So Texans, Where do you Stand on Tomatoes?

[Wildcat82]

Yes, I would certainly want to know how anyone that has been spouting off about cracking the code did it exactly. But, then it sometimes isn’t worth the asking if it only serves to boost an already overinflated ego.

My wife works with a topper. If you did it, she did it five times better than you did. Doesn’t matter what you did, what matters is that she did it better.

My mom told me about this woman she knew who would brag about winning the purple ribbon at the county fair for her tomatoes, peppers etc. She always had perfect looking produce that was absolutely uniform in size. Apparently this old bag rummaged through grocery store aisles to find the best looking produce then entering them in the fair. Nice job Grandma!!!!

[Wildcat82]

There's an old Texas saying: Big hat, no cattle.

When I meet someone like that, I say "Oh wow! You must have a really special variety! Would you mind sharing seeds?" I HAVE scored some really great okra seeds, flower seeds, and fig cuttings that way. Old locals do occasionally have good stuff. But 90% of the time, it just serves to call their bluff and makes me feel better.

At my old community garden, there was gardener who consistently grew things no one else could. I think he was a) extremely diligent about timing; b) only grew flavorless, heat/disease resistant hybrids from Home Depot and Walmart. Note that the woman you talked to didn't say the beefsteaks tasted good!

Alternate theory: She has an air conditioned greenhouse.

Sometimes, when I'm in a mischievous mood, I give them these lines with a sad, pained look on my face:

"I'm so sorry that you feel you have to make up stories to try to impress other people. I'm sure you're an interesting person deep inside."

[TomatoNut95]

Anybody have experience with Dester, Bread and Salt or Hungarian Oxheart? I just ordered those today.

[karstopography]

I grew Dester for the first time in 2023. Later than Pruden’s Purple or SOTW for me, but ended up being the second most productive tomato in my garden behind Black Krim.

Big, robust regular leaf plant. Tolerated the summer heat pretty well. My Dester Tomatoes averaged about 11 ounces and the earlier ones were even bigger. Definitely can produce tomatoes topping the pound mark. They are a little more flattened oblates or less deep top to bottom shaped than some of the other famous pink tomatoes. Most of the tomatoes are well formed without a lot of scarring or other complications. The flavor is excellent.

I’m growing out one Dester plant in 2024, the same number I did in 2023. One bed about 15 feet over from last season.

[Wildcat82]

Just noticed this article from the San Antonio Express News from couple years ago. In the article Dr Calvin Finch tells readers that 15 March til 1 April is the right time to plant out their Rodeo tomatoes (Tycoon, Celebrity, Valley Cat, 444, Red Deuce, BHN 968 (cherry), Ruby Crush (cherry), HM 8849 and Red Snapper.)

This just proves my point that there is no reliable information on the internet for San Antonio gardeners. Putting your transplants in the ground as recommended in the article means you can expect to harvest your first slicer 75 days later, i.e. early June til mid June. You'll be lucky to get 2-4 weeks of production from your grocery store quality tomatoes before the inevitable heat wave shut down production.

Sadly, many people here follow their advice. You can do better...

https://www.expressnews.com/lifestyle/h ... 137662.php

[karstopography]

I think if someone is growing something like Celebrity waiting until mid March isn’t necessarily a terrible idea. One friend used to grow mainly celebrity tomatoes and would plant sometime in the second half of March and get a big bunch of tomatoes in the first week or two of June and be essentially done by early in July. He waited long enough to almost completely mathematically rule out frost but not so long as to not get a big wad of tomatoes all at once.

I think with the more late season indeterminate heirloom plants it’s a different deal because they kind of rev up into a prime production phase and they are generally kind of late to begin with. So if someone can get those in a month or more sooner than something like celebrity going in near April 1st. then they have a good chance to get into sort of prime condition for the best fruit setting weather.

It’s almost like growing two completely different crops instead of thinking they are both the same thing, tomatoes.

[Wildcat82]

I think if someone is growing something like Celebrity waiting until mid March isn’t necessarily a terrible idea. One friend used to grow mainly celebrity tomatoes and would plant sometime in the second half of March and get a big bunch of tomatoes in the first week or two of June and be essentially done by early in July. He waited long enough to almost completely mathematically rule out frost but not so long as to not get a big wad of tomatoes all at once.

