Top 5 varieties for cooler climates

[Gardeneer]

I have gardened in PNW for 3 season and I know the issue.
Oregon State University (OSU, in Oregon ) has developed several varieties for cool PNW weather:They are
SILETZ
LEGEND
OREGON SPRING
WILLAMETTE.
INDIGO ROSE

I have grown all of them in NW Washington state with relatively good success. I have liked Siletz and Willamette best. They set fruit in cool weather and thrive in cool PNW weather.

[AKmark]

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

I have gardened in PNW for 3 season and I know the issue.
Oregon State University (OSU, in Oregon ) has developed several varieties for cool PNW weather:They are
SILETZ
LEGEND
OREGON SPRING
WILLAMETTE.
INDIGO ROSE

I have grown all of them in NW Washington state with relatively good success. I have liked Siletz and Willamette best. They set fruit in cool weather and thrive in cool PNW weather.

It rains in PNW?

[cloz]

Mat-Su Express should be good for Finland.

Cloz

[Gardeneer]

Originally Posted by AKmark

It rains in PNW?

It drizzles a lot. But summer months ( July, August and September ) are relatively dry, with about 2.5" of rain per month.

[AKmark]

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

It drizzles a lot. But summer months ( July, August and September ) are relatively dry, with about 2.5" of rain per month.

Drier than I expected. It is a pretty short flight for us, so we used to go there now and then, seemed like it usually was damp. My wife used to live up in Vancouver, and I know a Tomato grower there, he said it can be wet.

Cloz, your probably right, but I have mostly grown them in a controlled environment, some outside though. I just suggested reliable ones I grew in the garden a few times.

Good years I can grow about anything outside, but bad summers in AK can drive a person to near madness. Temps can trend, during the daytime, in the 50's and low 60's for weeks, month's sometimes, drizzle, drizzle, and more of it. I remember a summer that I swear the sun did not shine for a week out of the summer, even greenhouse growing is affected. I'm not sure what Finland is like, so I suggested on the side of caution.

[Gardeneer]

Originally Posted by AKmark

Drier than I expected. It is a pretty short flight for us, so we used to go there now and then, seemed like it usually was damp. My wife used to live up in Vancouver, and I know a Tomato grower there, he said it can be wet.

In NW WA Humidity is pretty comfortable year round. And annual rainfall is not that high but its drizzles, drizzles , gently rains 6 months of the year. I have lived in many places in the mainland and have not seen a weather like PNW weather. I can best describe it perfect for growing cool crops, shrubs and flowers. In a good year you can grow good tomatoes. But the season is short. Traditional plant out is in mid May and it won't warm up until July. Practically the season will be over some time in October, not because of frost danger but it will be just too cold for tomatoes. There is two months of window of harvest : August and September.
The OSU breed of tomatoes do better in that climate.

[Fritz77]

Thank you all very much for your interesting tips and opinions. I didn’t expect such a return. I’m going to try to sum up your considerations and pass them on to my friend. Maybe she should join Tomatoville.
Cloz, if your cousin grew Black Russian successfully, there is one I can definitely suggest her (let me know what the other varieties were). Other agree on Siletz which I also read about, so here is another one I may recommend her. I also think that Russian (Siberian) varieties in general could do well. Good to know that black tomatoes perform well: that actually matches my taste!
Kudos to you all tomato growers from the very cold regions of this planet! You manage to grow tomatoes even in Alaska and I struggle to get good yields “Under the Tuscan Sun”…..
Finland is by far the coldest place I’ve ever been to. My wife comes from a town located 200 miles NE of Helsinki. We usually try to go there on holiday twice a year, in the late Finnish summer (August) and at Christmas. Last summer it was ok. Two summers ago it rained almost every day and the temperature reached 20° C (68° F) only in two occasions. It really felt to me like Fall already. Only a few of my mother- in-law’s tomatoes (I ignored the variety, some round, smooth tomatoes the size of a tennis ball) ripened at the very very end of the season (that is late September). Most of them on the kitchen counter. This past Christmas we had unusual very warm weather, hardly any snow and temperatures around 0° C (32° F). A week after we left they dropped to -25°C (-13° F). I have experienced a record -37°C (-35°F) one morning some ten years ago. That day I understood why Finns invented the Sauna….
In Helsinki the weather is a little milder, but not very much. At least that’s what I remember from the years my wife (at the time girlfriend) lived there.
Back to the controversial issue of the hardiness zones and temperatures: in some way I tend to agree with Tormato but at the same time I understand AKMark’s point of view.
Karen and NG: your posts are very encouraging and confirm my idea: it’s possible to grow bigger, tastier and more beautiful tomatoes even in cold areas. They don’t necessarily have to be early-mid season ones. You just have to dare and take good care of your babies.

