Do you grow tomato varieties chosen because your garden is hot??

dew · March 17, 2009

I don't mean hot as in 'attractive,' I mean hot as in the temps hit 90 in May and don't go much below that til the end of September.
I live in the blackland prairie area of Texas, and my potager faces west on a very busy street. The last couple of years, my best performing tomato has been Yellow Pear. It's so hot, cherry tomatoes do the best.
So I went to a local nursery that sells Seeds of Change packets, and bought Porter (Texan, but not available much commercially), Matt's Wild Cherry (Mexican,) and Zapotec (Mexican) tomato seeds.
I am growing seedlings of other tomatoes that are cherry, grape, paste, or of Mediterranean descent (matching the climate.)
Please share your success stories of tomato varieties that produce in the heat (I already know about growing two crops of early varieties.)

feldon30 · March 17, 2009

Had to Google it.

"The Texas Blackland Prairies are a temperate grassland ecoregion located in Texas that runs roughly from the Red River in North Texas to San Antonio in the south."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_blackland_prairies

Sounds like a large area including Dallas and San Antonio. It would be helpful to know a bit more specifics about where you live.

I don't believe in growing "heat setter" varieties. I start and plant my tomatoes as early as I can (I planted some Feb 18th and the rest March 5th), protecting them from cold weather and wind, harvesting most of my tomatoes the last week of May, and my tomato plants are pretty much spent by mid-July.

Suze · March 17, 2009

In general, timing of planting tends to be a more important factor than variety selection in Texas. At least, that is my experience.

I think regardless of where you are in the state, it is awfully late to be starting seeds - if I understand your post correctly. However, maybe you already started your seeds earlier, and are just wanting some variety suggestions for future reference. Depending on where you are at, the window of optimal planting time for transplants is coming to an end, or at best (if in the panhandle or other areas where the nights may stay cooler longer), you'll likely only have 2-3 more weeks to get transplants in and expect them to do much.

Also - nothing against "heatsetters" or hybrids (several so-called heatsetters tend to be hybrids, not all), but I have found even those will usually poop out and not set much or any fruit throughout a typical Texas summer.

Where are you located?

kwselke · March 17, 2009

I've either grown or helped grow tomatoes from Galveston Bay to Bryan, Texas. Most of my experience is in the heart of Houston. I currently grow on a small townhouse patio that is sweltering in the summer and only has direct sunlight from mid March to mid September. In a bad year the heat setting hybrids may provide a crop for me, but they are not much better than store bought. In a good year the heat setters taste better, but the other tomatoes taste better too and are abundant.

My personal selection of varieties for this year are New Big Dwarf, Super Sweet 100, First Lady, and Carnival. In addition to these varieties I grew Grape and Creole seedlings for other Houston gardeners that requested them. My retired doctor friend outside of College Station requests nothing but Celebrity for his garden and he always seems to have homegrown tomatoes from May to December. I start Celebrities to give him.

Timing and Mother Nature are what make good tomatoes in this part of TX. Plant early and have 'Plan B' plants in the wings until it gets really hot.

dew · March 18, 2009

I live in Plano. I have some seedlings already started, but the packs to which I referred are new (for my second planting season in fall).
I have Celebrity, Solar Fire, Small Fry, Better Boy, Cherokee Purple and Boxcar Willie plants. I have seedlings of Juliet, San Marzano, Large Red Cherry, Supersweet 100, Yellow Pear, Brandywine, Jubilee, Sweetie, and Rutgers.
I wanted to start some Matt's Wild Cherry and Sungold seeds now, if that is doable. I thought to leave Zapotec, Porter, and Super Marmande for the fall.
My choices are heavy on cherry/grape and paste choices; am I an idiot for being skeptical of the big beefsteaks? Also, if the variety succeeds in spring is it likely to do well in fall? I have read about sowing 'keepers' as a fall planting; none of what I have is on the keeper lists.

