What to plant?

[glypnirsgirl]

I have space for 8 tomato plants. I have many varieties that germinated and the plants are vigorous and hardened off. Now I am having to choose between varieties. Here is what I have decided so far:


The definites:
Box Car Willie
African Togo
Cherokee Purple

To choose between:
Tiny Tim
Black Cherry
Big Yellow Zebra
Banana Legs
Ceylon
Amana Orange
Ananas Noir
Violeta Crispm Roso

I know I want at least one cherry tomato and I only have two varieties, the Black Cherry and Tiny Tim.

I want at least one of the "yellow" varieties - I have three to choose from Big Yellow Zebra, Banana Legs and Amana Orange. Which will do best in the heat of Texas?

Two pinks - my inclination is to let both the Ceylon and Violetz Crispm Roso make the cut. The Ceylon is supposed to do well in the heat.

I love black tomatoes for flavor. So I am inclined to include the Ananas Noir.

Still undecided. Your thoughts and feed back are greatly appreciated.

Elaine

[feldon30]

In my opinion, you are about 3 weeks late to be planting tomatoes, but maybe you get lucky with the weather.

I planted March 5th. Yes, I have had to cover them during our brushes with frost.

[bonekittyslug]

Black Cherry wins hands-down over Tiny Tim.

Then stick Tiny Tim in a 5 gallon bucket and have both!

[carolyn137]

Violeta Crispm Roso


****

Elaine, I'm not sure where you got your seed from but the above is spelled:

Violaceum Krypni-Rozo and and is a large pink and a variety I introduced many years ago. I do think there are many much better large pinks than that one, to tell the truth.

[Suze]

I know I want at least one cherry tomato and I only have two varieties, the Black Cherry and Tiny Tim.

Easy choice - Black Cherry. But as someone else suggested, put Tiny Tim in a small container to free up a slot.

I want at least one of the "yellow" varieties - I have three to choose from Big Yellow Zebra, Banana Legs and Amana Orange. Which will do best in the heat of Texas

Probably either Banana Legs or Big Yellow Zebra, considering your late planting date. Just my guess.

[glypnirsgirl]

Thank you for the insight. I think that my husband is going to build more frames so that we can have MORE TOMATOES! He was sad when he realized that I was planning on giving up some of my green children.

Thank you so much!
Elaine

[dice]

Note that Banana Legs is a paste tomato (like a Roma), while
Big Yellow Zebra and Amana Orange have the texture of slicers
or beefsteaks (more juicy, less dense).

[gallaure]

I agree with the above suggestions to add a bucket or two. You'd almost get everything in then !

I have room for zero tomato plants. Which is why I'm planting thirty.

[glypnirsgirl]

I have known that I had very little idea about what I am doing. I ordered the seeds off of ebay when I saw Cherokee Purple listed in a tomato selection --- it and Brandywine were the only heirloom tomatoes I had ever heard of. Then when the "selection" came I had heard of Box Car Willie also: there was an article about heirloom tomatoes in the local paper and the three tomatoes listed were Brandywine, Cherokee Purple and Box Car Willie. So I felt like I had hit the jackpot knowing about 3 of the 30 varieties of seeds that I had. Then after getting the seeds, I looked online for seed starting instructions and found the biodome. I ordered it as a kit from Park Seeds - it was supposed to come with a heating mat - the mat was missing. So I ordered more mats from 2 other sources - and ended up with the peat pellet seed starting kit from Ferry Morse. Then I was finally able to start my seeds - about 3 weeks later than I intended to start them.

In trying to discover information about the other varieties that i had, I discovered this forum. I have learned more here than from any other source, except for Carolyn's book - which I learned about from here.

So here is the whole list of what i had to choose from:
1,2,3 Brown berry ---- no germination
4 and 5 Black pear —
6 and 7 Big yellow zebra —
8 - 10 Box car willie - 2/3
11 - 13 Black cherry
14- 16 Cherokee Purple
17 Caspian pink - no germination
18Violeta crispm roso
19 Aunt Ruby’s German Green — no germination
20 Banana legs
21- 22 Ceylon - 1/2
23-24 Copia ½
25-26 African Togo — looks like the most vigorous of the plants
27 Amana Orange

With Carolyn's suggestion that the Violaceum Krypni-Rozo (I was attracted to the name - even though I misspelled it) is not the best choice for a pink tomato, is it the best choice for a pink from what I have to choose from? And the Ananas Noir is in the peat pots - I was planning on saving a space for it.

