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Old July 4, 2011   #1
J Peazy
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Default Heat tolerance

What makes a tomato variety heat tolerant?

Is the pollen of these varieties less likely to be sterile at high temps or does it have to do with something like blossom shape or shade from foliage?

Thanks in advance.
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Old July 4, 2011   #2
Stepheninky
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Quote:
Originally Posted by J Peazy View Post
What makes a tomato variety heat tolerant?

Is the pollen of these varieties less likely to be sterile at high temps or does it have to do with something like blossom shape or shade from foliage?

Thanks in advance.
D. All of the above plus there could be other genetic traits as well. Such as drought tolerance, or in humid areas resistances could play a role as well. Also the growth habit some tomatoes have a more airy growth habit verses compact growth habit. The airy habit could help the plant not be as susceptible to fungus issues for example.
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Old July 5, 2011   #3
Direct Sunlight
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My experience is limited, but from what I can tell "heat tolerant" or "sets fruit at high temps" means a few days at most, on either side of the heat of mid-summer. So I guess there's truth in labelling but it doesn't make as much a difference as it might seem.

I know I'm not heat-tolerant. This afternoon saw the winter squash leaves wilting. That pretty much reflected how I felt, so I headed back to the AC.

Last edited by Direct Sunlight; July 5, 2011 at 02:56 AM. Reason: unnecessary word
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Old July 5, 2011   #4
J Peazy
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Originally Posted by Direct Sunlight View Post
My experience is limited, but from what I can tell "heat tolerant" or "sets fruit at high temps" means a few days at most, on either side of the heat of mid-summer. So I guess there's truth in labelling but it doesn't make as much a difference as it might seem.

I know I'm not heat-tolerant. This afternoon saw the winter squash leaves wilting. That pretty much reflected how I felt, so I headed back to the AC.
My experience is limited also. Our weather may not be as extreme as yours, but I have a Jet Star that set fruit heavily during about 3 weeks of mid ninety temps. Pretty much everything else was dropping blossoms.

I noticed a real difference.

I have also seen praise from Southern market growers for Solar Fire on these boards and others. It can't be all marketing can it?
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Old July 5, 2011   #5
travis
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I used to assume that heat tolerance for pollination resulted from breeders carefully selecting for recombination of genes to establish heat tolerant breeding lines. And I thought maybe the breeders were using cherry tomatoes, or wild tomatoes to build those characteristics.

But because I've found heat tolerance both in heirloom varieties with large, fasciated blossoms, in hybrid varieties specifically bred for heat tolerance, and in open pollinated commercial varieties with nice, tight anther cones, some intentionally bred for heat tolerance and some appearing to enjoy heat tolerance serendipitously, I now assume heat tolerance for pollination must result from various gene combinations that run through all sorts of ancient and modern varieties.

For example, Indian Stripe, KBX, Green Giant, Daniels, Red Brandywine, and other heirloom types I could name seem to be just as heat tolerant for pollination as do Bradley, Traveler '76, Gulf State Market, Celebrity, Top Gun, and Amelia, just to name a few advertised to be heat resistant.

So, I don't know how to address the question except by trial and error.
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Old July 5, 2011   #6
b54red
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I can add a few more to the list of heat tolerant. The biggest surprise was a Brandywine Terhune that was set out on May 7 and set about a half dozen tomatoes so far even though temps were topping 100 during the time they set. Black Krim usually sets good in high heat as well as Andrew Raharts. Spudakee is actually setting even more than Indian Stripe. Fish Lake Oxheart is also setting some in the high heat. Red Barn is setting but not like in the spring.

A lot of plants seem to set some in the high heat but so many blossoms just fall off that the numbers are not nearly what they would set in cooler temps. The other disadvantage of growing during the hottest months is that the fruit don't get nearly as large; but that is off set to me by the improved taste.
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Old July 5, 2011   #7
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Many years ago I read in some magazine (possibly Organic Gardening) that the gene for cold tolerance is the same gene for heat tolerance. I don't know how true that is and there may be more than 1 gene involved.

But what the article was mentioning was the fact that some varieties known for being better in cool areas like the PNW would also do better in hot areas.

I don't know if anyone has noticed any correlation as most "cold" tolerant varieties are small fruited earlies that aren't all that popular when the full sized varieties come in. But for you guys doing "second gardens" during hot times, it might be worth trying a couple.

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