Look for 'vigorous' in the description.

I don't know anything about the heat, but Cherokee Purple and one of the "fake brandywines" I think fit the bill.

I used to have fantastic luck with "Better Boy", but they haven't worked well for the last few years. Since they are no longer crossed in the US, I don't think the hybrid cross is as good.

I had very good luck with Bonny's Best for yield, except they got several of the fungus. I was not good about spraying, I should of started follow up plants.

https://www.rareseeds.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=bonny%27s+best

ETA: I am in zone 7a North Alabama, fast moving to zone 8 and flipping to zone 6 at times, LOL.

Tomande works for me - a super tasty and vigorous hybrid indeterminate. I just let them grow & grow, using supports to keep vines & fruits up off the ground.

Mulching thickly with hay also helps.

I look for hybrids with every letter you can think of after the name (VFFNTA, for example), and also look for 'sweet', 'delicious' and similar words in the descriptions. I avoid the ones that never mention flavor, or only describe it as 'good'. Tomande has it all, so it's about the only one I've grown for a long time now.

Heirlooms can be a crapshoot, IMPE. Many of the ones I've tried (Cherokee Purple, Brandywine, et al.) had zero resistance to tomato yellows and fusarium, and it's such a disappointment to have a seemingly healthy plant suddenly decline and fail as it begins to flower & fruit.

Have you looked at TomatoGrowers.com yet? They don't carry Tomande any more, but they do have a number of others you might want to try

I have tried several different kinds.... but the ones that keep doing well are Big Beef, Celebration and Celebrity. I get enough to share with neighbors and they all seem to like them as much as me..... and I am big tomato snob

My Brandywine got huge, but I'm in a different climate - Southern California. There will be differences in different climate zones.

See what the local stores are selling. Hybrids might be better than Heirlooms. I'm in SE Georgia, and our summers are long, humid, and hot. I also had much better luck when I kept the foliage thinned out so the plants can breathe. Regular spraying with fungicides is a must.

Sadly, big stores here often carry varieties more suited for north FL and elsewhere. They usually struggle & die, IMPE. If there is a locally owned garden center/nursery, they may have more suitable varieties.

If you're lucky, they'll have Celebrity, which does OK, but the flavor is not the best, IMO.

Silvia has good luck with her tomato varieties.She has the most beautiful harvests. I think she is in Central FL area so not sure if the same varieties would work in S. FL.

I recommend Brandy Boy and Supersteak, two beefsteak hybrids bred by Burpee. In terms of heirlooms, Abraham Lincoln and Pruden's Purple also fit the bill for me.

And in general, cherry/saladette tomatoes are very prolific. Black Cherry, Stupice, and Honey Delight have been great for me.

Carol where do you find Tomande?

Huge as in wide, or tall?
My Sungolds grow 12 to 14 feet.
Carla in Sac

Wow 12 -14 ft is huge lol. How can you reach the tops?

Silvia, your tomato plants look great! What is the name of the spray product did you use again? (not sure if you already told me before lol) Was it a Bt product?

I finally built a raised bed yesterday lol

(8ft x4ft x 18 inches deep) Its just pieced together but it should work until I move and build something more permanent. I'm doing another one today. Excuse the mess. It will be better once I get mulch down on the pathways. Yeah!

TomatoGrowers.com used to carry it, but dropped it a couple of years ago. Burpee has it:

https://www.burpee.com/vegetables/tomatoes/tomato-tomande-hybrid-66068A.html

Also on sale now at Reimerseeds.com:

http://www.reimerseeds.com/tomande-tomato.aspx

I use cattle fencing into rounds to make tomato cages . Sungolds require two stacked, with rebar support, and even then grow up and over.
Carla in Sac

Sultry, congratulations on the new bed! I put them to full use in my garden, keep harvesting and put something else. Right now I am harvesting a great crop of carrots, different radishes and beets. I filled a big box to give it to friends, too much for our small family.

For disease I have copper or serenade, for bugs I have neem, spinosad. I only spray when needed.

Thanks Silvia! Now I have to get some Coastal Hay or something for mulch.

Have you tried any of the Wild Boar Farms tomatoes? Some look very interesting. I don't know how they are on taste though. I have heard good things about the Nappa Chardonnay and the Large Barred Boar. I might try some for fun.

https://wildboarfarms.com/product-category/tomato-seeds/

Sultry, most tomatoes are fun to try, there are a lot of good tasting tomatoes out there, much better than store bought for sure!

From that list I have tried a few, here is what I remember from seasons past, I am only going to say good or not good experience. Good means that I will grow them again.)

Blueberries a big no, hard to pick them ripe and unripe taste terrible.

Cherokee Purple and Green, good.

Green Zebra cherry good and prolific like most cherries.

Indigo Apple, prolific but not a favorite

Lucid Gem, good and pretty in a salad, I eat with my eyes.:)

Pink and Red Boar, good

Pork Chop, big and beautiful beefsteak, good tasting but not productive in my garden.

Take in consideration that not all the gardens and conditions are the same, sometimes it varies from season to season.

Good luck with your varieties, let us know the results....

That's a good list! The only Blue type of tomato I've tried, was an OSU Blue that was just a little bit larger than a cherry type. It was sooo prolific but they weren't the best tasting. This was when they first came out with the blue type tomatoes. There might be better tasting ones by now.

