Tomato Notes Spring 2024 Melbourne Beach FL

[marisolstice]

I finally got around to the results of my spring/summer tomato season. Will try to post photos sometime but this is a busy phase of life! Planted 2 plants of each variety in the ground (plot is about 16x16 with bamboo teepees and poles), and 8 in pots without support just for comparison. Had some extra seedlings that I scattered around the yard; they didn't do much. Five container plants survived the summer and I took cuttings to put in the ground for fall. The stinkbugs were horrific and ruined so much of the last couple weeks of fruit. Not sure what to do in the future--didn't have that problem in Salt Lake City or Satellite Beach. I did have a ton of spiders, wasps, and lizards, so maybe they help?

Plants in ground mid-Apr
Start to ripen mid-May
First harvest end-May
4 Hornworms on potted plants, ate the tops off, but they came back ok
Big harvest early and mid-June
Done early-July
Ended with stinkbug infestation and hot dry summer

Indeterminate
Bali–Keep. Unique. Multi-stemmed, bushy plant. Ribbed, flattened fruit. Looks like a pink pumpkin. Very thin skin. Delicious. Stinkbugs loved them.
Stump of the World–Keep. Vigorous plant. Big fruit, ripened well. Delicious.
Wooly Kate–Maybe. Unique. Fuzzy fruit, start purple and green, turn yellow and brownish. Good taste. Hoped color and fuzz would deter pests, but didn’t notice a difference.
Black Beauty–Maybe. Interesting color. Good taste. Container plant did much better than ground.
Flammee–Keep. Prejudiced since it was so good in Utah, not as vigorous here. Productive. Delicious. Stinkbugs loved them.
Black Cherry–Keep. Prejudiced since it was so good in Satellite Beach, not as vigorous or productive here. Good but stinkbugs got almost all of them.
Purple Cherokee–Maybe. Underwhelmed. Not vigorous or productive. Good taste but so much cracking.
Tropic–Maybe. Didn’t stand out, or maybe I confused fruit with Anahu which was great.
Chapman–Maybe. Didn’t stand out, but container plant survived summer and took cuttings for fall in ground.
Atkinson–Same
Dester–Same
Florida Pink–Maybe. Good flavor….I think?
Homestead 24–Maybe. Good flavor…I think? Kept getting these last two confused. Look and taste similar, not very vigorous or productive.

Determinate
Green Grape–No. Not vigorous. Fairly productive. Odd taste or thick skin or something not great.
Tommy Toe–Maybe. Grew like a weed, and super productive. Taste is weird, maybe the stinkbugs, or cracking. Will try again different season. Have a cutting from container plant for fall.
Neptune–No. Forgettable in every way.
Yellow Pear–No. Vigorous and productive, but I have never liked the flavor and the kids didn’t as much as I thought they would.
Taxi—Keep. Wow. Prolific, good flavor, and the only plant that survived all summer in the ground and is staying there for fall if it wants to.
Anahu–Keep. Vigorous, ended up with more seedlings than any other variety. Productive, long-bearing, good flavor.

Dwarf
Tasmanian Chocolate–No. Old seeds, one plant, one fruit the kids smooshed and I didn’t taste. Trying other dwarfs for fall.

Micro-dwarf
Snegirock
Vilma
Pinnochio
Mohammed
Hahns Gelber

Bought these to grow indoors under lights in Utah…then we moved to Florida
Grew well in pots outdoors
Mixed up labels, not sure which varieties were which
Flavor mediocre to ok
Won’t bother again…too gimmicky for big family…but cute and prolific for size


Thanks for the warm welcome, and for all the fellow Florida and sand-gardeners who have chimed in

[marisolstice]

Oops--Homestead 24 is determinate but I still confused it with Florida Pink.

[Paulf]

Because we don't spend enough time at our home in Aquarina we do not attempt to garden in the sand. All our tomato growing takes place in Nebraska. You have a very wide ranging selection and I hope you do well. I always thought if I were to try gardening in Melbourne Beach it would be in raised beds rather in the sand. Good luck on your efforts! February is our main time to be in the area...maybe there will be enough ripe tomatoes for a salad or a BLT.

[marisolstice]

Yeah, I wouldn't attempt it here part-time either. I grew great tomatoes and some good melons in Utah, but they are way more challenging here. I probably should do containers/beds, but I don't ever plan to move away from here, so I am just trying to build soil as fast as I can. Asplundh has dropped about 12-15 truckloads of woodchips since January, I get big bags of coffee grounds from Starbucks several times a week, my kind neighbors bring me their yard waste, we shred paper and compost everything, I have grown several mixed cover crops and have lots of chop and drop plants, we have 2 bunnies for manure, I get seaweed by the wheelbarrowful when it washes up....and Walmart has the cheapest 10 10 10

So far, the only great successes are greens of every kind, and sweet potatoes. My yard is covered in both. Hopefully the tomatoes and melons will catch up in a few years! I'll get back to you in winter if I have some good tomatoes to share