Best zone/state/etc. for tomatoes

[tam91]

Well I'm sure there's not just one, and plenty of room for argument. But I'm curious, what's ideal for tomatoes.

If you're too far south, I presume it's too hot in summer. But, you could get two crops - are both those seasons long? How hot is too hot?

Too far north, seasons are short.

Just curious, what a tomato plant finds ideal, and which growers have it easiest as far as weather.

[dustdevil]

KY seems to be a good spot for growing all sorts of things.

[b54red]

I can almost divide my seasons into three separate times. The late spring and early summer season, the mid and late summer season and the fall season.

Spring & early summer: when more varieties are successful, especially the ones that don't do well in high heat. This is usually the most productive time for more varieties down here.

Mid & late summer: this is best for the varieties that can set fruit in the heat and the more disease resistant varieties. Despite our high heat I have found some varieties that thrive during this time with adequate watering.

Fall: this is the most difficult season because the seedlings have to survive the plant out in the late summer heat wave and yet still be able to make fruit before the cold weather kills them.

[tam91]

I'm here in Illinois - so I'm sure Kentucky gets a longer season than I. But, it was so hot here last summer, things shut down for a bit. Wonder if that wouldn't happen there too?

B54red, so you get a lot more opportunities than we do. Sounds like your first season is similar to ours as far as difficulty goes then. Tomatoes spring through fall... jealous...

[TomNJ]

New Joisey of course

TomNJ

[cottonpicker]

TomNJ.....Is that true? I'm sure we all take a sense of pride in our own locales. I'm a transplanted Pennsylvanian ...not a native.. but I've been "over there in Joisey" and bought "Jersey Tomatoes" but found them pretty much like any other variety from anywhere else. Folks around "these parts" in PA rave about them and look forward to them....perhaps remembering how they once were...years ago? I dunno..... you do have some sandy soil which we don't have here in SE PA... maybe that's the difference??? Joisey does raise some awesome blueberries which I dearly love!!!!! Nuthin' like that aroun' here... Not trying to be cantankerous, just playfully jumping in on this discussion.... with tongue in cheek.
Happy Holidays!!!!!!!
LarryD

[PaulF]

Having experienced only two areas, south central Iowa and southeast Nebraska, my choice is Iowa. We were just south enough to have a longer season than even fifty miles north and not so baking hot as fifty miles south into Missouri. Rainfall was normally 25% more than here in hot, dry and windy Ne. The Iowa soils are considered the best in the world for growing food ... that's the reason for Iowa being called the "breadbasket of the world".

The only drawback to Iowa is that it is too easy to have great results without really working at it. Here in the Loess Hills of near-desert Nebraska it takes work to succeed on a regular basis. Humility is a quickly learned trait growing tomatoes in soil the texture of flour with a pH of 8.5, little rainfall at the right time, lots at the wrong time, howling winds all the time and a baking sun to boot. Life lessons learned; it could be worse I know. At least I don't fight rocks and hardpan.

[Tom C zone 4/5]

NJ is-was a major area for seasonal tomatoes in the northeast.

[tam91]

Wow Paul, that does sound like quite a pitched battle!

[PaulF]

Naah, not really. Just more attention needs to be paid now than before. It does sound a little grim, doesn't it? By the time spring gets here, I'll be looking forward to the battle again. Every year here gets easier.

[TomNJ]

Originally Posted by cottonpicker

TomNJ.....Is that true?

That's my blindly loyal, unsubstantiated position and I'm sticking to it!

Actually, I did read somewhere that the soil chemistry in the coastal plain of New Jersey was different from surrounding areas in the northeast, and the article attributed the fame of Jersey tomatoes to this. I know the soil here is a lovely sandy loam and the summers are not too hot, but I can't speak to the relevance of the soil chemistry. Personally I think Jersey's reputation for tomatoes had more to do with clever marketing years ago.

TomNJ

[cottonpicker]

Great answer......from, evidently, an honest & well-balanced guy!

LarryD

[chalstonsc]

B54,
I'm in the heat and humidity of coastal SC. What varieties have you found to "thrive" during the mid and late summer??? I've tried a bunch of varieties, including cherries and larger ones regularly referred to as heat tolerant, but none have been able to manage more than a stray fruitset or two for me at that time of year, and I would guess our climate is not that different. Around here, after mid-late summer cools down enough for fruitset to restart(at end of August to mid September), there is barely enough time before average first frost around November 11th for much to get big enough and ripen. What does ripen, doesn't have full taste because of cool and sometimes cold nights they've gone through, and they're usually more prone to pests and more likely to be poorly shaped. What you get in the Fall are better than nothing, but I'm not sure they qualify as a "season".
Until you please let me know those varieties that "thrive" in the mid-late summer, the season around here really is Spring and has to start as early as possible(mid-late March plantout) before the heat and humidity shut fruitset down usually somewhere between mid-June and early July. Any suggestions you might have will be welcomed....

[Stepheninky]

KY gets cold in winter and hot in summer but yea the growing season is a little better than up north. We tend to be very dry in the summers here so I would probably say Tennessee and Georgia would be them most favorable to tomatoes. Really though it depends on variety a lot as well. Most early types probably tend to do better in norther climates and us people in the south tend to grow longer season tomatoes so it would depend on what your top 5 list of tomatoes is I guess lol.

[Fred Hempel]

My highly biased opinion is that the best tomatoes and peppers grow in wine country..

Little to no rain (negligible blight) and warm but not scalding. Sometimes our nights could be a little warmer though.

One thing I know for sure is that San Francisco/Oakland/Berkeley is the worst place to grow tomatoes.