Tomatoes And Fog

[Dennishorlick]

OK, I have decided to no longer grow the varieties I love the most. Dr. Carolyn told me not to years ago, but i did not listen. I'm ready to listen now.

I live 2400 feet above sea level with a straight shot to the ocean. We get early morning and late fog. temp drops of 15 degrees at night. Through June, no real heat to speak of, then mid July - Sept., 85-100. NO RAIN. I gotta water pretty consistently. I need to know which varieties will do best in these conditions. If my favorites aren't on this list, so be it. I need to have a more successful season and I figure more Heirlooms of any variety is better than Brandywines that fail.

Can someone out there suggest varieties that will do better in these conditions? It would be much appreciated.

Thanks, Dennis

[Worth1]

It would help if you listed what you have grown and failed at.
Brandy wines are a flop for me too.

Worth

[Dennishorlick]

Cherokee Purple-OK, No Brandywines, No Mortgage Lifter, No Persimmon, No Kelloggs Breakfast, No German Red Strawberry, No Big Rainbow, Actually, no beefsteak sizes. Smaller varieties do better. Green Grape is ok, Dr Carolyn's did ok, Reif Red Heart, No. Orange Strawberry, No. Druzba did ok. Aunt Ginnys did ok Blacks do a little better. Black from Tula ok. Pineapple wouldnt even set fruit. Actually, Elberta Peach did the best. I don't know if this helps?

[Worth1]

Persimmon has never done well for me after many tries I have abandoned it.
Kellogg’s Breakfast is good but not a great producer for me ether.
Some of the others I haven’t grown.
Cherokee Purple is a real winner here in Texas for me.
Stump of the world should be considered too, it did ok but the critters got to it.
I would suggest growing determinate varieties as far as beefsteaks go there are many out there to choose from.
For medium sizes indeterminate and determinate, I have had great luck with Red Rocket Break “O” day and Jubilee. Jubilee is an orange tomato not spoken of much but has been around for years.
Oregon Spring (RED) is a good early variety that grows on a small stumpy plant that does well with me.
You can plant this one close together.
Aurora (smallish red) will be a good plant to grow also. It puts out early.
New Yorker was a bust. the wispy foliage didn’t protect it from the sun down here and all tomatoes were sun burned.
The jury’s still out on Zopotic
Neves Azorean red had a great big healthy plant with 0 fruit and no blooms; I will try it again though.
Costoluto Genovese (SP?) is a small to medium ruffled tomato that has put out pretty good all summer some like it some don’t, I like it.
For a green I like lime green salad a small determinate with tasty small fruit.
Emerald Evergreen puts out a ton of good sized fruit for me and it is rather tasty too.
I have a list of tomatoes a mile long I will never grow again they tasted great but they did not do well.
As much as I hate to say it I have grown celebrity a hybrid that is out standing in flavor and production.
I may grow it again this year.

Worth

[mtbigfish]

Dennis
The problem in much of So Calif is summer heat - and that is the reason many people have 2 crops - early and late because when temps are above 95F you don't get many if any blossums (yes there are a few varieties that will set then) Have you started your plants so they start blooms earlier and set fruit in June? - the fruit will ripen in the Jul-Sept heat - you can again plant early-mid july and get some fruit in Sept-Oct
I am inland get fog but not like the coast - and have my favs
many Russian tomatoes do well as some come from the caspian sea area etc
cross your fingers and maybe someone in your area will have some amswers- and Carolyn137 has friends everywhere so take her recommendations if she reads this thread
Dennis

[Dennishorlick]

Good point. Actually I set plants out a little earlier (April 1)last season and did a little better. I could even shoot for Mid March this time and maybe get through some cold nights.Then I could conceivably start getting fruit Mid June instead of early July. I'm so high up here that the temps vary wildly pre summer. Carolyn has been here and she knows the situation so maybe if she doesn't read this post i'll email her.

Thanks for the response

[habitat_gardener]

I'm inland a little and up north but still get the cooler nights. Orange Strawberry did very well in 2008, nothing in 2009. Same with Cherokee Purple. In 2009, Druzba, Kosovo, Earl's Faux, Caspian Pink, Cuor di Bue, and Marianna's Peace did ok, but I don't expect a big yield (or larger size) from the larger ones. With the largest varieties, I get a few if we have a heat wave (over 80F) for a few days at the right time.

I start seeds in late Feb. to mid March, set plants out (including the ones I buy) from early March to mid May, and get a tomato or two in May, a few in June, a few in cool-July years and lots in warm-July years, and most of my harvest in August and Sept., then a bunch more if Oct. is warmer, or not much if not. Often I get a few cherry tomatoes as late as early Dec., when the plants freeze. In 2009, I had some Druzbas very late in the season. I use walls-o-water until the end of May, because we have an occasional overnight freeze, winds, and rainstorms at least through April and nights are quite cool through May. When the plants outgrow the walls-o-water, I wrap the cages with plastic or bubblewrap.

