heritage Food Crops Research Trust based in Whanganui, New Zealand. The HFCRT researches and promotes ‘the health benefits of plant-based food’, specifically certain phytonutrients which improve human health.

It turns out that Tangella is one of a number of orange and golden heritage tomatoes which contain high concentrations of a potent anti-oxidant called Tetra-cis-lycopene. The HFCRT believes that Tangella and these other ‘tangerine’ varieties are strains from the original golden tomatoes discovered growing in Mexico by European invaders in the 1520s and named ‘pomodoro’ (golden apple).

Tetra-cis-lycopene has been linked with a range of health benefits and can be easily absorbed into the bloodstream by eating the fruit raw, unlike red tomatoes which contain a different type of lycopene and require cooking for it to become bioavailable. The famous quote from Hippocrates springs to mind.

Grown by: Simon Powell

Growing instructions – Tomatoes

Because of our cool, short summers, all tomatoes need starting early, so they’ll have a chance to ripen before the weather gets too cold for them. Sow them in modules or a seed tray with some seed compost any time between mid Feb and the end of March. Keep them in a propagator between 18 to 22 degrees, then, once germinated (usually within 14 days), move them somewhere nice and light to stop them getting thin and leggy, but still indoors where it’s warm. Pot them on when they get a bit bigger, then plant them out once the weather’s warmer – normally at the end of April, but this will depend on local conditions, and whether they’re going in a greenhouse, or outside. Dig in plenty of organic matter initially, and feed and water regularly throughout the season.

Maintaining your plants will then depend on the type of tomato they are…

Vine / Indeterminate tomatoes grow tall (over 8ft if you let them) and skinny, so will need strong supports – either a very tall stake, or string. We attach ours to an overhead line with string, and wind it round the plant as it grows. They will require their side shoots ‘pinching out’ regularly throughout the season, concentrating the growth within the central, fruit producing stem, and you can also pinch out the top if they get too tall, which will also result in the fruit ripening quicker. Fruit trusses are generally long, and the tomatoes will ripen slowly over the season, resulting in a long cropping period and a heavier crop for the amount of space the plant takes up.

Bush / Determinate tomatoes only grow to about 3-4ft tall, but are wider and bushier. They may not require supporting, unless heavily laden with fruit, nor should you pinch out any ‘side-shoots’, so are far less fuss. Smaller varieties can even be grown in hanging baskets and left to trail over the sides. Their side shoots are quite short, so they will fruit quicker, resulting in most of your tomatoes ripening in a much smaller space of time.

Seed grown using agroecological principles. We are licenced to sell seed and issue plant passports. Reg number: 7710.