what heirloom tomatos grow best here?

Have you guys found a few good heirloom tomatoes that like the humidity down here?

I'm trying Box Car Willie, Stupice, Cherokee purple, Arkansas Traveler, Pineapple, Ananas Noire(Black Pineapple), and Zapotec pleated.

Any great luck with these fellows? What DID work?

Foggy

The only ones of those I have experience with is Arkansas Traveler and Box Car Willie (I know it as "Box Car Charlie", but it's got to be the same plant...how many plants can be named "boxcar"???). Have had great luck with Arkansas Traveler here in the Charleston area; it's a "must plant" now. But other than Arkansas Traveler, I've found few heirlooms that can survive the heat/humidity. "Sunmaster", "Carnival", "Dona", and "Park's Whopper" have consistently produced for me, but they're not heirlooms. One heirloom I've set the new Guinness book of World Records for failure is "Brandywine". That dude just don't like our climate. Won't fool with it anymore.

I grow cherokee purple and arkansas traveler every year.I also grow some grape tomatoes and other small tomatoes.They are even more successful.I don't remember the names but I bought the seed from a place that only sells open pollinated varieties.

I am probably the runner up on failure with all the Brandywines because I gave up quickly.

Yes, I struck out with Brandywine, too...glad to hear Boxcar made the grade Stono, LOVE the name

Had fair luck during a hard season with Rose de Berne & Costoluto Genevese

On the other side, Burpees Health Kick was terrific....produced well & had cutting size tomatos without a lot of seeds...made great sauce. it only had 5 full hours of sun & was really neglected, but it kept on goin'.

What's the matter with me???? Why haven't I ever heard of Arkansas Traveler????

I have heard of Brandywine though; I've killed that one more times than I can count.

Well, rest your soul at ease, downscale! I didn't give up on Brandywine easily! All the hype on the thing made me try it for yrs. Didn't make much difference. I got 2-3 tomatoes from each plant (if I planted REAL early) before they succumbed to the heat. But in all honesty, I didn't see what all the hype was about, flavor-wise. The French variety "Dona" produced far more fruit, and was equally delicious. So was Arkansas Traveler. So that's what I plant now.

I liked Dona too. Sadly, I haven't planted any tomatoes this year; it is just so easy to go to a nearby farm. But, I am preparing a bed for a fall crop so there is hope. I'll look for some AT seeds.

I have Brandywine, German Johnson and Matt's Wild Cherry Tomatoes growing. This is my first year at heirlooms. I hope they all do well.

r30

Geez ardesia, you sound like my wife!!! The convenience of a quick trip to Harry Teeter or Publix totally overwhelmes the advantages (and admittedtly more "work") of procecessing fresh organic stuff from the garden... I'm missing something here...is it 'laziness"???

Nope, LOL, that's it. Have you been talking to my spouse? He is the one grousing about no tomato plants this year (although he has never planted any - ever.)

That and a wonderful (organic) Gullah farm stand around the corner. Let's see, could I get a buy if I said it was important to support the local economy??????

There was a very funny article last year in the New York Times about how much it costs to grow the Perfect organic heirloom tomato.The point being that even though it costs so much more,there is just something about growing your own.

That said,I was at the Myrtle beach farmer's market yesterday.Yes there is such a thing!Mostly farmers from the Conway and southern NC area but there were fresh berries strawberries,blueberries and blackberries and tiny plums all locally grown.There is also a woman from Tabor City with great plants and wonderful prices.If anyone finds themselves down here the market is opened on Wednesday,Friday and Saturday and is well worth a visit.

It is much too hot to be outside today.We are supposed to have record setting temps.

Brandywine never did well for me, or Green Zebra (but I'm growing GZ again, in a better location, so I'll let you know...).

Ardesia, If I had such a handy way of getting the goodies without growing them, I'd take it, too!!

supporting the local economy...right on!!!

Foggy

You got your bye, ardesia! If I had that availability, I'd do it too! Unfortunately, a little bit of homework on many of the "locally grown produce" stands around here revealed that the produce wasn't locally grown, nor was it organically grown. And I'm DEFINATELY in favor of supporting the local economy, and do so whenever and wherever I can. But it's got to be the real deal, not some guy buying stuff in Columbia at the Farmer's Market and driving it down here to sell as "locally grown"... I have to give the guy high marks on ambition, entrepreneurship, and endurance; but he strikes out on character, honesty, and integrity...

