Greenhouse tomatoes

[woodcrafts]

Can anyone advise what the best tomatoes are to grow our greenhouse? We live in mid-E. Georgia, and it does get hot here, as well as cold in winter.

[travis]

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[Fred Hempel]

I would argue that the first article lists the "most widely grown" tomato varieties, not the best.

McDonalds is likely the most widely sold hamburger, but it is not "the best"

[Heritage]

Woodcrafts,

Commercial greenhouse tomato growers keep the day/night temperature within a rather narrow range. If you have the ability to regulate temperature, all tomatoes will be at their best, including the OP/heirlooms. If you are growing in hoop houses (plastic covered frames with only rollup sides for cooling and no supplemental cooling/heating) then you will be limited to varieties that are specific to the seasonal climate in the hoop house. Also, without keeping night temps in your winter greenhouse above the mid 50F range your winter tomatoes will likely have poor texture and little flavor, no matter what the variety.

Good luck,
Steve

[Fred Hempel]

As a follow-up to my earlier comment on "best" greenhouse tomatoes. In my experience Johnny's Selected does a great job of selecting greenhouse tomatoes with all of the traits needed for the greenhouse (mainly leaf-mold resistance and TMV resistance -- assuming that plants are not grown in the soil).

I would put the selection of tomatoes with commercial traits at Johnny's up against the ones on the "most-widely-grown" list and wager large sums of money, if I could bet on the all-around results.

Yes. I have a breeding contract with Johnny's. But, I signed that contract, in large part because of my assessment of their selection of tomatoes with commercial traits prior to signing the contract.

[travis]

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[woodcrafts]

Thanks Fred, I am just stating with greenhouse crops. Farmers Market and home use are the goal. Our market folks go for flavor. They go for the garden grown Rutgers, and Marion a lot. I will check out your suggestion.

[Cole_Robbie]

I'm only a small-time market grower, and I will only sell what I think is good to eat. Most commercial varieties are too firm for my liking in regard to flavor; that's what makes them ship well and last longer on store shelves.

I have good luck with Big Beef as an indeterminate slicer.

I think I'm going to go back to determinates next year. I grow Taxi as a Yellow, Orange Blossom F1 from Johnny's as an orange, and Polbig as a red. My outdoor garden heirloom standout this year is Anna Maria's heart. I might try a few high tunnel plants of it just to see how it does.

[woodcrafts]

Thanks to all for help. I am a retired machinist from John Deere, and farmed all my life. I am just getting started in the greenhouse growing. My wife and I are growing lettuce to sell at our local farmers market. We wish to try tomatoes and a few other crops also. We are by no means large. With both of us at 70 we don't want large, rather to play a bit. Again thanks for the help and further leads.