I think with the more late season indeterminate heirloom plants it’s a different deal because they kind of rev up into a prime production phase and they are generally kind of late to begin with. So if someone can get those in a month or more sooner than something like celebrity going in near April 1st. then they have a good chance to get into sort of prime condition for the best fruit setting weather.

It’s almost like growing two completely different crops instead of thinking they are both the same thing, tomatoes.

It makes sense to plant determinates if you plan to can everything. My mom always did that but I don't know of anybody here who goes through the trouble of canning tomatoes anymore. Everyone here is after fresh tomatoes to eat. In that case, it makes more sense to plant mostly short season plants as early as possible to give you the longest harvest period.

In any event, "Rodeo" tomatoes they always push are the same varieties the commercial growers plant. These varieties are some of the worst tasting tomatoes I've tried. If you want 2 weeks of high production of low quality tomatoes,I recommend Tycoon. if you want 9-10 weeks of production, I recommend Sun Gold, Stupice, Maglia Rosa, etc. planted as early as possible.

[karstopography]

@Wildcat82 I’m with you, Celebrity isn’t a very exciting tomato to me. I mean it beats the average store bought commodity tomato, but still, it isn’t up to the flavor standard of a great open-pollinated heirloom.

Some people in our general region still cling to more midwestern or eastern ideas about when to plant tomatoes. But, that schedule and those ideas, if followed, absolutely lead to poor limited harvests and outcomes if growing the quality heirloom types. If overblown fear of frosts or early season cool weather snaps governs one’s planting schedule, then get ready for a mediocre harvest. If one is prepared to roll the dice a little on early season cool weather and a small but still possible chance of frost, then the upside is opened up to a much more abundant harvest.

Our soil never really gets cold enough as far south as San Antonio or Houston to be the issue like it is up way to the north. Soil temperature, here at our latitude, will not be what dictates the time to put a tomato plant into the garden. The risk of frost is the determining factor, but there’s no way to be 100% certain to escape that risk and still have a chance at a respectable harvest of the good tomatoes.

Some of the local “experts” though cling to more northern ideas about how and when and what tomatoes to grow here.

[GVGardens]

@karstopography I agree that it's like growing 2 different crops. It's easy to forget that most of the folks at home are growing hybrid determinates that behave differently. @Wildcat82 I'm guessing the advice for the Rodeo tomatoes was accurate at the date the varieties were released because the extension folks probably tested those dates and got feedback from farmers planting out on those dates. However, since we've had warmer Mays and Junes the last couple of years, I suspect that those dates have shifted backwards and I hope they'll re-evaluate. I'd be curious to see what they come back with.

Austin is a little bit further north but several gardeners here swear by putting their tomatoes out after the spring equinox. Their claim is that days to maturity are greater when there are fewer sunlight hours so a tomato put out on March 19 will catch up to one planted March 1. They seem happy with their tomato harvests so who knows.

I haven't done side-by-side comparisons but I have set things out late on accident due to unexpected work travel. Tomatoes transplanted March 27th were fine but not spectacular. Tomatoes planted April 7 hardly produced but the Tycoon and Red Snapper that I'd planted to test for disease resistance did produce more that the heirlooms (before dying of disease). Peppers planted April 7 did great. Later transplant dates wouldn't be my preference but if you have limited space and are waiting on your carrots or something to finish, I can see the argument for holding off a week or two.

But all that's for store-bought nursery transplants grown in greenhouses. What would really interest me would be a comparison between transplants started under grow lights. For example, start a batch of transplants indoors; set half out the last week of Feb when they get 11 hours and 20 mins of sunlight outside; keep half inside (and up-pot as needed) where they get 16-18 hours of light. Set those out 3-4 weeks later and see what happens.

[Wildcat82]

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But all that's for store-bought nursery transplants grown in greenhouses. What would really interest me would be a comparison between transplants started under grow lights. For example, start a batch of transplants indoors; set half out the last week of Feb when they get 11 hours and 20 mins of sunlight outside; keep half inside (and up-pot as needed) where they get 16-18 hours of light. Set those out 3-4 weeks later and see what happens.

Sounds like a worthwhile experiment to try. If you're able to do it next year, make sure you report the results here.

My 2 overwintered Sun Golds are now loaded with blooms and a bunch of little tomatoes. Perhaps the smaller fruited varieties are better at setting in the cooler/shorter sunlight hours we're getting now.

