I need some suggestions as I'd like to get some seeds started soon and all the seed stock I have happens to be for northern gardens (Montana). I keep hearing how it gets too hot for them to grow here and to think up north our problem was it never got hot enough. We had high hopes of getting a tomato or two before the first freeze, which was usually Sept. 20th.
Thanks!
Tomato suggestions for our hot summers needed. . .
There are a number of vegetable growers closer to you who may have suggestions. Generally the recommendations I have received from TAMU's AgriLife are for early maturing and small sized tomato varieties and to stay away from the beef steak types as they take too long to start blooming and to produce fruit. You might check with your local AgriLife agent for a list of varieties best for your area.
Several discussions about this very topic on the tomato gardening and veg gardening forum. I'm fairly new to Texas and it is very hard for me to give up some of my tried and true beefsteaks that did so well up north for me--but not really so well here. However, I am trying out some determinates (I've always grow the indeterminates) this year. Several folk have also suggested Prudens Purple to me. That could be Pruden's Purple--I'm not quite awake yet. Seems like anything with Arkansas in the name also has good results in the South. I like to try different tomato varieties every year so eventually I should come up with several that work in my little neck of the woods. Its an adventure! Hope your adventure is as fun as mine....
Plant them early is my suggestion and hope for "typical" weather, what ever that is. I have had problems with spider mites most summers too. It's not easy to me but I do have friends who grow great tomatoes here, guess I am still learning how. Last summer I planted some that were supposed to be more heat tolerant. Do not remember the names but bought them as plants not seeds.
C
I had great luck with my tomatoes last year......except for tomato hornworms. I battled those voracious pests for months. I'm not sure what it would take to get rid of them, a nuclear attack might do it, but I'm not even positive of that. At least they do turn into neat hummingbird moths after eating all my tomatoes. The varieties I planted that did well were Sweet 100, Little Husky, Celebrity, Big Boy and Early Girl. With these 5 types, I had tomatoes over a longer season since they ripened at different times. I'm going to try a couple of new ones this season. I usually try one new one each season. Sometimes they become peranent additions, other times, just a temp. Now, if I can just stay ahead of the worms this year! I've also made a spot to add some speckled butterbeans. Replace some of those semi tropical plants that didn't survive with edibles!
Crow
crowelli, what is your "temp's" name?
Also, a friend has suggested I get some ducks to help with the "nasty" bugs in my garden. Once I get the garden going I'm really thinking about it. I think I might need a kiddie pool and some runner ducks. Do you have room for a couple of crested runner ducks? How can you resist =:~o! On the other hand I really do like those hummingbird moths......
No to ducks for me. I have a swimming pool in the back garden and I'd really hate to have to clean duck poop out of the pool every morning before I swim my laps! Now for you, adding a kiddy pool might be just the thing.
I don't have a temp name this year as yet. I try a new one each year. Some of them have replaced other earlier attemps, others just get discarded altogether. I find a lot of the larger tomatoes tend to split for me. Some have excellent flavor, but the splitting is a problem. This year I had enough that I picked quite a few green ones and made chow-chow and still had plenty left to eat ripe ones. My family will not eat store bought tomatoes. My youngest son said he "didn't like tomatoes" until he tasted a fresh one. He thought I'd been holding out on him and eating the good ones myself. Silly boy!
If you go for the ducks, let me know how that works out. Those tomato hornworms are tough for me to see and I wonder if the ducks eyesight is better and if they could spot them all. Of course, cleaning up the duck poo would be icky no matter what. I think I'd rather pick off the worms! I may make a planting in a isolated corner of the yard and move the hornworms to that one plant. I do like the moths, just hate seeing my tasty tomatoes demolished and those worms eat A LOT!
Crow
You know, I saw humming bird moths on my brugs but never saw the worms on the tomatoes. Wonder how I could have missed them? I tried celebrety last year and liked that one.
C
Newton, if those critters had been on your tomatoes, you'd have known it! They are really huge too; about 3 to 4 inches long and at least 1/2" diameter. They eat the leaves and huge chunks out of the green tomatoes. They tend to hide under the leaves during the day and come out at dusk. They also overwinter in the soil so you get a fresh batch just as your new tomatoes are taking off in the spring. Here's a site with info and pics of them at the different stages.
http://www.vegedge.umn.edu/vegpest/hornworm.htm
Crow
You may want to try the tomato forum there are many threads there about tomatoes in the South. Last year Mortgage Lifter (a Beefsteak type) did great here. Over 30 1lb fruit at one time.