The good thing about our farmer's market in Myrtle Beach is that I know 2 of the the venders and have visited their farms.

One of them, Indigo Farms, has organic and non organic produce.When I buy something I always ask them where it's from.I prefer to buy local non organic than organic non local most of the time.

I agree that most of the produce "farm stands" bring is from the farmers market in Colombia.If you get to know the venders they will tell you where things are from.

There is a book I read recently to which all gardeners can relate.....I believe it was called 'The $94 Tomato.' Not too sure on the title as I couldn't find it on Amazon under that name, but, basically, its the story of a man who tries to raise a garden, and while he is doing it, he keeps track of all his expenditures and discovers the true cost of his homegrown tomatoes! We can all relate........i.e. first you are just going to hand-dig a little plot, then you discover you really need a rototiller, then you discover you really need soil tests, and a fence to keep out the critters and so on and so forth....Hundreds of dollars later, you've finally got your homegrown produce!

Edited to say I've also tried 'Granny Latham's Pink' and 'Eva Ball Purple' with zero success....I think I got, maybe, one tomato from GLP bush before it was swallowed up by a nearby 'Sungold' (and those of you who've grown 'Sungold' know what I mean by "swallowed up"!!!). Never had anything from EBP and then it died....

This message was edited Jun 23, 2008 5:55 PM

Found it! Wrong title ...its 'The $64 Tomato' ---glad to know it was a little cheaper---here's the summary:

Who knew that Bill Alexander's simple dream of having a vegetable garden and small orchard would lead him into life-and-death battles with webworms, weeds, and a groundhog named Superchuck? Over the course of his hilarious adventures, Alexander puzzles over why a six-thousand-volt wire doesn't deter deer but nearly kills his tree surgeon; encounters a gardener who bears an eerie resemblance to Christopher Walken; and stumbles across the aphrodisiac effects of pollen when he plays bumble bee to his apple blossoms. When he decides (just for fun!) to calculate how much it cost to grow one of his beloved Brandywine tomatoes, he comes up with a staggering $64. But as any gardener knows, you can't put a price tag on the rewards of homegrown produce, or on the lessons learned along the way. Book jacket.

lol...I wouldn't DARE count the cost of my gardening...it is far and away the most extravagant money spent in my budget. I think I'll try for that book, tho'.
sounds hilarious.

the tomatos that are performing best( although they look kinda ratty) are the stupice tomatoes, supposedly a cold weather variety....lots of little tomatos...
even with the 100 degree heat.......the rest of them......zip

Foggy

Heirloom tomato update......

Every tomato variety that I planted has fruit.......some more than others......
Stupice...Loaded! small 1 1/2 to 2 inch tomatos that taste great......
Cherokee purple, Black pineapple, Arkansas Traveler, Box Car Willie, Russian orange giant, Zatopec Pleated all started blooming later but each have 4 to 6 large fruit

As you see, I'm a strawbale gardener...only the stupice have ripened so far...so I can't give taste reports

the stupice plants which are scrawny compared to the rest have got up to 18 fruit on an 18 inch plant!

Foggy
meant to send a pic but couldn't make it work for me.

This message was edited Jul 21, 2008 10:38 AM

Oh, I want to see that picture, straw bales sounds pretty cool to me.

Did you hit browse and find the files where you pictures are located? After finding the right picture, just hit send and that is it. No re-sizing or anything else required.

oK tried again....thanks Ardesia
Ugh! no go, I'll practice til I get it right....lol
Foggy

This message was edited Jul 21, 2008 12:24 PM

Oh no! Do you know about the test forum? You can play around until you get it right.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/test/all/

Update:

Well I tried all 3 and here are my results so far:
Brandywine- doing terrible, rotting before I can harvest a thing
German Johnson - not doing great but has some promising big tomatoes, does withstand the heat a little better, but not too much better
Matt's Wild Cherry Tomatoes - has done excellent, keeps producing like mad.

-rp-

We have ripening Black Krims, German Johnson, Marglobe, all of which seedlings I intentionally purchased. However, among the plants I purchased as these three were a roma and a yellow, neither of which do I have a clue about the cultivar. I'm not a yellow tomato fan, but this one actually is very good and I would consider planting it again if I only knew what it is, which leads me to my resolution to only start my own plants from seed next year so I don't end up with tomatoes I don't want. Reminds me of several years ago when I planted what was labeled as a Brandywine, but believe me was not Brandywine but the tomato from hell. The fruits were big, ugly heart-shaped and heart-sized things with absolutely no flavor. When I tried to pull the plants up in the fall, I literally had to wrestle them out of the ground! Have no idea what those beasts were, just don't ever want them again.

