Never heard of tomatoes growing in Hawaii. I'd be extremely interested too. My family adores eating fresh tomatoes when they visit.

My family on the Big Island always grew tomatoes. Tomatoes are a must especially in Filipino dishes. As for what type of tomatoes they are, Im not sure. I just remember when I was a kid, my dad would either get an over riped tomatoe or just a package of seeds, stuck it in the ground and in a couple of month...joila, tomatoes!!

As for the tomato type Hawaiian Tropic, it could be a commonly used name for another type of tomato. I tried doing a search for it and I couldnt find anything on it.

Mae

I live on the Big Island of Hawaii and my favorite and most successful tomato is "enchantment hybrid." The romas do fairly well here, wheras any beef tomato type I've tried has been a disaster. Cherry tomatos do exceptionally well and can almost become a weed. The birds love them and conseqently spread the seeds - I've had volunteer tomatoes come and go for years.

Hi,
I haven't heard of that variety, but, I'm growing tomatoes on Kauai.
Kalaheo, which is a very strong grower with yummy fruit. I also have a cherry tomato, that has naturalized around here, they pop up all over the place!

Big fruited varieties are harder, because the fruit flies love them!! My most successful (bug free) crops are the ones I grow in the winter. It's also the time of year to avoid fruit fly, for the most part.

If you'd like to try either of these varieties, let me know.
I have seeds.
Aloha, Christine

Paradise Plants in Hilo had a variety packet of tomato seeds that I tried last year. The tomatoes with smaller fruits did much better than the ones with the big fruits.

I also tried a Russian heritage tomato which was supposed to be a dark wine color, but it never turned red, just kinda went from dark green to light green. Hard to know when they were ready to eat. Tasty, although they didn't look real appetizing.

Right now, I have Roma and some small red and yellow pear tomatoes growing. Has anyone tried growing those tiny "grape" tomatoes yet?

There used to be some real tasty wild cherry tomatoes growing by the bathhouse at Makapuu beach park. For that matter, Hapuna beach park has the same type. Maybe there's a Wild Cherry Hawaiian Beach Park tomatoe variety we just haven't discovered yet!

Christine,
I am over on Oahu, Mililani town. I've tried a few tomato types Kewalo and ACE55 but no sucess. Would you be so kind as to tell me how to get some of your seeds for the cherry and Kalaheo tomatoes. Also when do you start your seeds for "winter" crop.
Mahalo,
Al Streicher

I picked up a package of 'Seed of CHANG' Fox Cherry tomato. Unolicious, big for a cherry.

There's a variety called "Tropic."

Check the University of Hawaii Manoa seed program . They have a list of seeds that are for sale to the public that are specially developed for Hawaii at reasonable prices .they have peppers ,corn, jicama, and others

Maybe you're getting mixed up with "Tropics" Dressing from Hawai`i that people use to eat tomatoes?

I'm thinking someone got confused somewhere and said, "These are 'Hawaiian' Tropics Tomatoes"...referring to the tomatoes with the Tropics dressing.
http://www.tropicshawaii.com/

Only local seeds I know are the UH Manoa ones that you can get off the shelf at Long's.

http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/TPSS/extras/Seedlab.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Tropics Dressing

There actually is a Hawaiian Tropic tomato because I just bought one at the Marina Garden Center in West Los Angeles. There is no information on it but someone on Craigslist in L.A. says it is 10-16 ounces, tasty, and very good in hot and dry climates. It looks gorgeous. I thought it might be similar to Hawaiian Pineapple (which is solid gold) or Pineapple (streaked with red, orange and gold) but it isn't sounding like it is. Tropictype mentioned Enchantment, which is a great tomato--looks like a Roma type, very good taste and production, even in a container.
Can anyone tell me how you get seedlings to grow faster? Mine just languish; the volunteers are doing much better in my lousy clay soil.

Aloha! I'm so excited about finding this site. My husband and I will be moving to Kauai in a couple months. I am seasoned gardener back here in Pennsylvania and have questions gallor about growing veggies in Hawaii. Currently I order most of my seeds from major seed companies here in the states - one place specializes in tomatoes - over a hundred varieties of them! My first question is can you import processed seeds from commercial growers in the main land? I know there are many things you can't import but I'm not familiar with what we may and may not import yet.

Ruthie, you're lucky to be moving to Kauai. To answer your question, all plants and parts of plants are subject to inspection by Hawaii's Department of Agriculture. Individuals arriving from the Mainland are required to declare plants and parts of plants on a form distributed on the airplane and later to present them for inspection. I would think that seeds that are packaged commercially would pass inspection. For more information, however, visit the Department of Agriculture's website at http://www.hawaii.gov/hdoa/pi/pq/import. You might contact the Department of Agriculture for information about specific plants or seeds that you want to import.