I'm keeping ducks on my agenda but not for a couple of years. Most insects are OK with me, but those tomato horn worms creep me out! Can't say why, just one of those things. Good point about the duck poo! I'm researching into easily containable ducks.
Mortgage lifter is on my top five list and I'll second the motion. If you like yellow tomatoes, then check for Nebraska Wedding. I had good luck with that variety--but in a container. Am trying it in ground this year. It was always a good producer for me up north and can take heat pretty well.
Well I am certain my plants didn't have them but I did enjoy seeing the moths around my angel trumpets at night. I had better success with tomatoes in large tubs, especially in the fall. Thinking it is my soil and the extreme heat that keep them producing well. I plan on using shade cloth during the hottest parts of the summer to see if that will help.
Cheryl
BTW...making notes on new types to try
Speaking of tomato hornworms -- I know they love 'Texas grown' tomatoes, but while living in Montana and growing tomotoes, I never saw a tomato worm. But strangely, it was while living in MT that I saw my first Hummingbird Moth. It is hard for me to like that particular moth, knowing they started out as a tomato plant killer.
Thanks for all the tomato suggestions -- I'm still drooling over varieties in all the catelogs. I need to make some decisions! And order! And get seeds started!
I think that maybe the best all around is one you must have grown up in Montana the old stand-by Early Girl I grow it here in SE Oklahoma and 2 of my friends way down in South Louisiana grow it as well I have had some luck with Lemon Boy and if we have a July of persistent rain then it is pick as soon as they show pink otherwise the rain and heat together just causes havoc...
Thanks Grits, I'll add those two to my "check out more throughly" list. I am determined to get these things ordered today. . . or tomorrow. . .
The thing about Early Girl is you can find plants for it at Garden centers all around this country ..been growing "maters " for 40 years and when the early girl was introduced it changed every thing about Tomato growing for home gardeners
I'd like to make a suggestion "Parks Whopper" if you can find them I have grown them for the last three years and out of four or five plants I couldn't keep up with the tomatos. Two years ago they grew up over the tallest baskets I could find ( and a bunch of 6' stakes) back down to the ground and across the raised bed and up the garden fence and all I used was cow manure and a little MG I picked tomatos every day and I like fried green tomatos.We canned as many as we could and gave a bunch away. If you trim the they will make huge fruit. I just let mine grow and take what I get. Just my 2 cents worth. Last year I got some plants from Walmart and some from our own seeds.I also like Brandywine their a pumpkin shaped tomato and very rich tasteing.
Parks Whopper -- hm-m-m-m. I'll give it some thought. My real desire for tomatoes is tor making spagetti sauce and pizza sauce. Almost afraid to get those big beefsteak tomatoes -- too juicy.
I love tomatoes, but they love to aggrevate my joints. So I tend to avoid eating them fresh -- if I can! My family eats a lot of spagetti sauce stuff, so I thought I'd plant for that reason and of course, I need to plant some little sweet things for the kids to snack on.
Thanks for all the ideas.
We grew 1 Park's Whopper last year and we had tomatoes coming out the wazoo!! They're very tasty, too. Our Large Cherry tomato plant was VERY, VERY prolific! That thing went ALL summer and gave us sooooooooooooooo many tomatoes we couldn't eat them fast enough. I took a big bag to work for the folks who wanted them.
Was it a certain kind of cherry? I grew two last year, they didn't produce too much.
Man don't tell me tomatos agravate joints I have arthritus in my wrist and knees and hips and I love tomatos. I'll just have to hurt I guess.
If you want speggiti sauce tomatos try growing roma tomatos the grow good and produce well and are great for a sauce and we use them on homade pizza we just slice them and spread the out then season with italian seasoning then top with cheese waay better then with just sauce.They don't have as much juice as the bigger tomatos and all you need is one good plant (I allways grow at least two just in case).
I grow dill near my tomatos the hornworms will eat it before anything else so I sacrifice some dill to save my tomatos and the worms are much easier spotted in a sprig of dill then burried in a tomato bush.
Anna, it's called "Large Red Cherry Tomato". http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/155088/
It got HUGE and I'm not kidding you produced HUNDREDS of tomatoes!
