Tomato varieties for the deep south Heat??

[mysidx]

I've had plants in the ground for two weeks now, do you think it is too late to add some of these varieties next week in a separate bed if I can find them at the local nursery?

[laspasturas]

I'd second Black Plum. It was our best producer last year, by far. They kept coming until the freeze killed them back. Black Cherry and White Currant were great, too.

If I remember right I heard that Big Cheef did well in hot climates where others suffered and did not set fruit.

[creister]

I would also try Eva Purple Ball, Red Brandywine, and Neves Azorean Red. All do well here in the heat.

[frankkj]

Originally Posted by mysidx

I've had plants in the ground for two weeks now, do you think it is too late to add some of these varieties next week in a separate bed if I can find them at the local nursery?

No it is not too late, but I wouldn't wait a whole lot longer. Unless you plant something like Solar Set, Solar Fire, you may run into a decrease in production due to the heat. Some years I've had heat troubles, some years I haven't.

Look at it this way. Gamble a little or lose a whole season.

Frank

[mysidx]

Originally Posted by frankkj

No it is not too late, but I wouldn't wait a whole lot longer. Unless you plant something like Solar Set, Solar Fire, you may run into a decrease in production due to the heat. Some years I've had heat troubles, some years I haven't.

Look at it this way. Gamble a little or lose a whole season.

Frank

Good point, thanks

During my fourteen years spent in Lake Charles, Louisiana, I learned quickly to plant out in mid February and protect if necessary. You not only face high mid summer heat, but you also face unbelievable humidity that literally drips off the tomato plants at night. I also learned the hybrid varieties available offered more disease resistance than most of the heirloom varieties. When I lived there, no one was even talking about heirlooms because there wasn't an internet. When July and August arrived, my plants usually simply died and I was never able to save them. I tried leaving the beds idle for the hottest months and replanting with some newly developed "hot weather" hybrids but even those couldn't survive the late summer humidity and disease.

Some folks have made some really good suggestions in the previous posts and hopefully some of those will work for you.

Ted

[mysidx]

Originally Posted by tedln

During my fourteen years spent in Lake Charles, Louisiana, I learned quickly to plant out in mid February and protect if necessary. You not only face high mid summer heat, but you also face unbelievable humidity that literally drips off the tomato plants at night. I also learned the hybrid varieties available offered more disease resistance than most of the heirloom varieties. When I lived there, no one was even talking about heirlooms because there wasn't an internet. When July and August arrived, my plants usually simply died and I was never able to save them. I tried leaving the beds idle for the hottest months and replanting with some newly developed "hot weather" hybrids but even those couldn't survive the late summer humidity and disease.

Some folks have made some really good suggestions in the previous posts and hopefully some of those will work for you.

Ted

You're right Ted, I'm new at this and started later than I wanted this year, and hope to plant early next year. Thanks to all who have replied, I've already learned quite a bit from here, and will continue to feed my brain with more tomato knowledge.

[Dewayne mater]

You got a ton of great replies and I agree with Tedln (and others). You will likely have to start from seed next year in order to have plants that are ready to go early enough for your micro climate. For me in N. Tx this year, I planted on March 10 (others were earlier) and got lucky in that I didn't even need to cover the plants up. Usually by going that early, I have to cover a night or two because of frost. That's how you have to play the game...i.e. go earlier than predicted average last frost. Otherwise, heat and humidity, and especially the combination of the two, will start to ruin the pollen and no more fruit will set, barring a freak cold front in summer time. You may want to search the topic of when to plant out and look for a post by moderator Suze. She has posted with some of the parameters of heat/humidity and especially night time temps that are the killers of fruit set. She has taught me (and I suspect most of us) so much that allows us to have success at this hobby.

Also, I think that some varieties do have more heat tolerance than others and that cherry tomatoes in particular seem to do better than beef steaks at tolerating heat.

As for this year...go for it. We may get decent production weather all the way up to June...it can happen! If it doesn't, you tried. Good luck. Happy tomatoing!

I always managed to have a good garden when I lived in Louisiana. I had to accept the fact that the mid summer months were not productive and many plants like tomatoes died early. I usually had a good fall garden, but without tomatoes.

