Tomato varieties for the deep south Heat??

[mysidx]

I would love to try some different tomatoes, especially some heirloom varieties, I've tried Brandywine and Cherokee purple, and those have been hit or miss, whether it was wiped out by disease or the peak of summer (July/August) stopping them from producing fruit. If anyone has any suggestions or luck with a certain variety that would hold up in this environment, I would be much appreciative.

[Worth1]

Black plum did good for me as any of the smaller fruited tomatoes.
Other than that you have to start seed in late December and plant out in late february or early march.

When the heat sets in and the blooms start to fall off I cut the water off and let them die.

'Ya just aint gonna get a cool snap in June through September.

Another option is to plant early maturing and determinate tomatoes.

I know this hasn't helped a lot but with this information you can go to good seed sources listed here and look look look.

Worth

[mysidx]

Starting seed early sounds good, but you know how it is here around February, warm then freeze warm then freeze. I guess there's not much i can do about it. I'll keep looking and thanks for the tip.

[bonefish]

Originally Posted by mysidx

Starting seed early sounds good, but you know how it is here around February, warm then freeze warm then freeze. I guess there's not much i can do about it. I'll keep looking and thanks for the tip.

I live in Houston and what I did was transplant into pots in early Feb. and set out on the patio and if a freeze was coming, I just brought them inside. When it warmed up, out they went. Then in March I planted them in earthtainers. Now I've got plants full of tomatoes and 7' tall.

[b54red]

I set out some of my plants as early as I could but was hampered by the very cool greenhouse temps. My plants though seeded early just grew very slow due to lack of light and heat. I was finally able to set some out on March 16 and some more on March 19. The rest had to wait for my brocolli, cabbage, lettuce, Bussel Sprouts and rutabagas to finish so I had a place to put some more. I'm still setting out plants every time it cools off for a few days and just finished tilling up my last bed where carrots and broccoli just finished. I wish I still had my rabbit pen because I don't know what I'll do with 40 lbs of carrots. I'm still hoping the second half of the summer will be cooler than it is starting out and all of the late plantings will have a chance.

[Timbotide]

Hey Bill,

With all those carrots to eat sounds like you'll be making lots of cole slaw.
I would love to help you eat some if I was down there.

[newatthiskat]

I don't know too many that can produce during the hottest part of summer. I can tell you some that made it through so they could produce again. Pineapple has worked great for me. A tomato called Italian tomato tree. Atkinson, Pink Sweet. Pretty much if you can get hem through the hot part then they will start blooming again after the heat recedes some. I even did well with brandywine if they survived the summer
Kat

[mysidx]

How's the flavor of pineapple, I've never tried it? Is it a large fruit?

[panhandler]

Indian Stripe. Black Cherry. Last year the Indian Stripe lasted until early August for me and I live in your zone. I had one Black Cherry plant that made it through the whole summer.

Maybe over there in Louisiana, you could get some Creole. I heard those set in hot humid conditions.

[mysidx]

Yeah, Creoles were engineered by LSU for the environment. I just wanted to find something different and tastier than some around here. Yours and other suggestions have at least given me some ideas of what has worked down here, thank you.

[panhandler]

If you can find some Indian Stripe plants, I highly recommend them for the flavor. They're not the prettiest girls in the garden, but they taste as good as Cherokee Purple to me.

I found you a plant source online for them too http://northerntropics.mybisi.com/pr...urple-prolific

I've purchased Indian Stripe plants from them before and they were indeed prolific.

[b54red]

Our weather is about the same as yours. I have found the best method is to plant a lot of tomatoes and pull up the ones that are not doing good and replace them rather than try to nurse them through our heat and humidity. The hardest thing is to get some plants to live that are set out in the heat of June, July, and August; but they provide great fall tomatoes if you are lucky enough to have some live through the worst heat. I usually lose 4 out of 5 of the tomato plants that I set out in the middle of the summer so I always start seed for about 5 or 6 times as many plants as I need so that I can have plenty of replacements.

I stagger my plantings starting as early as possible and then try to set some out every 3 to 4 weeks right up til the end of August. It is a lot of work starting seed fairly often and keeping fresh seedlings available to replace the inevitable casualties of our heat and humidity. The later in the summer the planting, the tougher the plants need to be; so make sure to really harden them off well before setting them out in that harsh environment. If at all possible set them out during or right after a rain when the ground is a little cooler.


I found one thing by accident that seemed to really help in getting plants to set fruit during those very hot summer days. It kinda goes against a lot of the advice on growing tomatoes but I really pour the water to the plants during the blooming stage and up til the fruit get to the size that splitting will become a problem. I'm not talking about a normal watering but a very thorough soaking every 3 to 4 days. I had about givin up on one of my beds of tomatoes producing any more fruit last July so I pruned out the sick branches and gave the plants a good dose of Miracle Grow and turned on my soaker hoses. I forgot to turn off the hoses and left them running until the next afternoon. Needless to say I had a muddy mess and couldn't even get near the beds for a couple of days. The next week every one of the tomato plants that I had given up on set a bunch of new fruit even with the humidity near 100% and the temps hovering just below that. I kept watering the heck out of them during the heat wave we were enduring and didn't stop until the fruit got half grown. Since it worked on those plants I started doing that to all of my older plants that seemed to be finished producing and many of them made a nice comeback. Seems people aren't the only thing that need a lot of extra water during the heat of summer.

The OP tomatoes that have done the best for me during the hottest months of the summer are Indian Stripe, Marianna's Peace, Berkley Tie Dye Pink, Neves Azorean Red, Kosovo, Old Virginia, Mortgage Lifter, Mule Team, Linnies Oxheart, Black Krim, JDs Special C Tex, Bill's Berkley Pink, Stump of the World and surprisingly KBX. Of the Brandywines I have only had limited success. Last year I had one Cowlicks that did fairly good and Brandy Boy usually makes a crop every year. I'm also trying Sudduth's again this year along with OTV and Terhune.

I still plant some Big Beefs during the summer to assure me some fall tomatoes if all the others fail. It is one of the few tomatoes that stands an even chance of surviving a mid or late summer plant out.

[mysidx]

Thanks b54red, I may give that super soak a try. I feel better seeing the different varieties you have had success with and will definitely try some from your list. Sounds like Indian Stripe is very resilient, so I'll start there. Thanks again for all who replied.

[creister]

You could try Sioux and Super Sioux. I've had the best luck with Sioux. Some say Goose Creek is another one that likes the heat.

[stormymater]

I heartily second JD's Special C-Tex, Cherokee Purple, Sioux, Creole, KBX & NAR. Also have had good luck in our horrible heat & humidity with - Many of the cherries, Clint Eastwood's Rowdy Red, Andrew Rahart's Jumbo Red, Chesapeake, Old Brooks, Sunray, Flamme, Traveler, Arkansas Marvel, Ananas Noir, Carbon, Black Krim & Black from Tula.