my average temps and heirloom aspirations
 

Hi! I hope I can type at M's new site without ads to entertain me!

My first four or five years of experience with heirlooms has been dreadful. Here's why. Here are our average temps, courtesy of the U.S. weather bureau coop station just 2 miles down our road:

May 53.6
June 61.7
July 66
August 64.5
Sept. 56.4

Plus we're on the side of a windy - very windy - hill at 1600 feet, hanging above the Boonville Gorge.

Last frost is May 15th, and first is on average Oct. 2. But believe me, nothing that ripens after Labor Day is worth eating. The gel is cloudy and the fruits taste watery, muddy, flat, or just off.

Carolyn, if you're here, I've gotten the average temps for your current location, in case you or anyone else can tell me the implications of 3 degrees difference on average per month when it comes to a juicy heirloom or not:

May 56.2
June 64.7
July 69.2
Aug. 66.8
Sept. 58.5

So I guess the question is, what early heirlooms might ripen before Labor Day under my conditions? I don't mean small ones, such as Matina or Kimberly, or terminally weird or controversial ones such as Silvery Fir Tree. I mean full-sizers. We've tried Brandwine Sudduth, Red Brandywine, Reif Red Heart, and others, and no dice. Among hybrids, Early Girl, Early Pick, UltraSweet, and Northern Exposure are DELIGHTFUL here. But as for later ones, main season types, we can't even get decent Better Boys, Pink Girls, Jet Stars, or Park's Whoppers.

Thanks again, M!!

And I thought I had it rough this far south! I can't get any decent yields here due to extreme heat/humidity...blossom drop is the worst problem, followed closely by blights, fungus, armies of bugs..etc..but wow. I never considered not getting ENOUGH heat to ripen tomatoes! It's always something, isn't it?

You mentioned wind problems. Is it possible to plant some sort of wind breaker shrubs/trees/whatever to help with that? Something that wouldn't hog the sunlight, of course....

As for varieties, I am WAY too much of a novice at this to comment on that. But I'll be interested to see what others suggest.

Best wishes for a more favorable season this year! I wish I could send some heat up your way...Goodness knows we have more than we know what to do with! :)

Jennifer

Jennifer,

Great idea about the windbreak. I've used something called, up here, a "snow fence," which is a plastic chest-high fence that allows some air and light through. A snow fence is made to be placed alongside a driveway to keep snow from drifting across the drive. But it also slows wind when placed next to a row of tomato plants, without totally blocking light. It did help some the years I've used it, and will use it again this year.

I can't imagine too much heat, hehhehheh. Or inability to set fruit due to too much heat.

Off the top of my head, I'm guessing some heirlooms that might work better up here than the late season monsters I've been trying are such things as Pruden's Purple (I've tried it but should give it another couple of shots), Anna Russian, Gregori's Altai, Orange Queen USDA, Cherokee Chocolate/Purple, BUT - - - Pruden's Purple, Stupice, and Matina here don't taste any better than a Better Boy or a Jet Star, and they have lower production, so I'm wondering, Why bother?

Although a lifetime of Early Girls pretty much takes me away from the tomato hobby, a hobby I'd like to cultivate without having to move to, where?

Not SC, apparently!!

Best,
=gregg=

You could try Polish.

from Tomato Growers Supply Company

"Polish #5417 (30 seeds) $2.10
Large, brick-red fruit grows to 1 lb. and more and has exquisite flavor. Vigorous plants set fruit well even in cool weather. Heirloom variety from Poland. Indeterminate. 85 days. "

Lots of varieties of perfectly adequate size mature here and I'm in zone 4 on top of a mountain so it's even colder. Locals talk (boast) about snow on June 2.

Knowing the lack of success in this area for growing tomatoes, and told by someone who knows far more than I do that the only thing that would help would be a greenhouse, I looked for tomatoes that come from an area with a similar climate to mine. That meant nothing from Arkansas or Viriginia, points south. I chose varieties from Eastern Europe and they were very successful for me here. I saw the expert a few weeks ago and she raved about the tomatoes she got from the plants I forced on her. I forced plants on lots of people and everyone said they outproduced whatever standbys/hybrids they had always grown and grew next to mine.

This year I'm going to expand and experiment a little but all the varieties I'm depending upon are non-beefsteak Eastern European.

I'm sure almost anything from Andrey's very extensive list would be happy at your house.

Barb

How much sun are your plants getting? You probably already know this, but they really need at least 6 hrs a day.

Tim

greggf wrote:
Here are our average temps, courtesy of the U.S. weather bureau coop station just 2 miles down our road:

May 53.6
June 61.7
July 66
August 64.5
Sept. 56.4

gregg,
are these your average daily temperatures or average daily maximum temperatures?

I just looked mine up, and ADT & ADMaxT (in F degrees, and I had to convert all these!) for near me are:

Apr 47.8 56.1
May 53.2 61.9
Jun 57.9 66.7
Jul 61.5 71.4
Aug 61.5 71.6
Sep 57.2 66.9

So are you better off than me or worse off than me??
~jan

PS How does one format lists on this board? "Tab" takes you right out of the post, and all my "spaces" to make my lists clearer have disappeared in the Preview pane!