Moneymaker
Dependable and cheap, but there are better tasting varieties for the same effort.
Moneymaker is the tomato your grandfather grew, and it is still in every seed rack in the country. It produces a heavy crop of uniform medium fruit in a greenhouse, the seed is inexpensive, and it is open pollinated so you can save it. The catch is flavour: it was bred in the 1910s for commercial yield and uniformity, and it tastes like it.
Quick facts
- Botanical name
- Solanum lycopersicum
- Type
- Open pollinated
- Category
- Medium salad, cordon
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Hardiness
- Tender, no frost tolerance
- In Ireland
- Much better under cover
- Germination
- 7 to 14 days at 18 to 25C
- Sowing depth
- 5mm
- Spacing
- 45cm apart, 75cm between rows
- Height
- 1.8m
- Position
- Full sun
- Containers
- Grows well in pots
- Sowing to harvest
- 16 to 20 weeks
- Harvest
- July to October
Sowing and harvest calendar for Moneymaker
Months shaded below are the reliable windows for Irish conditions.
Where to buy Moneymaker tomato seeds in Ireland
Irish suppliers that stock this, so postage stays domestic and seed arrives in time to sow. These are plain links, not paid placements.
Garden centres and mixed retailers
- Woodie's The cheapest packet of the lot, click and collect nationwide Dublin headquartered chain, part of Grafton Group. Cheapest per packet and the only nationwide click and collect option. Visit Woodie's
- Mr Middleton Irish Mail order arm of a long established Mary Street shop, carries the familiar named varieties the organic specialists skip. Visit Mr Middleton , Co. Dublin
- The Organic Centre Irish Organic seed from Rossinver, Co. Leitrim Registered Irish charity at Rossinver with a 19 acre demonstration garden behind the seed catalogue. Visit The Organic Centre , Co. Leitrim
Why it suits Ireland
Moneymaker’s real virtue in an Irish context is that it is forgiving and cheap. It crops heavily under cover without demanding much, the seed costs little, and because it is open pollinated a single packet can supply you indefinitely if you save seed.
It is also widely stocked, including on garden centre racks around the country, so it is the variety you can pick up locally in April when you have left sowing late.
Growing notes
Grow as a cordon, side shoots pinched out weekly, tied to a cane or string, stopped at six trusses under cover.
It responds well to generous feeding, and unlike thin-skinned cherry types it rarely splits, which makes it tolerant of a less than perfect watering routine.
If flavour matters to you, two things genuinely help: keep it slightly drier once fruit begins to ripen, and leave the fruit on the plant until fully coloured rather than picking it at the first blush.
Common questions
Is Moneymaker still worth growing?
It is worth growing if you want volume cheaply, want to save your own seed, or are cooking the crop rather than eating it raw. For sandwiches and salads, Gardener's Delight or Shirley will give you a better result for the same work. Many Irish growers use Moneymaker for passata and chutney and grow something sweeter for eating fresh.
Why does Moneymaker have a poor reputation for flavour?
It was selected around 1913 for commercial glasshouse yield, uniform size and shipping quality, at a time when flavour was not what growers were paid for. Those priorities are still visible in the fruit. It is not unpleasant, it is simply mild and slightly watery next to a modern cherry variety.
Can Moneymaker be grown outdoors in Ireland?
It can, but it was bred for glasshouses and it shows. Outdoors here it ripens late and is fully exposed to blight. If you have no cover, choose an early bush variety or a blight-resistant one instead.
More tomatoes to consider
Gardener's Delight
Open pollinated / Cherry, cordon
The safest first tomato for an Irish garden, and still one of the best tasting.
Growing notes and stockistsSungold F1
AGMF1 hybrid / Cherry, cordon
The best tasting tomato most people will ever eat, and worth the hybrid price.
Growing notes and stockistsShirley F1
AGMF1 hybrid / Medium salad, cordon
The variety to grow if your greenhouse is unheated and your summer is unreliable.
Growing notes and stockistsAlicante
Open pollinated / Medium salad, cordon
The most flexible old variety here, happy in a greenhouse or a sheltered outdoor bed.
Growing notes and stockists