The BKs, GJ's and Marglobes all taste great. The roma is okay, but I only use romas when I can't get anything else. The yellow one is tasty but can't tell you what it is.

Ok, update---and I'm not sure this is a true heirloom, but I believe it is an older cultivar---'San Marzano' Roma has pretty much had everything it can have--wilt, blossom end rot etc. I've pulled them all up. Would like to think its not the plant, but other cultivars in the same area doing just fine....so that is the only conclusion I can draw.

Ardesia, I think I got it!

don't be disappointed.....my bale garden has not got lush looking plants...but they are full of fruit....

you'll only see green ones........I traded all my ripe tomatos for a big bucket of plums!

LOL, Congratulations !!!

Actually, your plants look great, a nice green and no insects or diseases; that is pretty darn good.

How do you water the bales, do you use a drip system?

LOL, thanks!

Every morning I spend 5 minutes to hose the bales down (unless it rains) & foliar feed once a week....the bales hold the water and there is rarely any runoff
last year i used a soaker hose & it was no good at all...you have to get the whole bale damp.

I watched some of the little "hummingbird moths" feeding on a Buddleia & then straight to the tomatoes to lay their eggs( these are the moths that grow those lovely horned tomato worms) I've been snipping their heads off with scissors, but this morning there was a delightful scene.....3 mid-size worms in a frozen position with lovely little braconid wasp cocoons sticking out of them...I left them (they can't eat anymore) so the wasps would hatch & kill the rest of those nasties. i don't use poisons at all.

it's been over 100 degrees here a LOT this summer, but every heirloom is setting fruit even though it has supposedly been too hot at night to allow them to do so.

Black Pineapple has not ripened any fruit yet, but they are already HUGE fruit. My eggplants are doing great, peppers...so-so, squash doing well after a setback.

For me, strawbale gardening has solved the problems of too little water, rabbits, & there is no weeding at all with no digging or tilling.

Foggy

Someone was asking about buddleias the other day, I've got many and they've never objected to the cold up here........-5 degrees on occasion...nothing was done to protect them.

Gosh, I may have to try the bales again; the last time was a disaster. Watering is an issue here maybe I can use the drip and hand watering. I don't think they could go a whole day with only one watering here. I read an article about a gardener on Johns Island who was using straw bales and drip, I'll have to find it and see how she got the hoses to wet the whole bale. I have such salty soil, the bales may just work for me.

The largest buddleias I have ever seen were in Valle Crucis where my son used to live. I saw one that was taller than and almost as wide as the cottage it was planted by. There are some tremendous ones in Blowing Rock also. Around here they are only so so; not bad but nothing to write home about.

Foggy wrote;"Every morning I spend 5 minutes to hose the bales down (unless it rains) & foliar feed once a week...the bales hold the water and there is rarely any runoff
last year i used a soaker hose & it was no good at all...you have to get the whole bale damp."

Now, for me, it was just the opposite. Last year I had drip hoses, and everything did well. These were hay bales.
This year I planted in straw, and hose watered, thinking I could waste less water, but still take care of the plants...
Lousy season so far. I've been blaming the straw, because the old hay bales I used did fine.
Now I think it's a water issue, after all. After we've gotten the first signifcant rain this summer, everything is doing MUCH better. I swear the tomatoes grew a foot in 2 days! Two that never got above six inches are 2.5 feet. I'd go back to the drip, but I'll never get the hose in the right place. I'll figure something out, apparently the bales just didn't get wet enough :(.

foggywalk I found Purple Haze did well not not a large tomato but very good. Plant is huge. My branywine"s all of a sudden got all shriveled so that was a bust. The plant looks great though. Husky red cherry tomato did well.Coustele(sp) did well just was not as large as I thought they would be.Goose Creek I think it is called taste good. Orange looking.My cherry tomatoes are growing like crazy now, have one more, forgot the name.My best is one that the stem broke off I put it in dirt to see if it would grow it did. The tomatoes are a lb or more but have no idea what they are. deanna