Thank you all for your thoughts and suggestions.

feldon30 · March 18, 2009

Suze grew nearly 100 tomato plants in Dallas/Ft Worth and had no problem getting large beefsteaks or production out of any other varieties for that matter. She certainly did not limit herself to heat setters and cherry tomatoes.

The secret?

Starting seeds the last week of December to the first week of January
Growing healthy seedlings under fluorescent grow lights 16 hours a day
Feeding the seedlings with a 1/2 strength fertilizer after 1st set of true leaves
Hardening off the seedlings by exposing them to full shade and then gradually to sunlight (5 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, etc.) over the period of 1 week
Planting March 7-14th
Being prepared to protect plants in containers by rolling them into the garage if overnight temps < 40 are predicted.
Being prepared to protect plants in the ground with blankets, sheets, row cover installed during the day to trap heat if overnight temps < 40 are protected.
Well-amended garden beds with 2-3 inches of compost the 1st year, 1-2 inches each subsequent year
Substantial fertilization mixed into the soil at planting out, and then repeat fertilization when plants are loading up with tomatoes and in their heaviest fruitset

dew · March 18, 2009

Thank you for the secret

now I can plan my next winter break -
I had to laugh at your 'be prepared' suggestions, as I thought my neighbors would call code enforcement on me for all those ugly ratty blankets that were covering tomatoes, peppers, and basils last week.

feldon30 · March 18, 2009

You can still plant tomatoes this week. If you find yourself at a Calloway's around Plano or Dallas and find some interesting tomato varieties, I'd go for it.

I added 2 more "secrets" above.

dew · March 18, 2009

You are a mindreader - I was at Calloway's yesterday, that is where Cherokee Purple and Boxcar Willie came from

Your extra secrets are points well taken, I am setting up a good sized compost heap...I plan to swipe my neighbor's leftover leaves in the fall, since leaves have made great mulch and mold for me this year. If I put them in the composter, who is the wiser?
And the wallyworld cashier this morning sold me a nine pack of Bradley tomatoes for a buck and a half (they were a little limp from crummy watering by the weekend shift) so I bet I have more tomatoes now that we can possibly eat.

Now I have to go fertilize

March 17, 2009	#1
dew Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Texas Posts: 27	Do you grow tomato varieties chosen because your garden is hot?? I don't mean hot as in 'attractive,' I mean hot as in the temps hit 90 in May and don't go much below that til the end of September. I live in the blackland prairie area of Texas, and my potager faces west on a very busy street. The last couple of years, my best performing tomato has been Yellow Pear. It's so hot, cherry tomatoes do the best. So I went to a local nursery that sells Seeds of Change packets, and bought Porter (Texan, but not available much commercially), Matt's Wild Cherry (Mexican,) and Zapotec (Mexican) tomato seeds. I am growing seedlings of other tomatoes that are cherry, grape, paste, or of Mediterranean descent (matching the climate.) Please share your success stories of tomato varieties that produce in the heat (I already know about growing two crops of early varieties.)

March 17, 2009	#2
feldon30 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 5,346	Had to Google it. "The Texas Blackland Prairies are a temperate grassland ecoregion located in Texas that runs roughly from the Red River in North Texas to San Antonio in the south." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_blackland_prairies Sounds like a large area including Dallas and San Antonio. It would be helpful to know a bit more specifics about where you live. I don't believe in growing "heat setter" varieties. I start and plant my tomatoes as early as I can (I planted some Feb 18th and the rest March 5th), protecting them from cold weather and wind, harvesting most of my tomatoes the last week of May, and my tomato plants are pretty much spent by mid-July. __________________ [SIZE="3"]I've relaunched my gardening website -- [B]TheUnconventionalTomato.com[/B][/SIZE] * [I][SIZE="1"]*I'm not allowed to post weblinks so you'll have to copy-paste it manually.[/SIZE][/I]