[karstopography]

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Got my two tomato beds mulched today, plus one other bed, with grade A quality fresh shed live oak leaves, along with fall dropped cypress and pine needles. Mulched the landscaping beds with two cubic yards of hardwood mulch, the landscaping beds are where I got all the leaves and needles from. Definitely got my workout today.

May the tomatoes appreciate all that I do for them.

[karstopography]

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Sart Roloise is my precocious tomato of 2024. First of the bigger type tomatoes to set fruit and first to 36”. Second place is Pruden’s Purple at 28”. No other large fruited tomatoes out in the beds definitely have set fruit, although some look like they might soon. The three little fruited ones all have multiple fruit. Sart Roloise currently has three small tomatoes.

Sart Roloise has very large and rangy with lots of blooms, but lightly built blossom trusses. Looks like I will need to provide support for each one or risk crimped or torn tomato trusses.

Interesting tomato, not the run of the mill plant or anything like that.

[karstopography]

One of the Sart Roloise tomatoes, the biggest one in the photo one post above this post, was munched on overnight by something in the caterpillar genre. I didn’t find the culprit and will apply Spinosad as soon as the rain departs Sunday. Too much of a shot at rain today to waste a treatment. Maybe I’ll dig around in the mulch and see if I can find the offending caterpillar. There’s a type here that hangs out at the soil level and then attacks at night.

Hard time of year waiting on fruit setting to ramp up and then having losses to bugs. It’s the same feeling every year that feels akin to panic, will something claim all the fruit or prevent fruit setting and I won’t get any type of feeling. Got to trust the process and hope for the best.

[Wildcat82]

Hard time of year waiting on fruit setting to ramp up and then having losses to bugs. It’s the same feeling every year that feels akin to panic, will something claim all the fruit or prevent fruit setting and I won’t get any type of feeling. Got to trust the process and hope for the best.

I get that feeling all the time. Since I started living here, I just assume half my tomato crops will fail to blight, hail, mites, wilt disease, etc. That's why I have gotten into the habit of always keeping some seedlings/clones always available. When a crop failure occurs, just re-plant and move on. Seems like I'm continualy putting out new plants. The bright side of this is that I almost always have a few plants that look nice year round.

[SpookyShoe]

Chocolate Cherry plant. Looks like I'll have some ripe tomatoes in April, albeit of the cherry variety.

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This is going to be quite the truss on Paul Robeson. Hope it doesn't break...

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[karstopography]

Definitely getting some decent fruit setting for first flowering trusses. Pruden’s Purple and Sart Roloise are the early pace setters, but it looks like Dester, Hoy, Black Krim, Dr. Wyche’s, Black from Tula, and Red Barn all have at least one tomato. Not sure about Brandywine Cowlick’s, MizzouPLA, Cuostralee, or Aker’s WV, but the last two got transplanted later than the others.

Brandywine Cowlick’s is the most retarded of the bunch, plenty of green growth, but not much inclination to flower just yet.

Pruden’s Purple right next to B. Cowlick’s is on the other hand flowering like gang busters. Both plants look about the same, but Brandywine is showing more propensity to form extra stems. My hope is that Brandywine is simply revving its motor up for a big bloom in a few weeks.

If there are any regrets about this season’s line up, I wish I had another large orange/gold and maybe another bicolor or two, if I count Sart Roloise as a bicolor instead of a blue. I think next year I’ll adjust the reds and pinks numbers downward a bit and boost the orange/gold/bicolor numbers up a tad.

Yesterday, I went through my 2024 MMMM stash of tomato seeds and separated out the might want to grow in 2025 from the I don’t want to grow in 2025 pile.

[TomatoNut95]

My German Queen looks like it has a big, double bloom (idk about megablossom) on its first set of blooms. I'll get a pic later today.

[karstopography]

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After 2” of rain and 24 hours of gloom, the tomatoes are appreciating some warm sunshine.

Pleased with the amount of fruit set on the first flower trusses. Good start this year.

[karstopography]

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Sart Roloise is a foot taller than any of my other tomatoes at this early stage. There are no less than 12 tomatoes already on this one Sart Roloise. I had no idea this was such a vigorous and productive variety.

[TomatoNut95]

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