Tomatos have not flowered yet.

Lol yes you are crazy but in the best way! I'm at 36 tomato plants and I can't imagine tending any more than that! Hope my fall harvest is bountiful, I already got a lot out of these plants so any would be such an amazing bonus!!

lLilac...Where do you buy your tomato seeds. Do you plant the same seeds every year. The tomato you plant must like the climate & do very well in your area. I live in Houston area, & the plants I plant do not do very well.

behillman, I'm not ignoring you I've been busy but I want to give you as much info as I can so I'm going to have to do some thinking. Hopefully I can post tonight with a well thought out reply. Lol. I will say that I live in a microclimate so my growing conditions are very different. I will get back to your question when I actually have time to answer it.

Ok I'm going to try and answer your question and stop thinking about it. Lol
I get my seeds from Baker Creek, Totally Tomatoes, and Trade Winds Fruits. I get seeds for Dwarf Tomato plants (Tomato Dwarf Project) from Victory Seeds and Heritage Seeds. I really love the dwarf plants especially for containers and Earthboxes. I'm not listing these separate as they are all good, IMHO.

I used to grow only OPs but the last couple of years I've started growing hybrids too and the production is usually better.

I'm not growing anything new this season but my "have tos" are Mortgage Lifter pink, Black Krim, Limmony, Prudens Purple, Eva Purple Ball, Solar Flare and Black Cherry.

The following I've had good luck with. Solar Fire, Red Defender, Tropic, Heatmaster, Tasti Lee, American Original Beefsteak Hybrid, Grandma's Pick, Bella Rosa, Talledega, Cherokee Purple, Japanese Black Trifele, Momotaro ( Tough Boy), Country Taste, Amelia and any of the Currant types.

Please remember that my microclimate is much different then yours...it is even different from Austin's. I'm at the foot of the Hill Country and they grow grapes near here. I don't plant out until the weather has stabilized but I still have good production. Hope this helps, tho.

l Lisac....Your climate must be more like the San Antonio climate. Anyway, I'll try getting my tomato seeds from Baker Seeds. The dwarf kind sounds like a good idea. Thanks for sharing with us all.

1lisac,
Could you tell a bit more about your microclimate? What are your avg. daytime and nighttime temps during your tomato growing season?

Thanks!

This message was edited Aug 21, 2014 12:20 PM

Gymgirl: Did you have a good tomato season this year? I didn't plant any because I feared an early hot season, & it turned out to be a cool summer.

San Antonio is warmer then Austin and I'm colder then Austin. My microclimate is small we get colder then the surrounding areas and we stay cold longer into spring and freeze earlier in the fall. There are vineyards close by and I think grapes need a certain amount of chill hours. We also have very little humidity compared to the rest of Texas, this summer has been an exception. I don't really know how else to describe my area. I am having a great tomato crop this season.

GG I'll check on the temps but the last week or so has been HOT. Both day and night.

That is the first time I ever heard a reference to any part of Texas as being "humid" except for the coast - see, all knowledge really is local!

My tomatoes are loaded with green fruit, large and small, I applied the advice from cytf and Still Plays.
I also cut my asparagus ferns way back, so sunlight reaches the fruits. (I have the tomatoes and asparagus alternating as companion plants. They were producing very fluffy ferns this year that blocked the sun.) I do not rotate my tomatoes or my asparagus .

Now for just a little patience, and making Fried Green Tomatoes with the windfalls
.
Off to take a picture of the mari-rag-gold-weed plant that sprung up in the tree pit.

I have experienced the humidity of the Gulf Coast BUT I have also experienced the humidity of the Midwest and East Coast. The main difference, from my experience, is that the humidity lasts longer in Tx (further South)..but seems worse in the other areas mentioned. That's one reason I don't understand why so many plant issues are blamed on Humidity in TX.

Texas has Humidity and Heat. That makes a lot of deference. Plants can cook before your eyes.

It was in the 90s in the midwest and the humidity was 75 %. I couldn't breath..I'm not saying that Texas isn't hot and humid (especially by the coast) but I'm not sure if people realize how hot and humid it gets elsewhere. I think one main difference is the that it doesn't cool down at night in Tx. Southern Exposure Seed Exchange specializes in seeds for the eastern part of the US. Seeds that do well in hot and humid conditions.

Just to put that into perspective - and not to start a whole weather related topic - until about a week ago we were 'enjoying' temps in the very high 90's and low 100's with humidity in 80's & 90's. Horrible. Almost like living on the face of the sun. I truly hate late July and Aug around here. Anyhow, we have now cooled down to the low 90's with humidity still in the 80s and 90s (92% for tonight), and, I kid you not, it almost feels down right cool after those punishing weeks at 100F with a heat index around 116F or so. I realize summers are hot throughout most of the country, but I just could not resist adding some perspective.

Not surprisingly what remains of my garden is looking pretty haggard, so now I'm on my way to go check out that Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. Thanks very much for the tip. :-)