What tomato varieties are you growing?

[BreanneRN]

Anyone have any suggestions for heat tolerant tomatoes? My strategy here is to plant early (if using seed, that means in the house in January), plant at the end of February, protect from any late frosts, and hope they set fruit before it gets too hot, which here can happen anytime from end of March to June... Little to no humidity here by June, so watering gets to be a daily thing. Another complication is very sandy soil, which requires constant watering, but then leaches out all the soil nutrients. Thinking of trying that Utah volcanic dirt... But isn't shipping kind of expensive? I am closer since I live in California, but shipping is expensive. Growing in pots now, to help with these problems and also keep gophers and other pests clear. This year I have tomatoes, some years with early heat it's a fail.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Anyone have any suggestions for heat tolerant tomatoes? My strategy here is to plant early (if using seed, that means in the house in January), plant at the end of February, protect from any late frosts, and hope they set fruit before it gets too hot, which here can happen anytime from end of March to June... Little to no humidity here by June, so watering gets to be a daily thing. Another complication is very sandy soil, which requires constant watering, but then leaches out all the soil nutrients. Thinking of trying that Utah volcanic dirt... But isn't shipping kind of expensive? I am closer since I live in California, but shipping is expensive. Growing in pots now, to help with these problems and also keep gophers and other pests clear. This year I have tomatoes, some years with early heat it's a fail.

I would plant in pots, provide shade and be ready to pull into a garage or even the house.

We get 100+° often here and little to no rain all summer. I mix miracle grow potting soil in my mater holes but we have clay so it's like a pot.

Maybe keep the pots cooler by burying them at least half way in the sandy dirt.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Last year we grew Roma and this year we have “Red Cherry, large fruited” “Better Boy hybrid”, and Black Krim which I think is an heirloom, all started from seed. Then we bought 2 each of Brandywine Pink and Marriage ‘Genuwine’ which is a cross between Brandywine and something else, then my dad got a free Big Boy when he bought something at the hardware store. So yeah. Do they interbreed if you have them too close? Ours are all probably too close but I don’t mind haha

Also I was so careful about labeling the trays and what was in each tray, each row, what seed starter was used, etc. etc. but then when I transplanted them to pots (garden wasn’t ready yet but were outgrowing trays), I completely forgot to keep track of what was what and now I have no idea what is what... so it will be a surprise.

The only ones I know for sure are the Brandywine varieties because those 4 are in pots with the tags in the pot and the Big Boy because that has a tag. The rest I really hope I got some of each variety lol

Here is what the label says for my genuwine

 

[Susan12]

Heirloom yellow,Amish paste,hillbilly,some canning tomatoes I forget the name of.

 

[R2elk]

Anyone have any suggestions for heat tolerant tomatoes? My strategy here is to plant early (if using seed, that means in the house in January), plant at the end of February, protect from any late frosts, and hope they set fruit before it gets too hot, which here can happen anytime from end of March to June... Little to no humidity here by June, so watering gets to be a daily thing. Another complication is very sandy soil, which requires constant watering, but then leaches out all the soil nutrients. Thinking of trying that Utah volcanic dirt... But isn't shipping kind of expensive? I am closer since I live in California, but shipping is expensive. Growing in pots now, to help with these problems and also keep gophers and other pests clear. This year I have tomatoes, some years with early heat it's a fail.

I am sure there are heat tolerant regular sized tomatoes but don't know which ones they are. As far as a cherry tomato that is a heat lover, Gold Nugget is a yellow cherry tomato that thrives in heat. My greenhouse gets between 100°F and 120°F daily in the summer. Gold Nugget is the only tomato that I have ever had that not only blooms in those temperatures but also sets fruit and brings them full term to absolutely delicious tomatoes. The other side of that is that Gold Nugget will die at the first touch of frost no matter how light it is.

Depending on what part of California you are in, there are some stores there that do carry azomite. If you order it from Amazon the shipping is free because what they charge for a 44 lb. bag is higher than the minimum required for free shipping.