Generally, I think, the earlier tomatoes do better here because of our weather, so look for varieties that are in the 70-day ranger or earlier. Some of the more giant maters don't do so well here (they can do well, but might not be as prolific) because of the length of time needed to fully ripen once fruit has set. It gets too hot for the tomatoes.
Smaller, cherry tomatoes seem to be more prolific as they are not bothered as much by the intense heat. They do slow down when it's horridly hot, but pick up once again when it cools down some. (Read: When it's over 100º for days on end, they'll greatly slow down production or not produce fruit. When it gets back down into the upper 80s/90s they'll start cranking out again.)
Don't forget that some varieties only produce one flush of fruit (determinates) and then they're done for the season, but will get going again in the fall, so it's possible to get more from them. The indeterminate varieties will continue producing all season long, except for in the dead of summer when you most want a fresh tomato.
Good info. Thanks.
Rucky... the dill is a good idea, I wonder how you get it to survive in the heat.
Basil and comfrey are also good companion plants to deter bugs.
Rucky -- have you heard of nightshades? Those are the veggies that aggravate the joints. Some of them are tomatoes, potaotes, eggplant, peppers. I do not know the rest. But years ago I decided to test this theory and did manage to quit eating those veggies for several months. My joints did stop hurting. I was amazed.
Yet, I still grew tomatoes and while wandering through the garden could not prevent myself from munching on the just-ripe cherry tomatoes. Within 20 minutes my elbow and wrist joints were screaming for attention. I got the message. Now I do not eat nightshades. It is nice being pain-free.
Though I must admit, yes, on occassion I do indulge a little, knowing I will have a price to pay. . . I enjoy, I hurt, I learn, I swear off of them again. We are truly our own guine pigs.
I had really good luck with the cherrry tomatoes "Little Husky" and "Sweet 100". Both started producing ealry, before any of the others, and were still going strong when the larger ones hand given up in the heat. I'll definitely be planting these two again. You can usually find them as plants at garden centers and even Lowe's. If you have room, you might want to try them.
Crow
All four you mentioned are a staple in my diet. I have been useing excersize for my arthritus and other than some hip and knee pain I am doing much better,this damp weather does kick it up sometimes. I am also trying to diet so it'll be hard to give up veggies especially peppers and tomatos.But thanks for the info Greta I will look into it.
Banana My dill grows good outside in the heat every year I have to replant in the spring every year but thats ok.
Stephanie I grow basil 2 different varieties but I don't know comfrey, whats it used for.
I am looking for things that deter deer they are eating me out of house and home. They are getting bolder since my ol' dog died and we didn't want another.
I think the only thing that deters deer is a fence and a gun!
You can use comfrey as a fertilizer for tomatoes. Let the leaves steep in water OUTSIDE in a 5 gal bucket. Pour on your tomatoes. There are medicinal uses for it as well.
I've definitely had better luck with cherry or grape tomatoes than with the larger varieties. In fact, I haven't even had to plant cherry tomatoes for the last three years because volunteers just keep coming back... and kept producing even during the hottest part of the summer.
we have some plants started from seeds in the GH but I let it get down to freezing in there one night and they aren't lookiing to good so we started some more seeds that we got from our Parkswhopper toms last year my wife didn't think they would grow because we got them from toms we were making stewed tomatos out of and they had been blanched ro remove the skins then I took out as much of the seeds we could and they are sprouting fine. We are also trying some yellow variety this year. I am making my garden bigger this year. Right now all of my beds are raised and filled with soil I put in them because I have mostly clay. They have worked well for years but I am retired and want to expand so I am trying strawbale gardening. It'll be intresting to see how the toms do in they hay. I have strawberries growing good right now in the straw I am planning on planting toms and cukes in straw also. I will still grow a couple of PW toms in the garden just in case. From what I have read here on DG peppers don't do well in hay so I'll plant them in the raised beds. I have not had any sucess with eggplant for the last few year has anyone else. I get big plants with lots of flowers and no fruit. I'm trying the long skinny ones this year to see if they do any better.
I had more egg plants then we could eat. I had one "reg" plant and it produced the best. I tried the smaller thai variety but it was not as good. They were covered with insects so I sprayed with insecticidel soap a lot but one plant really produced a lot of fruits.
C
I'm going to try eggplant this year. We'll see how that goes!
I try it every year I love them. The first couple of years I got plenty of fruit then the next few nothing I had one come on last year but it was small and I kept waiting for it to get bigger it didn't. So I picked it and it wasn't any good.I just noticed I have some seeds sprouting so I'll try again. Does anyone trim tomatos I don't. I have been told to trim the suckers. I never have because I didn't have time now I have time and I am curious if it would be a good idea. Do any of you trim?