[bower]

FWIW I also agree with KarenO and NarnianGarden about seedling strategies. Potting up to get even larger plants before the season starts is certainly a good way for a home gardener to grow later varieties than the normal season would allow. This would not be feasible on a farm scale but is doable for a home gardener. Cold treatment of seedlings is also a must for us here in my climate.

However in a summer as you described, with two days reaching 68 F, the large fruited midseason varieties are unlikely to do well, even if they are sturdy and flowering before they go out, unless there is (or even if there is) a lot of extra coddling and protection techniques used to warm their roots, moderate night time lows by covering, etc. We have had summers like that, so does AKMark, and while you will likely get a few mature green fruit it is a disappointing return for the effort. The smaller fruited varieties which he recommended are well worth growing alongside the others to ensure that there is something that does well. Some of them, like Moravsky Div for example, seem to be even tastier in cold conditions. While delicious later varieties like Indian Stripe may not taste outstanding at all in less than optimal conditions. Some beefs also have pretty bad catfacing and other defects in the cold. There are a lot of genetic differences hiding behind similar fruit, which affects their performance in less ideal conditions. So it is good to try many varieties and to grow a few reliable ones as you find them, that are sure to provide.

[Fritz77]

Originally Posted by bower

FWIW I also agree with KarenO and NarnianGarden about seedling strategies. Potting up to get even larger plants before the season starts is certainly a good way for a home gardener to grow later varieties than the normal season would allow. This would not be feasible on a farm scale but is doable for a home gardener. Cold treatment of seedlings is also a must for us here in my climate.

However in a summer as you described, with two days reaching 68 F, the large fruited midseason varieties are unlikely to do well, even if they are sturdy and flowering before they go out, unless there is (or even if there is) a lot of extra coddling and protection techniques used to warm their roots, moderate night time lows by covering, etc. We have had summers like that, so does AKMark, and while you will likely get a few mature green fruit it is a disappointing return for the effort. The smaller fruited varieties which he recommended are well worth growing alongside the others to ensure that there is something that does well. Some of them, like Moravsky Div for example, seem to be even tastier in cold conditions. While delicious later varieties like Indian Stripe may not taste outstanding at all in less than optimal conditions. Some beefs also have pretty bad catfacing and other defects in the cold. There are a lot of genetic differences hiding behind similar fruit, which affects their performance in less ideal conditions. So it is good to try many varieties and to grow a few reliable ones as you find them, that are sure to provide.

The two days of 68° F were during my vacation (two weeks) in August. June and July especially, were probably warmer. However cool and rainy summers in Southern Finland are not so rare.
I agree with you. I think a good strategy could be growing some of the varieties that most of you expert Northern Growers consider reliable even in cool climates (Moravskyi Div, Siletz, Stupice, Azoychka, Black Krim, Pearly Pink Orange, Chernomor….) and then try each season a few of those that could possibly do well.
This is going to be interesting.

[cloz]

Fritz,
Your mother-in-law must live directly inlands (east) of where I grew up. I am from Jakobstad (Pietarsaari), which is located on the Gulf of Botnia about 250 miles north of Helsinki. She must be in the Jyväskylä or Kuopio area. Your mother-in-law's location can be one of the coldest regions in Finland during the winter. The coastline is warmed by the water until it freezes over. I used to go see the ice breakers when they came into the harbor in the winter. I don't remember any unusual weather patterns during the summer in the years that I lived there.