I'm sure you're already aware that not all of the veggies or varieties that do well in Pennsylvania will grow well in Hawaii due to differces in growing conditions. For example, it's a lot more humid here, so there are more problems with mildew and fungus. I wish I could grow tomatoes like those grown in Pennsylvania, for example. When you get here, you might look for seeds sold by local companies, such as Fukuda Seeds or Aina Ola Seed Company, because they select those varieties that grow best here. Those brands are commonly sold in garden shops. And let me know if you find a tasty beefsteak tomato that grows well.

Aloha,

My husband grew the 'grape' yellow and red in pots in Waimea on the Big Island. We had the pots on the back porch to the kitchen and whenever we passed the fruits on the vines we popped 'em in our mouth . . . so ono.

'Beef' style tomatoes are being grown in Waimea and we buy them at the Hawaiian Homes' Farmer's Market on Saturdays.

My sister bought the 'Beef' plantings at Wal-Mart, she lives in Kailua-Kona and they're doing great. I plan to plant them here in Ahualoa, protected from the wind . . . .and turkeys.

a hui hou

I'm new to Kauai, live in Wailua. I have a Rutgers plant that's doing OK, not great; have gotten a few small tomatoes. My neighbor gave me a grape tomato variety; am eager to see how it turns out; I'm going to try Roma too in a few months.

Ruthie, I used to garden in upstate NY. It's an adjustment, but there's a lot you can do here! Also, your growing conditions vary a LOT depending on where on each island you are; here on Kauai, from damp and cooler to 10" rain a year desert. If you'd like to continue the conversation, maybe get together once you get here, email me at kate dot mink at ischool dot org. I'm also working towars a community garden program at the school where I teach.

Try the Open Pollinated Hawaiian Anahu, bred for hot humid tropics, has some decease resistance also ( nematodes )
determinate.

I am trying these out in the Caribbean, we have similar climate as Hawaii, ( almost exact same latitude ).

right now they are seedlings, in 5 gallon self watering pails
I intend to go organic all the way. I have always had problems growing tomatoes down here, fungus, and heat. so I am hoping these do well.

Aloha everyone,
I'm growing about 11 different varieties of tomatoes here in waipahu and there all doing great i've got sugar snack, better bush, cherokee purple, bush champion, big boy, brandy wine, husky cherry red, yellow pear, super boy, patio tomato and better bush cherry which basically next to the husky red is the best one in the garden. It's been really fun and now that it's the start of summer the plants are really taking off now, and producing tomatoes already.

i wish all you gardners a fruitful harvest...

I've never heard of that variety, but you can always go to a home gardening store and ask one of the employees there. They should be able to point you in the right direction!

For those of you curious about the "Hawaiian Tropic Tomato, there is a gal in Las Vegas, Nevada, who runs a business called "Sweet Tomato Test Garden". She sells seed to the Hawaiian Tropic Tomato, which is supposed to have excellent tolerance to the desert heat, we have in this area, she is on line under Sweet Tomato Test Garden, and she sells everything necessary for the home gardener.

I live in Southern Mississippi and got some Kewala, Anahu, and Healani seeds from the University of Hawaii. The plants are @ 5' tall and are looking great. I have 1 tomato on the Healani plant. I thought since we have hot moist weather that they would grow well here. I grow my tomatoes in an Earthbox.

The tomato variety I have the most success with is, Florida everglades, these are very small, blueberry sized fruit but are packed with flavor. by toddlers even liked eating them. they also reseed easily. I would consider these a "wild" variety, no spraying required they just love the humidity. so if you want to try a fool proof tomato, give these a try also.

I'm guessing the folks who named the "Hawaiian Tropic" tomato weren't all that aware of Hawaii's actual climate. Hawaii doesn't get all that hot overall. But, that tomato variety might do okay here.

Tomatoes that do well in Hawaii are usually the cherry tomatoes or any thick skinned tomato. There are three or four different types of fruit flies which will ruin your tomato crop if they can. You can set out fruit fly traps and I've had good luck growing big tomatoes as long as there were adequate fruit fly traps set out in the tomato patch.

Here's the U of H seed program page: http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/seed/seeds.asp It's $1 for Home Garden Packets and that includes postage, too, I think.

Generally, I choose "indeterminate" types since I want the tomatoes to ripen over a long period of time instead of all at once. If you're planning on making tomato sauce or ketchup, then a "determinant" type of tomato will give you an "all at once" crop although your tomato plant will then die afterwards.