Bill,

My experience has shown me that one is really no better than another in the heat. Even ones not rated as heat tolerant do just as well as the ones that are rated for high temps.

My suggestion is grow which ever you know that you like ALONG with some known to be heat tolerant.

Sunleaper grew very well for me when I tried it, but no better than anything else.

Tony

I grew Solar Set and Florida 91 last year in the winter and the spring. I liked them both but can't speak about their heat tolerance (I'm assuming blossom set is what they mean) because in the spring when that trait would be needed I had TYLC virus on most of my plants and that ended that season early.

Nice tomatoes though.

Thanks for the information. Yes, by "heat tolerance" they mean they will set fruit at higher temps. According to the Tomato growers supply catalog, some of these will set fruit when highs are in the nineties, lows in the seventies--much of our summer months.

I want to try getting a late summer/early fall crop, so I need something that will fruit even with our summer temps and humidity.

I'll put Sunleaper, Solar Set, and Florida 91 on my list.
Thanks again.

Bill

but, bill -- the bugs are SO BAD during late august... i don't know. maybe you can make it work, but i decided it wasn't worth my trouble. it is a bummer how little there is going on in the garden at that time, and it WOULD be nice to have gazpacho when everyone else is eating it...

how are your tomatoes, btw? i have tons, some quite large, but all of them very green.

The only tomato that I know will produce in the worst of our summer heat is Sweet Chelsea VFNT Hybrid, a jumbo-sized cherry that is sweet and more crack resistant than most. Tomato Growers has it.

Thanks, Peggy, I've been wondering about larger than average cherry tomatoes too. I'll put it on my list.

Ill, the main bugs that bothers my tomatoes are various types of stink bug, and you're right. They're bad in summer. But I figure it's worth a try, and I'm going to try to figure out how to fight this bug.

My tomatoes are doing fine now, but like yours they're green. They didn't start to fruit heavily until this month or so, mainly because of high temps, which is why I'm looking into these heat resistant types. I'm trying to spread out my harvest time more.

Bill

I've grown Sunleaper and Kewalo, neither did well. But that's probably because they were grown in the garden. Nematodes stressed them out earlier than many other varieties, then whiteflies, mealybugs, stinkbugs et al took advantage.
My one success story came from a Burbank, in a pot, that produced wonderfully all winter and spring, in full sun. Late April it had some mishap with sand cranes breaking branches. I moved it to a spot that got great morning sun til 10 or 11 and shade the rest of the day. It grew back lushly and set lots of fruit til late August when whiteflies got the upper hand.
Perhaps the success was the placement in AM sun, or was it the variety? Possibly because it was always free of RKN? Don't know.
It might work with other smaller varieties like Roma, that can be kept in pots and moved to the right location as the season changes.
Another that kept on going through the summer and actually started back in full force as the weather cooled was Red Robin, tiny plants with larger and sweeter than average cherries. Very easy to move!

I believe high humidity plays more of a role in fruit set than high heat. Pollen gets to heavy and wet to flow freely to do its job in our summers. Maybe continuous hand pollinating would help. I brush the flowers all the time. Q-tips might help more during summer.

Then again, you could grow some Everglades or Matt's or even Sungold through the summer. These guys don't know when to quit!

Wish you best of luck!
Keep us informed.

Treefrog

Thanks, Treefrog. I hadn't thought about hand pollination. I'll give it a shot. And I'm also going to make sure to try some of these varieties in pots, because of the nematode problems, and so I can try different kinds of light.

Burbank. I'll have to read up on that one.

Thanks again.
Bill

If you need seeds, Bill, let me know.
I have a few other dwarf varieties too, Sophie's Choice, Lucky Leprechuan, Red Robin, and lots of rare heirlooms.
If you're in the area I have a few Burbanks in 1 gal pots to share right now.

TF

Ya know, I just thought of something that may help.

There is a spray that sets flowers. Actually, its some sort of hormone that bypasses the whole pollen mechanism and tells the fruit to start fruiting EVEN if it doesnt have flowers.

The fruit will have a very few seeds if any too.

I used to use this stuff yrs ago. It worked is all I can say.

I wish I had some to let you try but its no where to be found.

I second Burbank as a dynamo amongst the tomato varieties. Actually, Burbank was my FIRST heirloom grown and it never failed me. I have only one growing out back now, but its very small at this point.

BEst of luck

Tony

Treefrog, thanks for the offer. I think I live a good ways from you (I'm up in Volusia County), but if you could spare a few Burbank seeds I would really appreciate them. Could I send you a SASE? My e-mail is
dwpitts at cfl.rr.com
I'd write to you through GW e-mail but it never goes through for me.

Tony, I've never heard of a spray like that. Sounds kind of weird, but it may be worth a shot. I'll read up on it. Thanks for the tips!

Bill