Cloz

[Gardeneer]

Originally Posted by bower

FWIW I also agree with KarenO and NarnianGarden about seedling strategies. Potting up to get even larger plants before the season starts is certainly a good way for a home gardener to grow later varieties than the normal season would allow. This would not be feasible on a farm scale but is doable for a home gardener. Cold treatment of seedlings is also a must for us here in my climate.

However in a summer as you described, with two days reaching 68 F, the large fruited midseason varieties are unlikely to do well, even if they are sturdy and flowering before they go out, unless there is (or even if there is) a lot of extra coddling and protection techniques used to warm their roots, moderate night time lows by covering, etc. We have had summers like that, so does AKMark, and while you will likely get a few mature green fruit it is a disappointing return for the effort. The smaller fruited varieties which he recommended are well worth growing alongside the others to ensure that there is something that does well. Some of them, like Moravsky Div for example, seem to be even tastier in cold conditions. While delicious later varieties like Indian Stripe may not taste outstanding at all in less than optimal conditions. Some beefs also have pretty bad catfacing and other defects in the cold. There are a lot of genetic differences hiding behind similar fruit, which affects their performance in less ideal conditions. So it is good to try many varieties and to grow a few reliable ones as you find them, that are sure to provide.

Winter Hardiness, has very little or no significance to summer growing conditions. It just tell you how harsh or mild winters are.But there is a co relation to the length of season. For example a zone 5 locations will have much shorter warm-weather-crop season than zone 8. There are many zone 8 locations, for example, in US that have totally different summer growing conditions. I have lived and gardened in GA and WA , both zone 7b/8a. But not nearly similar summer temperatures, rain, humidity etc.
There is a more relevant zoning concept called "Heat Zone". It is about summer temperatures and how many days in summer the temperatures reach and exceed 86F.
Back to GA and WA example:
North of Seattle has a heat zone of "ONE", North of Atlanta has a heat zone of SEVEN. They both are in USDA 7b/8a zone.

[Fritz77]

Originally Posted by cloz

Fritz,
Your mother-in-law must live directly inlands (east) of where I grew up. I am from Jakobstad (Pietarsaari), which is located on the Gulf of Botnia about 250 miles north of Helsinki. She must be in the Jyväskylä or Kuopio area. Your mother-in-law's location can be one of the coldest regions in Finland during the winter. The coastline is warmed by the water until it freezes over. I used to go see the ice breakers when they came into the harbor in the winter. I don't remember any unusual weather patterns during the summer in the years that I lived there.

Cloz

My wife's parents live in Puumala, a small town between Mikkeli and Savolinna, right in the middle of the Lake district (Etelä Savo). The distance I mentioned (200 miles from HEL) is actually by car. The funny thing is that my friend who now lives in Helsinki and for whom I started this thread, actually comes from Kokkola and this past summer she got married in the nearby town of Pietarsaari! So my family and I got to visit your hometown for the first time on that occasion just a few months ago. Nice place and very different from the landscapes I’m used to see while on vacation in Finland.
It’ is indeed a small world after all….
The winters are cold in Puumala but the summers are quite warm according to Finnish standards. The heat, as well as the cold, is supposed to come from Russia which is very close to them. A few years back they had 3-4 summers in a row with unusual hot weather and someone suggested to change the name from Puumala to Kuumala (something like from Woodtown to Hottown for those who don't speak Finnish). Well, I think the following summers suggested that it would have been a dumb idea
Here is a picture my Mother-in-Law sent me last week. It's taken from their house and it's the icebreaker breaking the ice of Lake Saimaa.

[cloz]

Fritz,
The Lake district is the one areas of Finland I have not visited. I have travelled up the coast to the arctic circle and just a bit north and inlands to Kuusamo in the north. The Lake district was for my next trip to Finland but then life and children got in the way so to speak. My kids are now grown and that trip will be on my agenda in the next few years. I have a cousin in Inkeroinen and that's as close as I've gotten to that area. He used to be an engineer on the paper mill that is located there until he retired. It was interesting to take a tour of the mill.
As you said, it is a small world and getting smaller all the time.
My 2 best friends over here were from Triest in Italy. The border with Yugoslavia was in their back yard.

Cloz