I ended up using all those for salsa. We canned a whole bunch and when mixed in with other tomatoes,peppers, & spices we couldnt tell the blue flavor wasn't so great lol.

I was searching on the Tomato forum for Florida tomatoes and found this great old thread lol. https://www.houzz.com/discussions/2196631/a-central-florida-tomato-story#n=76

Sultry, what a blast from the past! :) I even forgot what my garden looked like before, good memories and is always nice to remember what we shared in the gardening forums many years ago.

And yes! I am still growing tomatoes, this is the only way that I can have great tomatoes for my meals.

Anyone watch the Roots and Refuge you tube channel? They are in Arkansas but have heat and humidity and sometimes lots of rain in the summer like N FL seems to. They probably cool off more at night but she grows some fantastic tomatoes and other stuff in raised beds and tries to grow things organically. They say they use hydrogen peroxide, 8 TBSP to 1 gallon of water in a sprayer to combat fungus and wilt etc. I'm gonna try it this year.

Central Florida, in-ground plant (has green fruits, flowering continues).

I would prefer that it not grow taller than its current 4.5'. Will plant and fruits do well If I prune top?

Not in the slightest, because very well supported.

Four, I dont know if you should prune the tops in Central FL. I am in N FL and have never done that here. I hope someone in your area can answer you.

Sylvia, have you tried the Dr Wyche's Yellow Tomato? I got some seeds to try. It seems to have some favorable reports in different climates. Not sure about Florida. Probably too late for spring but I might start some later for fall.

You can prune the tomato plants, but remember you will have a shorter plant and less fruit. Sometimes I let mine fall from the weight of the fruit and to easily harvest.

Sultry, Dr Wychee's yellow is a good tomato, you will like it. In the yellow category I like Dagma that I grew last season, I am growing now too.

This season is looking well for me, I got fruit developing in a lot of tomato plants...

Today's harvest was great! carrots, beets, lettuce, oriental radishes, beans, peas, zucchini.

Thank you. I will have to look up the Dagma tomato too. Your harvest sounds fabulous! My baby Seminole Pumpkin seeds are up now. I am getting some cattle panels up this weekend if time allows.

My dh and I are both in healthcare and its so busy right now and some serious stuff is happening with Corona going around, so its getting harder to find time to get into the garden. I am determined to keep everything in my veggie garden going this spring, no matter what lol. Its a good time to have a garden, be in fresh air, a way to relieve stress and kinda forget about everything for a little while.

A group took a 28-day get-away-from-it-all trip of rafting on Colorado River, intentionally cut off from everything outside. Upon return they laughed at the tour company owner's "joke" about a pandemic and associated world state of affairs.

Sultry, wish the best with your edible future project , in times like these I really appreciate anything coming that was planned and planted. The garden is for sure healing to the soul.

It seems like a nightmare the new disease, we are all worried and we need people like you and your dh to keep us safe.

Good luck to all of us and keep calm.

I believe these are Big Boy.

Wow, you win!!

I pruned top at 6', it grew no higher (the intention), it produced nice fruits. It is finishing its last three. Then should I uproot it, or cut the stalk low?

I grow Cherokee Purple, Kellogg's Breakfast, Lemon Boy, Momotaro all of which get over 6 feet tall and cascade down over my 6 foot cages and grow halfway back to the ground by the end of the year. Super Sweet 100 is a cherry that does the same thing.

Thanks. I intentionally stopped vegetative growth.

Will a new shoot emerge if I cut this stalk low?

Yes, it will grow new stalks

Been away quite a while, came down with Lupus and can't spent much time in the sun anymore :-( I'm 100 yards from Tampa Bay so always a challenge with the heat and humidity but my consistent winner has always been Beefmaster, grown from seed. I did grow some inside the pool cage last year, set up a hydroponic system.

Good to see your still here, and still the queen Silvia ;-)

Tom

Hi dear Tom!

So nice to hear from you, and your tomatoes look great like always.

This tomato season has been very good to me, producing more than we can consume at the house. I made many baskets for friends and I even mailed some to the North East to my brothers.

Made fresh salsas, oven dry others and ate them in many salads, the garden is still producing really tasty tomatoes.

I have not posted much lately because I am going through a very sad times with my last two dogs, I lost Lucy on Friday and Nikki on Monday, we are heart broken.

Take care Tom and hopefully some day we can visit.

Silvia

Everglades tomatoes. I bought some seeds a few years ago and now every spring they volunteer in several places in my yard and grow on through most of the summer. If I don't keep an eye on them, they'll climb trees, even bougainvillea. zone 9b

That's Funny! Tom had the biggest baddest everglades tomato plant ever growing in his yard at one time. He also had sweet baby girls at the time, so sweet and yummy I grew them myself the following year.

Hey Tom, do you still have that beautiful red and yellow plumeria and maybe I can get a cutting? I made the mistake of growing mine in the front and passers by kept taking cuttings until finally a lopsided stick was left, is that crazy? Then while i was on vacation a lawn guy my husband paid to weed didn't recognize it's value to me and pulled it up. I sure would like to start a new tree in my protected side yard!

Sorry to hear you have been ill.

Tina