long time, no post. glad to see many familiar names in the post. as this is a topic near and dear, my two cents: i plant different varieties every year, though i have a few favorites (tomande, sungold, juliet in constant rotation). i shop for varieties as follows: only hybrids, only tomato varieties with several resistances (VFN at a minimum). only medium-bodied tomatoes, which set better and produce better here in fla. and only mid-season tomatoes, as they split the difference in terms of flavor and maturity date. i also always plant several cherry (small-bodied) tomatoes to extend my season. tomato growers supply is the best source for seeds i've found. generally, i don't worry too much about fertilizing &c. 10-10-10 and lots of compost. nor do i ever spray anything more than insecticidal soap and some copper. my season here in deland runs from late-april to mid-july, though this year things are really delayed. when the tomatoes get too diseased or buggy, i rip them out and eat eggplants and okra instead... Here is a link that might be useful: some tomatoes...

I know this is late (nearly 1 1/2 years late). I live in Las Vegas (Sunset Zone 11). The Tomato Lady recommends Hawaiian tomatoes. I personally have had good luck with Hawaiian, Patio, and all heirloom Varieties from Italy that I've tried. I have successfully Grown the following Heirlooms in the Vegas Desert (I'm at 2900 ft elevation while the Vegas Valley is closer to 1800 ft.): - Aunt Lucy's Paste - Marzano - Italian Tree source for these seeds is out of california. Website: www.tomatofest.com. I have also had good success with some from Mexico. Good luck! Here is a link that might be useful: TomatoFest

You are assuming the problem is with the variety rather than with the growing conditions you provide or your planting schedule. Marketmore is well known as a very tolerant variety, adaptable to a wide range of weather conditions. Even for those of us with much hotter summers than you indicate it normally does well. Here 90 degrees is considered cool when our normal temps are weeks over 100 yet it is a consistently high producer for me. Just think how bad folks in south Georgia and Texas have it. But as with any variety it has a basic set of conditions that must be met by the grower - proper planting times, fertile soil well-draining soil, good nutrient levels, consistent soil-moisture levels are especially important, and basic pest and disease control. So you may want to re-evaluate your methods as well as the variety you choose. That said, staged planting is recommended as jnfarm mentioned. So are you growing in ground or in containers? What is your watering regimen? What nutrients do you provide? When do you plant out and do you direct seed or try to use transplants? Perhaps you need to be planting earlier? Heat tolerant varieties beside Marketmore are Eureka, Thunder, Little Leaf, Olympic. Dave

I stumbled on something else that helped (only I don't fully understand what it was..) In a 30 foot (down hill) row, the plants highest on the hill, had the most mildew and those at the bottom were bigger and healthier, not getting the mildew for weeks despite close spacing of all plants in this row. I've heard that Powdery Mildew actually prefers dry conditions, or at least dry roots. This makes sense based on my experience. The theory being that all the water ran down hill and the roots of those plants had quite a bit more water in the soil. Anybody else have opinion or experience around this?