Tomatos prefer a little bit loose well drained soil.  10-15% compost composition for it to feed on will make a tastier tomato, although store bought fertilizers work neither are necessary.    They like the weather hot, but you may need to irrigate more than once a day in hot spells.   I have added Sunset's garden zone to the pictures, the Black Zebra and most Heirlooms will prefer Zones 3-11.

The Importance of "Heirloom" Tomatoes.

In the past 40 years, we've lost many of our heirloom varieties, along with the many smaller family farms that supported heirlooms. The multitude of heirlooms that had adapted to survive well for hundreds of years were lost or replaced by fewer hybrid tomatoes, bred for their commercially attractive characteristics.

In the process we have also lost much of the ownership of foods typically grown by family gardeners and small farms, and we are loosing the genetic diversity at an accelerating and alarming rate.

Every heirloom variety is genetically unique and inherent in this uniqueness is an evolved resistance to pests and diseases and an adaptation to specific growing conditions and climates. With the reduction in genetic diversity, food production is drastically at risk from plant epidemics and infestation by pests. Call this genetic erosion.

The late Jack Harlan, world-renowned plant collector who wrote the classic Crops and Man while Professor of Plant Genetics at University of Illinois at Urbana, wrote, "These resources stand between us and catastrophic starvation on a scale we cannot imagine. In a very real sense, the future of the human race rides on these materials. The line between abundance and disaster is becoming thinner and thinner, and the public is unaware and unconcerned. Must we wait for disaster to be real before we are heard? Will people listen only after it is too late."

It is up to us as gardeners and responsible stewards of the earth to assure that we sustain the diversity afforded us through heirloom varieties.

The Black Zebra falls short of being technically called an heirloom, but it's so close that people in the food industry refers to it as one.

 Combing shipping of the sets of 3 plants is possible  if you use buy it now, but combining shipping for the sets of nine is not possible  Shipping and handling would be about the same anyway.  Up to 3 orders equaling nine plants can fit in one box.   If you win and auction and also purchase a few more at the time it ends that is fine too.   I ship fast, so I don't want you to be dissapointed if you purchase something the next day and it's too late to combine it as your plants are on the way.

Your satisfaction with this purchase is guaranteed!  Please contact me with any questions or comments!

Thank you for your order!