What to choose for new weather in the North East?

[Elliot]

Last year we lost our tomato crop by mid august due to heat stress. What one garden expert advised is to choose tomato plants that grow better in hotter Souther climates. Any ideas?

[TightenUp]

in my norther NJ garden

kelloggs breakfast and cherokee purple both did very well last season

all my cherries did well - black cherry, sungold f1, husky cherry, sweet 100 and super sweet 100

for years my father had good success with rutgers, ramapo, burpee big girl, early girl, and any other seedlings bought at the local garden center.

[Elliot]

Originally Posted by TightenUp

in my norther NJ garden

kelloggs breakfast and cherokee purple both did very well last season

all my cherries did well - black cherry, sungold f1, husky cherry, sweet 100 and super sweet 100

for years my father had good success with rutgers, ramapo, burpee big girl, early girl, and any other seedlings bought at the local garden center.

Did Kelloggs breakfast and Cherokee purple do well for you last summer in the heat? We tried both and both got wiped out. The only tomatoes that lasted into the end of the summer were sweet 100 and some of the grape tomatoes.

[TightenUp]

Originally Posted by Elliot

Did Kelloggs breakfast and Cherokee purple do well for you last summer in the heat? We tried both and both got wiped out. The only tomatoes that lasted into the end of the summer were sweet 100 and some of the grape tomatoes.

yes they did great. i heavily watered when the temps got high

[pinklady5]

I live in Central Jersey and last year I did 18 plants. I stepped it up from the usual 4 plants in the past. All produced well except for MP and lasted into September. It may have been luck. My hybrids were actually the worst producing plants for me. This is what I planted:

KBX
Earl's Faux
Marianna's Peace - survived but few fruit.
Cuostralee
Prudens Purple
Barlow Jap
Better Boy
Ramapo
Black Krim
Juanne Flamme
Black Cherry
Sungold

[Elliot]

[QUOTE=pinklady5;319274]I live in Central Jersey and last year I did 18 plants. I stepped it up from the usual 4 plants in the past. All produced well except for MP and lasted into September. It may have been luck. My hybrids were actually the worst producing plants for me. This is what I planted:


I wonder if you got the same degree of heat and humidity that Long Island got in the middle of the summer. It may only be a couple of degrees different that may have made the difference. I know that I had the worst tomato season in history. Most of my plants turned brown and died by the middle of august. One expert said it must have been a fungus and others say it was heat stress and I have to look into the varieties that they grow in the south . Who knows

[b54red]

I don't know if they are a pest up there but spider mites are usually a real problem when the weather gets near 100 for an extended time. I usually have good luck with most of the black tomatoes even when the temps exceed 100. The tomatoes will be smaller and there will be fewer of them in very hot weather. Judicious pruning of the plant to stop too many suckers will also help. I have found through trial and error that tomatoes need a lot of water and a bit of extra fertilizer to set fruit when the temperatures get above the mid 90s.

Over the years the following full size varieties have shown themselves to be fairly productive during the warmer times of summer and fall. They don't succeed every year but they have been repeatedly productive despite the heat. The one thing that will always slow or stop production is spider mites so be vigilant in watching for them.

Indian Stripe
Big Beef
Cherokee Purple
JD's Special C Tex
Dana's Dusky Rose
Gary O' Sena
Eva Purple Ball
Neves Azorean Red
Black Krim
Frank's Large Red
Andrew Rahart's Jumbo Red
KBX
Zogola
Lescana
Dr. Wyches Yellow
Terhune
Stump of the World
Kosovo
Fish Lake Oxheart
Marianna's Peace
Lumpy Red

[Elliot]

We tried black crim and prudence purple last summer. No good. The only tomatoes we got anything out of it was sweet 100 and grape. Even those dies early. What happened is that the branches started turning brown and this went right up each plant. Could it have been a blight? Maybe. Could it have been heat stess? More possibly because in September when the temperatures dropped, the plants looked like they were attempting to rejuvenate themselves but it was too late.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Elliot

We tried black crim and prudence purple last summer. No good. The only tomatoes we got anything out of it was sweet 100 and grape. Even those dies early. What happened is that the branches started turning brown and this went right up each plant. Could it have been a blight? Maybe. Could it have been heat stess? More possibly because in September when the temperatures dropped, the plants looked like they were attempting to rejuvenate themselves but it was too late.