One source that lists a lot of varieties and tags what does well in coastal conditions is Love Apple Farm, which is in the redwoods north of Santa Cruz. Here's what looks like the 2009 list, though the title says it's 2010 and the web address says it's the 2008 list. Look for the descriptions with "C" at the end, which means "a good variety for coastal/foggy climates (although these will still do well in full sun)."

http://www.growbetterveggies.com/gro...-2008-tom.html

(and I see she'll have a booth at the SF Flower and Garden Show in March 24-28 in San Mateo...I know I'll be tempted to buy some seedlings!)

[Dennishorlick]

Thanks so much for the info. I'll check it out right now. I had good luck with Druzba also and in 2008 I had luck with Mariana's Peace. It seems that the 1-3 oz fruits do better. Also do well with Sun Gold.

I'll definitely set fruit out earlier tis year. Thanks again.

Dennis

[Dennishorlick]

Hey, habitat, I just went there and my suspicions were correct. All the tomatoes marked with a "C" are either cherry tomatoes or smaller fruits. I also notice that Stupice is on there and I did have success with that one. So, unless someone else has some sage words, looks like i'll be growing a lot of cherries this year.

Dennis

[habitat_gardener]

Originally Posted by Dennishorlick

Hey, habitat, I just went there and my suspicions were correct. All the tomatoes marked with a "C" are either cherry tomatoes or smaller fruits. I also notice that Stupice is on there and I did have success with that one. So, unless someone else has some sage words, looks like i'll be growing a lot of cherries this year.

Not all of them! The medium-size ones are Mandarin Cross, Japanese Oxheart, Black Prince, Northern Lights, Rose de Berne, and Siletz, none of which I've grown.

Planting them earlier will help, too (with protection if needed).

[Worth1]

Dennis when is your last frost if you have one?
Worth

[amideutch]

This will give you an idea of the temp trend in Pacific Palisades. I grew up in Whittier which isn't that far away but our elevation wasn't near the 2400 feet of PP. Ami

http://www.weather.com/outlook/recre...ly/graph/90272

[Worth1]

I don’t think it is the fog problem I think you need to set out tomatoes the same time we do.
If nature tells me so I will set out tomatoes the last week of February or the first of March.
And then they will be 12 to 18 inches tall.
I looked on the link Ami posted and you don’t even freeze there.
I will say this and have many times it does not hurt tomatoes to get a little cold at night.
If we here in Texas waited till we had warm nights we would never grow tomatoes of any size.
Yes I have lived in California just south of LA and I do know about the fog.
We have it here too.
Worth

[mtbigfish]

Worth
Which Dennis? I am Dennis in SoCalif Mtbigfish (will sign DennisL) is a few miles from Dennishorlick - but mine is zone 10 bordering zone 9 -usually Feb-Mar if we even get one I wrap or cover with Agribon (adds 10-20 F) or frost covers (down to 26 F) had to last month for my fall plants still growing - cover blew off one plant and I lost it

I also set plants out in Feb-Mar and then stagger during season
Though late at setting seeds - may have to buy a few plants at the Fullerton College Arboretum
this year - all OP -
DennisL


Back to DennisH
I think Druzba, Stupice or Matina, Black Krim any Russian or almost any mid season and even long season if you time your plantings to flower before the heat season or after (late Jul-Sept) as once the blossums are set the maters will grow - try shade cover, dampened slightly in Aug heat - my parents - now gone - lived in Hemet where temp was constantly cooler in Spring and scorching hot in the summer - my mom watered when the plants were drooping in the AM (don't overwater) and covered with shade covers in the afternnoon - and she had a brown thumb - not green - and produced tons of maters from 6 plants every summer for 20 years - you should be OK just play around with it and be prepared for frost with covers and heat with shade covers and diligence on watering - YOU WILL BE OK
I haven't tried any of the heat tolerant varieties though I have wanted to but maybe someone has experience with them - Last season I was moving and didn't get seeds planted so bought some plants all OP but had some disease problems - planted late and some that made it put blossums on in June-Jul and others that tried to bloom in Aug just blossumed and the dropped them - a few plants started to blossum after the Aug-mid Sept heat and produced maters though not as many so you should be OK - at least at night you get the temp to drop a little more than inland where night time temp stays too high - which gives you a better chance of setting fruit
DennisL

[Worth1]

The originator of the thread.
That Dennis I thinks DennisH said they put out plants in April.
I don’t know how big they were or anything, at this point I am grasping at straws and only making suggestions from what I have read.
For years I put out tomatoes with my parents in Mo and Ok we would put them out early and we started from seed.
We would then protect them from frost with coffee cans.
We always got a ton of tomatoes.
Later in life I got onto gardening again and never got anything but cherry tomatoes to put out.
The reason being is the stores didn’t have plants till it was too late to put out tomatoes.
I tried all f the sprays to no avail still bloom drop.
Then one day I noticed a gardener had huge plants of 2 feet or more in February and they got large tomatoes to set.
Until I started reading on garden web about temperature and bloom set and how sprays did nothing to help I was clueless.
I just put out tomatoes earlier with better luck.
Now I know why my parents started from seed and planted early.
To this day I will put out tomato sets hope for the best and keep plenty in reserve just in case of a late frost or freeze.
I have Carolyn and the rest of the good folks here to thank for this information.
Worth