Sorry for your disappointment, DG. I must admit that thus far my tomatoes are not doing so well this year either, tho' I don't try to grow big guys—6 - 8 oz. size are the largest.

DG,the best that ever preformed for me was called champion. Thay are a medium sized tomato. I haven't seen them in stores for years. The bushs grew 8 to 10 ft tall and just be covered in tomatoes. I've given up on squash ever since I moved to brevard I have not been able to get them to servive to get more than 2 fruit per plant if I'm lucky. Its some kind of fungus that kills a plant in two days and even with spraying in doesn't even slow it down.

If you can find champion give it a try.

I currently have a tomato plant that's as tall as my house with only three tomatoes on it. I think I keep it around just for comic effect.

I will have to keep an eye out for that 'champion' variety though.

DG I'm almost there myself. I'm trying Cherokee Purple this year. Started them in Late December and they are gorgeous right now. As tall as me and full of flowers. We'll see. This might be my last year for big ones too.

My Everglades and grape tomatoes and chocolate cherries are great!

I think I keep it around just for comic effect.

Ha ha, Joe. I'm in the Stuart area, but out on the barrier island so it's a lot warmer, more like WPB, and Sioux does very well for me, but I don't grow in the ground. Well, even if I could, there's only a scrape of topsoil over the limestone here, although there must have been more in other places since pineapple farming used to be a big thing out here before easier shipping from other countries killed it.

ETA Interesting. When I log in via Houzz my zone info doesn't show anymore. Hmm.

IMPE, plants that are large, heavy producers, &/or indeterminates, struggle in containers. Only the ones in ground have ever done well for me. The potted ones tend to grow big and healthy, but once they start fruiting, they seem to hit a wall and start to decline, and I wind up w/ wasted time & effort. I think it's too much stress. Just think about it: a plant's root system is at least equal to what you see above ground.

This season all my container tomatoes are doing well, some better than others but it is always like that some perform better one season and next season not, only very few are consistent with the results. Always grow a combination of cherry, saladette and big tomatoes types, different colors too. I like to eat with my eyes first and they do look pretty on a plate.:)

New to me this season are Lucid Gem, Dester, Tidy Rose, and few others.

Dester does not get too big and is looking very good, I will give a review after they are ripe...

Silvia

Locally adapted variety selection is always critical with fruit and vegetable plants.

You guys are so funny! You always make me feel better, and of course, I'm always horribly jealous of Silvia, although I love her dearly. When I try to grow them in the ground, they always get nematodes and die, so maybe I'll just grow patio tomatoes from now on.

Embothrium - "Beefsteak" is one of the tomatoes recommended by the University of FL. I never grow much of anything they don't recommend, since we are like nowhere else in the U.S. as far as climate and soils go.

Jane, the main problem with my big tomatoes is that I don't have full sun anywhere in my yard. They aren't going to fruit as well as if they were in full sun, no matter what I do. The cherry tomatoes don't even do like I would like them to. The only ones that put out a big harvest are the native Everglades tomatoes, which are tiny, but delicious.

That's a beautiful bed!

My stupid beefsteak tomatoes are about 2" across and look like they are already ripening. That's it. I'm done! I won't even be able to have a nice, one-slice sandwich this year. I at least got one or two of those growing the Cherokee Purples. So I guess I'll just buy my large tomatoes and grow cherries and maybe saladettes. I may try "Marion" next year, just for fun. It's an old favorite heirloom that is actually a canning tomato, but great taste. In the meantime, I'm rooting some suckers off the beefsteak, and will plant them outside in-ground in the south-facing garden this fall. I just want to see if it makes a difference. All the tomatoes may get stolen, but maybe they'll leave one for me. :(

Silvia, which tomato varieties do you recommend the most?

Sultry, I think that I have like a thousand tomato varieties, they are all ordered by size, color and taste. I like a variety to grow and usually I have them going in the merry go round, just a very few I keep them all the time and each season they perform differently depending on the weather, the care and other variables. It is very hard to pick one since I like most, unless the flavor is off for some reason or other, then I don't grow them again.

The easiest to grow and more reliable are the cherries, then you also have categories, pea size like Everglades and currant types, small, medium and large cherries and you have colors too.

Same for the medium size and the large size.

And now a lot of people are growing the dwarfs, the rugose type and there is a lot of varieties on those too.

If I have to pick a favorite for me, would the the big beefsteaks like Neves Azorean Red, the orange Amana, the bi colors, the hearts and others that I can put them in a tray and eat them fresh....they are ripening now and soon I will taste them.

This morning cherries, from the picture the only one that I grow often is the red Sweet Treats.

Silvia

Awesome, I will look up the varieties. Your tomatoes looks sumptuous. I am still waiting on tomatoes here. I got started late this year lol.