Red, As I said above, Solar Fire has no N Resistance at all - totally vulnerable. Production depends on a lot of variables between growers - soil, climate, pH, general horticultural practices of individual gardeners and especially nutrients. SF is a perfect fit here, as long as we still have N-free soil left!
Our sales rep at Clifton Seed in GA said that the Amelia growers in his SE territory all staked and pruned them (it's a real big plant for a determinate - 5 ft), and got a marginally passable product that way. We didn't prune. These were growers that were devastated by TSWV at the time and they were desperate. Clifton no longer handles Amelia - neither does Twilley. Too may complaints. The breeders (Harris Moran) created an iron-clad disease package, but they lost too much in the process.
I have planted various beefsteak-type varieties in past years - all indeterminates - but my standard in those days was Better Boy, which has good N resistance until the soil gets warm - the resistance breaks down completely at about 85 degrees. It's the same gene in all N varieties and I've never noticed much difference between them in that regard - they all succumb to the nems in July here, and sometimes as early as May before we have picked a single one!.
It's not feasible for us to use vining indeterminates for our project tomatoes because of the horrendous labor demands (support, pruning). I plant some Better Boy for my own family. They are generally better tomatoes, they tell me, but I personally don't eat tomatoes much - maybe a very thin slice on a hamburger.
We had a problem with TSWV a few years back, and that's why we planted Amelia. We also planted Bella Rosa, one called "Top Gun" and Talladega. Top Gun wasn't too good - ripening problems like Amelia. Talledega is, IMO, the best quality of all the TSWV cultivars, but no N resistance. We finally got rid of the Western Flower Thrip that vectors the disease by killing every flowering plant on the place, including neighboring pastures.
Jack
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