Heatmaster Tomato

[DonDuck]

Last summer I replaced about twenty open pollinated tomato plants which died in the 110 degree F heat with Heatmaster hybrid tomatoes. I have never tried the variety and knew nothing about the cultivar, but quickly learned they love the heat and the bright sunlight. They did not like even partial shade. They were one of the most productive, great tasting tomatoes I've ever grown.


I purchased some Heatmaster seed and germinated my own seedlings this year. I had a hard time deciding if I wanted to germinate and plant the seedlings along with my other varieties in early spring or wait and germinate and plant the seedling after the summer heat arrives. I germinated and planted them early. I think I did the right thing because they are about thirty six inches tall in late April and loaded with small tomatoes and blossoms. Now I will wait to see if growing them in cooler weather works as well as growing in hot weather for taste.

[Scooty]

Heatmaster I think is out of seminis. If I remember correctly, it was developed in Texas, hence why it also has a lot's of built in resistance - VFFNATSt.

[Barb_FL]

I remember another thread where you spoke highly about heatmaster. I had purchased seeds (pretty sure it was a substitution made by the vendor) so I sowed at that time.

I have 3 plants; We had a horrible hail storm a month ago and my one plant was beheaded. It is in full sun, and one month later it has so many tomatoes and blossoms. It also gets a ton of wind and one of the plants where I don't have a T-POST to secure it.

The other two fared better in the storm but don't get the same sunlight and are nowhere near as productive or look as good.


I will be thrilled if they taste good. Nice short plant. I'm going to look for an area where I can get a cutting if it will produce in the summer. (By August, temperature will typically be 90 as high, but 82-84 for night time lows which seems to be the determining factor for fruit set).

Right now we're creeping back into the low 80s with accompanying night time lows getting over 72. We had an awesome 10 days of cooler weather and night time lows in the mid-high 60s.

[DonDuck]

I think Heatmaster is a determinate variety. My summer planted plants last year only grew to about five feet tall last year before they were killed by the first hard frost of fall. I didn't get a chance to see if they would die naturally after they produced their crop of tomatoes.


This year, I am debating germinating a second round of Heatmaster plants for mid summer plant out if the spring planted crop dies after producing. i probably will trust the farm supply store to have a supply for those people who want to plant a fall garden.

[Barb_FL]

My plant is about 2' tall and 2' wide. Even the ones that were not beheaded are short.

The other determinate I grew - Mountain Fresh Plus didn't die after fruit set. It doesn't grow much but is still setting blossoms and some tomatoes. It is probably 3' tall.

I like these short plants; next time I need to use the square cages though.

[DonDuck]

My plants this year have much thicker stems and seem more bushy than the plants I grew last year. Their appearance leads me to believe they were developed more for farming tomatoes than gardening tomatoes.

[wildcat62]

Trying these this year myself.

[slugworth]

I saved seeds from last year's crop but they never popped.
It was good enough to save seeds from a store bought plant.
I saved seeds from a 12oz phoenix and those popped.
Another hot weather tomato.

[luke]

Originally Posted by slugworth

I saved seeds from last year's crop but they never popped.
It was good enough to save seeds from a store bought plant.
I saved seeds from a 12oz phoenix and those popped.
Another hot weather tomato.

I have a few Phoenix in the ground and they are loaded with tomatoes. I am adding a few more as time passes to see how long they produce, and will probably start more seedlings for a late summer planting for the fall.

[slugworth]

I had a 12oz last year and saved the seeds from that for this year.
You can clone them to get more for the fall

[slugworth]

Another type that does well in the heat is husky red cherry.
Normally a patio/container plant,put it in the ground instead.

[DonDuck]

I've grown Husky Red Cherry quite often in the past and thought it was a great Cherry. In my opinion, it is one of the few cherry tomatoes with full, robust; tomato flavor. I'm not growing it this year.


This year, I am growing twelve heatmaster and twelve big beef plants with a few other vatieties scattered around the garden. All of them are growing and blooming well. If the weather permits, it should be a good harvest.

[slugworth]

It was funny,the label on the tray for the husky red cherry said determinate,but the label that is stuck in the individual plants said indeterminate.
From growing it last year the plants I had were semi-determinate.
You get a flush of tomatoes,then nothing.Then a second flush.
They don't like their roots disturbed,I tried to save a few plants before frost hit but they died after the transplant.

[gdaddybill]

You might also try Sun Leaper and Grand Marshall. They are hot weather tomatoes and so far they are beautiful semi-determinate plants loaded with big tomatoes. None ripe yet so I may withdraw my recommendation later on.


I also have the San Antonio Rodeo tomato for this year--Red Snapper. It's loaded with big tomatoes but none to try yet. These typically are commercial varieties that have done well in the San Antonio area. Usually beautiful and productive but little better than grocery store tomatoes.

[Barb_FL]

Originally Posted by gdaddybill

You might also try Sun Leaper and Grand Marshall. They are hot weather tomatoes and so far they are beautiful semi-determinate plants loaded with big tomatoes. None ripe yet so I may withdraw my recommendation later on.


I also have the San Antonio Rodeo tomato for this year--Red Snapper. It's loaded with big tomatoes but none to try yet. These typically are commercial varieties that have done well in the San Antonio area. Usually beautiful and productive but little better than grocery store tomatoes.

I never heard of Sun Leaper but saw when Johnny's was selling Grand Marshall. I think by the time I may have bought it, they weren't selling to home gardeners. Keep us posted on how they do / taste. I did buy Gahalad (another determinate), and planted 2 and one in the hotter part of the garden and it did not handle heat well at all.

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My heatmaster started really well last year but I also grew Grandeur (another hybrid) that handles heat but is not a heat variety and Grandeur was way more productive and set fruit long after HM. After about the first 25 Heatmaster tomatoes, the rest were really small whereas Grandeur stayed more consistent in size / taste.



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How does growing out the F2s work out? I stopped trying many years ago because of the expense of growing tomatoes in containers.