[DonDuck]

I planted some Heatmaster tomatoes in the 110 degree F weather of this summer. Most of my spring planted tomatoes had already produced and wilted in the heat. I planted the Heatmaster hybrid tomatoes after removing the dead plants. I was very surprised to see them blooming in the heat and bright sunlight. They quickly produced tiny tomatoes which started growing larger. The plants were quickly loaded with growing tomatoes. I had two plants which were partially shaded by two very tall pepper plants. Those shaded plants didn't produce as well as the plants growing in the full heat and full sun. I also didn't lose a single plant to diseases which had plagued me with my spring plantings.


I kept thinking they can't be the perfect tomato so they will probably taste horrible. I ate my first red ripe tomato today and it was delicious. I've seen it described as sweet, but the tomato I ate had that old fashioned acidic flavor which I adore.


The tomato has an orange color phase where they turn bright orange on the vine. I kept wondering if the orange color meant they are ripe. I left the orange tomatoes on the vine and they slowly turned bright red. I will be picking tomatoes into late fall from these plants. The tomatoes have shown no tendency towards BER or cracking and remain perfectly shaped and smooth. We had seven inches of rain in two days last week. Some of the tomatoes were showing signs of ripening in the rain, but not even one tomato cracked.


They are a hybrid determinate. I expected all of the tomatoes to ripen at the same time. They haven't. The plants have some full sized tomatoes and some tiny green tomatoes. I will be harvesting over an extended period. The plants seem to have acheived their full height at about four feet and they do not seem to want to spread in their cages.




I will definitely grow them next year.