 

[Hamiam]

Too bad about that, I considered trying the Blue Berries as well (I got the same catalog) but only wanted one cherry type, so I ended up skipping the blue types.

Please share which cherry tomato you went with & how they are doing. I plant everything from seed in my grow tent. I Decided to go with all heirlooms this year & save seeds. I can save some of the blue berry seeds for you so you can try them next year. (PM me if you’d like) I don’t plan on saving any for myself. I don’t use valuable garden space for vegetables I don’t love. Right now, I look at my sweet corn & think, “that’s all I planted! Have I gone mad?”

 

[rosemarythyme]

Please share which cherry tomato you went with & how they are doing. I plant everything from seed in my grow tent. I Decided to go with all heirlooms this year & save seeds. I can save some of the blue berry seeds for you so you can try them next year. (PM me if you’d like) I don’t plan on saving any for myself. I don’t use valuable garden space for vegetables I don’t love. Right now, I look at my sweet corn & think, “that’s all I planted! Have I gone mad?”

I'll send you a PM. This year I am growing Napa Chardonnay Blush from the Baker Creek catalog. I gave most my starts to my mother in law, but the plant I kept is doing well while not fruiting yet. I guess I'll have to re-post on this thread once it does, along with my impressions.

Previous years I grew Sun Gold but I wanted to branch out and try something else with the new beds I put in this year.

Gotta say I'm jealous of your extensive veggie garden! I have 3 raised 4x8 beds at this time. Thinking of expanding to 6 next year, though that might be a bit much for 2 people to eat through.

 

[BreanneRN]

I haven't tried the Russian green tomato. I'm trying a new heirloom named "Green Giant". Hoping to can a lot of green tomato relish. View attachment 1441351 Here is a unwanted guest to my green tomatoe plants!

View attachment 1441352

eewww, I HATE unwanted guests! Will turkeys eat them??? So far, I haven't had any this year, but I know they are coming... I clip a wooden clothespin behind their heads and pull them off...

 

[BreanneRN]

I am sure there are heat tolerant regular sized tomatoes but don't know which ones they are. As far as a cherry tomato that is a heat lover, Gold Nugget is a yellow cherry tomato that thrives in heat. My greenhouse gets between 100°F and 120°F daily in the summer. Gold Nugget is the only tomato that I have ever had that not only blooms in those temperatures but also sets fruit and brings them full term to absolutely delicious tomatoes. The other side of that is that Gold Nugget will die at the first touch of frost no matter how light it is.

Depending on what part of California you are in, there are some stores there that do carry azomite. If you order it from Amazon the shipping is free because what they charge for a 44 lb. bag is higher than the minimum required for free shipping.

Thanks for the tips! I will have to try Gold Nugget, and maybe some of those that seem to do well in the Napa area, Napa gets pretty hot in the summer, too. I am in the southern central valley area on top of 10 feet of alluvial sand... But I have great drainage! My strategy has been to plant drought tolerant then water daily during every heat wave... Even natives can fail here, but some things do make it... Long learning curve to figure it all out though. Thanks for the help...

 

[R2elk]

Thanks for the tips! I will have to try Gold Nugget, and maybe some of those that seem to do well in the Napa area, Napa gets pretty hot in the summer, too. I am in the southern central valley area on top of 10 feet of alluvial sand... But I have great drainage! My strategy has been to plant drought tolerant then water daily during every heat wave... Even natives can fail here, but some things do make it... Long learning curve to figure it all out though. Thanks for the help...

I used to mix in my horse's droppings every year but that is no longer an option since he died. I tried the neighbor's manure but it was extremely hot because of the urine and very high in weed seed. The last few years I have been planting my tomatoes and peppers in potting soil by digging a hole and dumping the bag of potting soil in the hole, mixing in some azomite and putting the plant in the middle. It greatly helps hold the water and the plants did really good. The plants did grow less roots because of not wanting to leave the richness of the potting soil. This year I am trying 2 sacks of potting soil per tomato plant to encourage more root growth. The plants are looking good so far.