Ted

[Suze]

In a southern zone 8, I think the single most important factor is timing of when you get your spring plants in.

There's not much of anything that is going to set for me all throughout the summer. Sure, there are a few "tricks" to extend the harvest a couple of weeks or so, like - using shade cloth, staggering your planting a bit (but not too much, you wait too late, and those later plantings aren't going to set much), keeping your plants as pest and disease free as possible (sick plants tend to set less and stress from disease affects fruit size, esp in a hot climate), heavy mulching (to keep soil temp cooler), watering only when necessary early on to drive the roots deep, and so on.

Sweet Quartz F1 (cherry) is one of the few that can dependably continue to set a fair amount of fruit all throughout the summer and only if I take very good care of the plant. That's here in my garden in the Bastrop/Austin area, your garden may be a bit different.

[Worth1]

This has been a horrible year for tomatoes. Hot real quick wind all of the time no rain.

I'm glad I didn't go to much trouble.

Its only April and what I do have the blooms are dropping.

Worth

Worth,

I'm on track in North Texas to have a great tomato year. My plants were planted on March 7 and have been growing and blooming since their feet touched the soil. They seem to really love the variable weather we have been having with mostly sunny days with nights down into the 50's and a few days already in the low 90's. I thought the wind would be a problem also with gusts up to sixty miles per hour, but it hasn't bothered them. I've only seen one dropped blossom and I think I knocked it off. I think the wind is only causing more blooms to pollinate than normal. Of course with this wind, the pollen may be coming from a neighbors garden ten miles down wind. The only concern I've had lately and through the upcoming summer is hailstorms, but I can't control that so I don't worry about it. Even a moderately successful year this year will be better than last years disaster. I hope your outlook improves.


Ted

[b54red]

I think that many of the tomatoes that die during the beginning of the intense heat cycle that we experience down here where the humidity is usually even higher than the temps is due to fusarium. Except for the tomatoes killed by TSWV, nematodes, and late blight almost all of mine were killed by fusarium wilt. Usually when I see the first nice tomato stem just wilt I know what is coming since I have been frustrated by the disease for over 30 years. Fusarium wilt usually kicks into high gear down here in May and continues til the soil cools down again in the fall.

I always lose a large number of seedlings set out later in the summer in the first couple of days after set out. I don't know for sure what kills them but I think many just cook in the overheated soil before they can become accustomed to it. That is why I like to set them out during a rainy time if at all possible when planting late. Last year we didn't have many rainy days so most of the plants I set out late didn't fair too well except for Big Beef and it suffered many early casualties as well. Besides the high loses in the initial plant out they still have to survive the fusarium problems as well as the many foliar diseases and pests that are in full swing at that time and the majority of them wont. There is not too much to do in the garden except pick hot peppers during those months so I keep trying to grow more tomatoes. It is a real challenge and it is rarely well rewarded. If I didn't have a greenhouse and the ability to grow a lot of seedlings I wouldn't attempt it if I had to buy my plants because the cost would be prohibitive.

Tomatoes are in general a hot weather plant that if not killed by something can usually survive some very intense heat. I will never say it is easy when plants are set out after mid April down here but many will survive. That is the reason I keep seedlings ready to replace many of the dying plants all summer long. Year before last my most productive set out date for tomatoes was mid June. About half of the plants I set out that year in June survived to be killed by a freeze in late December. Last year my most productive set out dates were as usual mid March and mid April; but I did have several plants that did very well when set out in May, June, July and even in early August. All of the plants that were productive that were set out in June and July were in a portion of my garden that gets some shade in the afternoon. Thanks to a friend on Tomatoville I am going to try some shade cloths this year and see if that increases the survival of the plants that I set out later. I just started around 30 varieties of seed for late May or June planting and I know before I start that most will never make a single tomato but the few that do can make it worthwhile. Last year I only had three weeks in early September when the temps were hovering over 100 that I didn't have any tomatoes at all to pick.

[sfmathews]

Ted I'm right there with you. This should be (fingers and toes crossed) the best spring I've had in some time. I planted earlier than I ever have, and thankfully, we didn't have a late freeze. And I agree, the wind seems to be helping pollination.