That sounds almost like fusarium wilt which I have heard is not a problem up that far north but maybe it was verticillum wilt. I have never had good luck with Prudens Purple late into the summer but have done well with it early in the season. Black Krim has done well during the heat sometimes but not always. The best are Indian Stripe, Big Beef, Cherokee Purple, Neves Azorean Red and Andrew Rahart's Jumbo Red.

Are you growing in containers? Did you check for spider mites?

[Father'sDaughter]

I don't recall if it got as hot here as it did where you are, but most of mine didn't seemed to be too bothered by our weather. The only ones that had low production for me were Perth Pride, Yukon Quest, Terhune, and a couple of the Tastywine and Boronia plants I grew for the Dwarf Project. But I don't know how much the weather was the cause.

The others were all happy as could be, and some of the pastes only really started producing when the weather got hotter. In addition to those mentioned above, I grew:

Red Pear
San Marzano Redorta
Rocky
Opalka
Casino
Jersey Devil
Costoluto Genovese
Russo Sicilian Togeta
Sorrento
Virginia Sweets
Pink Honey
Franchi cherry
Kimberley
Ailsa Craig
Iditarod Red
Yapnskiy Karlik
Dwarf Champion Improved

I think it is interesting and almost funny that someone in the New York/New Jersey area is asking for suggested varieties to grow in his or her area. When I think of tomatoes, my mind seems to automatically picture New Jersey because it has such a rich historical relationship to commercially grown tomatoes. I also believe Cornell University performed some of the earliest research and development on tomatoes and tomato varieties. Florida later developed a historical reputation for commercial varieties. I seem to remember asking for heat tolerant suggestions when I first grew tomatoes in Louisiana and Texas. I would have been very happy to find a resource like Tomatoville when I first started. Unfortunately Al Gore didn't invent the internet until much later.

Ted

[Sun City Linda]

Originally Posted by tedln

I think it is interesting and almost funny that someone in the New York/New Jersey area is asking for suggested varieties to grow in his or her area. When I think of tomatoes, my mind seems to automatically picture New Jersey because it has such a rich historical relationship to commercially grown tomatoes. I also believe Cornell University performed some of the earliest research and development on tomatoes and tomato varieties. Florida later developed a historical reputation for commercial varieties. I seem to remember asking for heat tolerant suggestions when I first grew tomatoes in Louisiana and Texas. I would have been very happy to find a resource like Tomatoville when I first started. Unfortunately Al Gore didn't invent the internet until much later.

Ted

[Elliot]

the weather patter last summer was more like texas than Jersey. If it persists this year, we will need to look for plants that tolerate heat

[lakelady]

Elliot, last year was a horribly hot summer for us. I'm not sure you need to change all your varieties, but why not intersperse some of the usuals with one or two that are more drought tolerant. For me, I found the bigger healthier plants did better during drought/stress. Mule Team did fabulously well, as did Berkley Tie Dye during the heat. Spider mites DID try to invade my garden, and a few dwarfs got them, but I kept hitting them with the hose and made sure I would mist the leaves too (usually I do NOT wet leaves due to septoria problems where I am).

[efisakov]

Hi, Elliot,
I am in NJ right next to NY City. 2012 had strange weather during the winter as well: too warm, we were fishing through the winter. Summer time for me was rainy in June and then hot in July. But weather was not the only problem. I do not recall a year with so many different bugs: all sizes and shapes. I grow organically, I only spray with soap, epsom salt and backing powder. It was not an easy to save some of the tomatoes.
At the end of August Rutgers University has its tomato tasting day. I went there with many questions on my mind: what do they use to spray their tomatoes, what varieties did well for them. I know few years ago they have Black from Tula as one of the most productive. But apparently they do not grow organically. So, no help for me.
The best producers/survivors last year were: Carbon, Eva Purple Ball, Japanese black Trifele, Cherokee Purple, Golden Cherokee, Matina, Black Cherry...
good luck