Fall Tomato Crop Progressing

[Keiththibodeaux]

The fall tomatoes are progressing nicely. The heat set varieties all have tomatoes just a little larger than golf balls and are full of flowers, standing at about 3 feet on average.

The non-heat sets are nearing 5 feet and full of flowers but with no tomatoes, yet. We have a good 30 to 60 days of growth left, depending on how the fall goes, so we should harvest quite a few.

After this horridly hot and mostly dry summer, I am happy for whatever I get.

Anyone else out there in the south growing a fall crop.

[kenny_j]

Trying to figure it out, tomatoes are of tropical origin, but don't do well in extreme heat. Is that because of the variety, or did they originate in coastal areas with moderated heat levels.

[b54red]

Kenny,I don't think it is so much the heat as the diseases and pests that have become so prominent in many of the very hot areas where there is also high humidity. Also down here in the deep south the root knot nematode and fusarium can really shorten the life of tomato plants. I still have two productive tomatoes that were planted in mid march and no doubt they will live til a hard freeze; but they are the exceptions down here.

Kieth, I have a lot of plants out from a foot tall to over 7 feet tall but most of the tomatoes that have set are still small and the plants are spindlier than usual due to the extreme dry weather we have had this year. I think that most of my fall tomatoes will be much smaller than usual this year no matter what the variety. Most of the tomatoes I have picked in the last 6 weeks have been very small but very tasty. I just can't keep them adequately watered and we keep missing all the rains that have hit all around us this summer and fall.

Please post the varieties that perform the best this fall so we can compare notes. So far early this fall the Indian Stripe is out performing all others because of its' ability to set fruit in the hot dry weather; but many of the others are starting to set and I am hoping to find a few more that can handle the horrid weather.

[Elizabeth]

I got started pretty late on mine, but they are doing great. They are loving this fall weather. I hope to pot them in 15 gallon SmartPots (I have newly discovered nematodes in the main garden) with proper support in front of a west facing brick garden wall tomorrow - I had them in 2 gallon pots on the patio as a temporary holding zone while I was out of town. A couple (one is Glacier for sure) have a handful of small fruits that are about the size of a small cherry tomato. Most of the varieties have blossoms. Our first frost date isn't until Nov 21, and most years we don't get a killing frost at all, so there is plenty of time for them to do their thing.

The first pic was August 25 (like I said, late start!), Sept 10, Sept 17, Sept 25. They sure seem to be sizing up faster than Spring planted tomatoes, but maybe it's my Spring anxiety for tomatoes that makes it seem longer then.

So far I'm quite pleased with how it's going. Fall tomatoes are a first for me - we used to live in an area that was really nailed by frost in the Fall so it wasn't feasible. My only concern here is the Santa Ana winds - they can be pretty wicked - hot and dry and rough - they usually show up in October, and can last several days. I'm putting them near the brick wall for warmth, but I hope the winds don't shred them on the rough bricks.

[Keiththibodeaux]

Originally Posted by kenny_j

Trying to figure it out, tomatoes are of tropical origin, but don't do well in extreme heat. Is that because of the variety, or did they originate in coastal areas with moderated heat levels.

I have a friend in Brazil who has promised to send me seeds of two different native tomatoes from that region. Only one of those do they consider edible. They will be fun to hybridize with.