The other book that I have been referring to is Howard Garrett's book on Texas organic vegetable gardening. According to Howard, I can set my tomatoes out as late as May 1st ---- is this just wrong?

[kwselke]

glypnirgirl,

I only spent a year or two in the DFW area, but my guess is April 1 to May 1 are good plant out dates.

[feldon30]

Originally Posted by glypnirsgirl

The other book that I have been referring to is Howard Garrett's book on Texas organic vegetable gardening. According to Howard, I can set my tomatoes out as late as May 1st ---- is this just wrong?

Complete nonsense in my opinion.

Tomato fruitset dramatically slows down (even on so-called 'heat setter' varieties) in mid-to-late May. The ideal circumstances for good tomato fruitset are sustained overnight temperatures below 70 degrees with low humidity. That doesn't seem to happen often in June, July, or August here. Most of my plants are dead or dying by mid-July due to spider mites, stink bugs, and just overall heat stress. I really wonder how Howard gets tomatoes planting May 1st unless he is in some type microclimate up at elevation that is 5-10 degrees cooler than what we experience.

When I hear that someone got "no tomatoes" or very few in Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, it's because they planted small (4-6 inch) transplants in late April. I plant large transplants (10-14 inches) in early March and just accept the fact that we will have 3-4 cold snaps. I watch the weather websites carefully (the TV weather guys are IDIOTS) and keep sheets, blankets, row cover, or clear plastic handy to cover all my plants. Last year I got more tomatoes than I ever have.

I feel so strongly about planting large tomato transplants as early as possible that I built a website about the subject:
http://www.settfest.com/2009/01/a-cr...exas-tomatoes/

For independent verification, you might drop by one of the dozen Calloway's nurseries in and around Dallas and A) see if they have any tomato transplants yet and B) when they recommend planting.

I went to a couple nurseries last weekend and they were selling the dregs of their tomato plants.

[dice]

Violaceum Krypni-Rozo (not much data, but I do not see any
other big pinks on your list there, so this is pretty much it if
you want to grow a large-fruited pink beefsteak from the seeds
that you have now):

http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/V...um_Krypni-Rozo

A good place to check for descriptions of varieties, pictures,
etc:
http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/C...o_Variety_List

[glypnirsgirl]

Feldon - I believe you --- and thank you for the link. I was frustrated by the failure of park seeds to deliver the biodome in a timely manner. It set me off what I thought should have been my original sowing date - by more than 3 weeks. It has been a frustrating experience for me. I won't be using the biodome next year --- I have learned so much here.

I am especially fascinated by the dense planting method.

I am still hopeful for some tomatoes --- with everything that I have been through, these are going to be contenders for the world's most expensive tomatoes.

Elaine

[Suze]

Elaine, the subject of when to plant in Texas (or when one can plant with decent results) tends to occasionally be a hotly debated topic, much like whether to prune or not, are tomato plants heavy feeders or light feeders, etc, etc. *smile*

All I can offer is my personal experience. Btw, I grew tomatoes in the metroplex for years, and moved here in fall of 06. I really don't see the greater Bastrop/Austin area as too much different than what you have to deal with there. If anything, your summers are even more brutal. I rarely get temps above 98 here, and that is a hot day. In the metroplex, hot days were 105+. And, your summer heat also comes on early, just like it does here.

In any case, so far, I have seen nothing to suggest or support (based on my experience) that you could get away with a significantly later planting date than I could here, at least if you want the best possible chance of success. Optimal planting time is mid March. Even early April is usually pushing it.

FYI, many extension services in the general central Texas area will throw out a range of Mar 15 to Apr 15 - but keep in mind they are being "conservative" and also their planting window tends to be predicated on recommended vars, heatsetter types (frequently hybrids and/or hybrid determinates), which may not always deliver in the flavor dept. Now, I don't want to trash the extension services in our area (because they are better than many), but the advice does tend to be rather general or one size fits all, and may also be biased towards what commercial growers do. I'll be nice, but in short, I just don't agree with it as a "best" practice" for home gardeners. And planting to May 1, well, lol. That just *might* work somewhat some years, with some varieties...

Good luck with your plants, get 'em in asap, and hope for a cool summer - or at least, cool nights for a while. You will probably get some tomatoes, especially from the smaller fruited and cherry types, as they tend to set better in heat.

[feldon30]

I also hope that you'll make it to the SETTFest which Suze and I put on. Bring grocery bags because there will be extra tomatoes I'm sure.