The cherry do really well here and will do very well from seed. You can even grow them in containers. I have not had much luck with other varieties. It gets too warm for the huge tomatoes (I used to live in Sacramento...mmmm...what perfect weather for those huge tomatoes). Please keep me/us updated on how you do (I bought an Early girl this year and hope it does well.)

Im growing Brandywine and Beef steaks now. I will keep you updated on success.

Michael, when did you get those two in the ground? I'm trying to get a general idea for next year. All four of my plants were put in the ground on Feb 21. Could have been sooner this year.

The Sweet 100 plant I have now is 5+ feet tall and doing quite well. Too bad I've got to top it at 6 feet. One of my two Early Girls is doing good, the other has a large black spot issue, not BER related. The Roma has BER pretty bad. It started okay but now I'd estimate 70%+ of the fruit has BER. Don't fully understand it yet. I've been more consistent about watering this year than any other and have even mulched for the first time.

I hope to try Sungold and Rutgers for fall planting. Hope others chime in with good fall varieties. I've got room for 4-5 plants in one of my raised beds plus I want to try my hand at self watering containers.

I've got a husky chery tomato plant that is doing well indoors in a container about to give off its first ripe tomato.

I'd also like to know what works well in this hot hot desert.

mister gin, my gardens are in full sun and the soil makes a huge difference in this heat. I split my plants and did some in a raised bed with more porous garden soil, and some in sunken beds with native (clay) soil/composted manure/coco coir. Once it heats up, the tomatoes in the clay soil do much better. You want to plant when soil temp is 50+. I planted out starts in the sunken beds on Feb 28 and all plants are very healthy and prolific. We did build a shade structure that provides intermittent sun and shade and I believe that's helping. I have 6 types of heirlooms and 3 others that volunteered out of the compost. Sorry to say that one of the heirlooms was black cherry and they didn't like the heat AT ALL. one just gave up over 90 degrees. Most successful - Paul Robeson, Green Zebra, Jaunne Flamme. Paul R. is from Russia and likes the cold and the heat, so you can start it early and grow it late. I'm in love with these plants. Pauls and Zebras have strong uprights too and hardly seem to require tying up.

sher_mesaaz,

I don't like hearing that about the Black Cherry. This is one I really wanted to try along with a few other cherry varieties.

Do you happen to put out new plants in the early fall? If so, when do you try to get them in the ground? According to the planting calendar I should have transplants out by mid July to mid August. I'm not going to be able to get them out until the end of August. Hopefully I'll pick the right varieties.

mister_gin You really should plant your black cherry. Microclimes and soils are all so different. And autumn is longer and kinder than spring. Also, cherries are quick to mature so late August shouldn't be a problem. You might need to give the plants some shade though.

Here are a couple really great websites by people that drink, eat and breathe heirloom tomatoes. They both offer excellent info on growing. Check out "the big list" on the first site for pictures of a hundred varieties, temperature ranges they perform in, and all kinds of info about flavors and history, etc. They sell plants only (no seeds:
http://www.heirloomtomatoplants.com

Check out this site for seeds and growing from seed: http://www.tomatofest.com

sher_mesaaz,

Thanks for the links. I'll be checking them out.

I'm on the fence regarding Black Cherry. I want to grow it but I currently have seeds for four cherry varieties (Sun Gold, Yellow Pear, Super Sweet 100 and Large Red Cherry). Three of those I haven't tried before, although the SS100 is probably similar to the Sweet 100 I'm growing now. I was going to skip the Large Red Cherry next time around, but I like it and it is very productive here. Still got some time to change my mind though. I'm going with a bunch of cherries because the family likes them.

michaelbinaz,

How are those Brandywines and Beefsteaks doing?

Wade

What would make cherry tomatoes sour? I started one I bought from Home Depot which has real small tomatoes (maybe 1/2" - 1" across). They are all sour tasting. I am a new gardener and wonder what if anything I did wrong.

mister gin,

BER is caused by one of two reasons: 1) lack of constant soil moisture and 2) lack of calcium uptake. Check your soil for calcium and the pH, they are interconnected.

I grew Stupice....it was OK. Sungold, it has a different flavor than most tomatoes and I did not like it. Roma, never had any luck with...BER. Celebrity, did not like the tatse...not very full tomato-y, to me. Brandywine...I grew THREE different varieties: Red, OTV, and Yellow....did not work...too hot!!

Varieties I LOVE: Aunt Ruby's German Green, Heatwave, San Marzano, Red Chief. I will still experiment with a different variety once in a while (San Marzanos was my experiment this year and it was AWESOME)...these are my main plants.

Hope this helps.
Love, Mary L.

Here is a picture from my garden. Back row. 2 black krim, 4 beef steak, 4 brandywine. front row peppers in the middle with romas to the left and right of them. The picture doesn;t do it justice but I put a short tour on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YmONwhc-O8

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