Great thread! Thank you, gretagreenthumb!
I haven't had a lot of experience with Maters in TX yet, but I saw your post and had my TX gardening book next to me. I thought this might give you another jumping off point, if you haven't ordered yet. Dave Welsh of TAMU recommends the following Maters for TX:
Bingo http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/31327/
Carnival http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/31278/
Celebrity http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/23503/
Florida 47 http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/31107/
Porter http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/112800/
Red Cherry http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/105846/
Roma http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/30674/
Sun Pride
Sun Leaper http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/30579/
Sweet 100 http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/55344/
Tomato 444
Good luck! I can't wait to hear what you decide on and how it goes.
I will second the Porter tomato choice if you have room. I grew about a dozen Porter plants last summer. It is indeterminate and the vines grew about 8 feet or taller. They ripened early as they are a smaller tomato ( about the size of a quarter to a fifty cent piece ). They bloomed thru the heat of summer and set tomatoes virtually all summer. It did require ample moisture and where I had them growing they received high shade in the hot of the day. I ate the last Porter tomato from these vines on Dec. 1st. I will grow them again. Gardeners' Delight was a smaller tomato with a shorter vine. It did o.k. but I preferred the Porter taste.
Thanks for this thread. I see mixed reviews on the Parks Whopper and wonder if there is a preferred cultivar of it? DH wants a large tomato and I was looking for a choice for him.
I'm growing heirlooms and open pollinated varieties this year. We had fantastic success with some last year, and we saved seeds from the ones we liked, so we're expanding our selection this year. I'll probably plant 5-6 seeds of each, keep 2 or 3 of each, then give the rest away in trades and such.
Tomato 'Abe Lincoln' http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/53311/
Tomato 'Amish Paste' http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/53775/
Tomato 'Ararat Flamed' (H)
Tomato 'Big Rainbow' http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/60423/
Tomato 'Black Cherry' http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/88786/
Tomato 'Blondkopfchen' http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/88692/
Tomato 'Box Car Willie' http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/60426/
Tomato 'Brandywine' http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/23504/
Tomato Campbell's Free Seeds
Tomato 'Chalk's Early Jewel' http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/118078/
Tomato 'Cherokee Purple' http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/552/
Tomato 'CherryGal Cherry'
Tomato 'Eva's Purple Ball' http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/87990/
Tomato 'German Johnson' http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/54810/
Tomato 'Italian'
Tomato 'Large Cherry' http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/155088/
Tomato 'Mortgage Lifter' http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/55837/
Tomato NOID
Tomato 'Orange Oxheart' http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/88542/
Tomato 'Ponderosa Red' http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/66988/
Tomato 'Pruden's Purple' http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/543/
Tomato 'Red Brandywine' http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/129562/
Tomato 'Rutgers' http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/70972/
Tomato 'Sioux' http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/30623/
Tomato 'Sweet Pea' http://www.cherrygal.com/tomatoindsweetpeaheirloomseeds2010-p-12408.html
Tomato 'Vintage Wine' http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/107701/
This message was edited Jan 25, 2010 8:35 AM
love those heirloom names
Aren't they fun? DH is really the tomato lover and that's what he wanted to do this year, heirlooms and OPs. He even saved this little tomato plant that volunteered in the garlic bed. It's been overwintering in our sunroom. It now has 5 teeny tiny green maters on it!
rucky, you might try planting rosemary to deter deer. I've used it for years interplanted with my roses. It is not one hundred percent foolproof if they are really hungry, but it does work if they have someplace else to go. I was told a long time ago that deer don't like rosemary because they taste so good when cooked with it ;~)! Whatever the reason, it works for me! Also, I do pinch out the suckers on tomatoes when I can. My grandmother did, so I do too. That's my best reason.
podster, have you tried Mortgage Lifter? I've done fairly well with that one down here. Tomatoes are a good size and good taste too.
stephanietx, you must have lots of room! I've got quite a few started myself. I usually do the bamboo teepee thing for suport but this year I'm considering fence posts and cattle panels. I had a bad experience once when I was a kid with the tomato cages. Now I have a phobia and won't use the cages. What do you all use for suport?
Thank you... I will look into the Mortgage Lifter.
Bamboo...