March 17, 2009	#3
Suze Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Texas Posts: 3,027	In general, timing of planting tends to be a more important factor than variety selection in Texas. At least, that is my experience. I think regardless of where you are in the state, it is awfully late to be starting seeds - if I understand your post correctly. However, maybe you already started your seeds earlier, and are just wanting some variety suggestions for future reference. Depending on where you are at, the window of optimal planting time for transplants is coming to an end, or at best (if in the panhandle or other areas where the nights may stay cooler longer), you'll likely only have 2-3 more weeks to get transplants in and expect them to do much. Also - nothing against "heatsetters" or hybrids (several so-called heatsetters tend to be hybrids, not all), but I have found even those will usually poop out and not set much or any fruit throughout a typical Texas summer. Where are you located? Last edited by Suze; March 17, 2009 at 11:17 PM. Reason: adding more details

March 18, 2009	#6
feldon30 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 5,346	Suze grew nearly 100 tomato plants in Dallas/Ft Worth and had no problem getting large beefsteaks or production out of any other varieties for that matter. She certainly did not limit herself to heat setters and cherry tomatoes. The secret? Starting seeds the last week of December to the first week of January Growing healthy seedlings under fluorescent grow lights 16 hours a day Feeding the seedlings with a 1/2 strength fertilizer after 1st set of true leaves Hardening off the seedlings by exposing them to full shade and then gradually to sunlight (5 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, etc.) over the period of 1 week Planting March 7-14th Being prepared to protect plants in containers by rolling them into the garage if overnight temps < 40 are predicted. Being prepared to protect plants in the ground with blankets, sheets, row cover installed during the day to trap heat if overnight temps < 40 are protected. Well-amended garden beds with 2-3 inches of compost the 1st year, 1-2 inches each subsequent year Substantial fertilization mixed into the soil at planting out, and then repeat fertilization when plants are loading up with tomatoes and in their heaviest fruitset __________________ [SIZE="3"]I've relaunched my gardening website -- [B]TheUnconventionalTomato.com[/B][/SIZE] * [I][SIZE="1"]*I'm not allowed to post weblinks so you'll have to copy-paste it manually.[/SIZE][/I]

March 18, 2009	#8
feldon30 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 5,346	You can still plant tomatoes this week. If you find yourself at a Calloway's around Plano or Dallas and find some interesting tomato varieties, I'd go for it. I added 2 more "secrets" above. __________________ [SIZE="3"]I've relaunched my gardening website -- [B]TheUnconventionalTomato.com[/B][/SIZE] * [I][SIZE="1"]*I'm not allowed to post weblinks so you'll have to copy-paste it manually.[/SIZE][/I]

March 17, 2009	#4
kwselke Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 172	I've either grown or helped grow tomatoes from Galveston Bay to Bryan, Texas. Most of my experience is in the heart of Houston. I currently grow on a small townhouse patio that is sweltering in the summer and only has direct sunlight from mid March to mid September. In a bad year the heat setting hybrids may provide a crop for me, but they are not much better than store bought. In a good year the heat setters taste better, but the other tomatoes taste better too and are abundant. My personal selection of varieties for this year are New Big Dwarf, Super Sweet 100, First Lady, and Carnival. In addition to these varieties I grew Grape and Creole seedlings for other Houston gardeners that requested them. My retired doctor friend outside of College Station requests nothing but Celebrity for his garden and he always seems to have homegrown tomatoes from May to December. I start Celebrities to give him. Timing and Mother Nature are what make good tomatoes in this part of TX. Plant early and have 'Plan B' plants in the wings until it gets really hot.

March 18, 2009	#7
dew Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Texas Posts: 27	Thank you for the secret now I can plan my next winter break - I had to laugh at your 'be prepared' suggestions, as I thought my neighbors would call code enforcement on me for all those ugly ratty blankets that were covering tomatoes, peppers, and basils last week.