I have a ton of seeds I want to plant and I can't seen to narrow it down. This year will probably see my tomato OCD come to a peak.

I plant all mine in containers now. The nematodes seem to kill any planted in the ground. I guess some of the hybrids are supposed to be nematode resistant, but in my yard I would probably need one to be 100% nematode proof to survive.

Most people in Florida avoid growing tomatoes in the summers due to the disease and the plants' failure to set fruit. They opt instead for a spring or fall growing season. There are some varieties I have heard that will set fruit in summer, but I have not tried them. If you are going to grow tomatoes from seed for the spring you should start right now or you can wait if you are going to buy a plant from one of the big box stores.

I am going to plant seeds now. I guess I worded that wrong lol. I am looking for some suggestions for the right varieties of seeds to get for this area to plant now. I don't want to get tomatoes from the BB stores if I can start some from seed..they usually tend to grow better when I start my own.

I am not sure if we have nematodes here or not. My peppers and brugmansia do great in the ground here (same family). I keep my tea roses in containers off the bare ground in case of nematodes though.

Heilooms and the disease resistant seeds. I still like the beefmasters, better boys, cherries, plum and I play with the heirlooms. You probably know that tomatoes require night temps below 75F to set fruits. Linda

I also liked beefmaster and better boy. One of my fall beefmasters survived the cold spell and still has tomatoes on it. I am not sure if these are nemotode resistant since I planted them in containers.

I am also starting to play around with heirlooms because of their fun names, unique characteristics, and non-comercial origins. So far I have grown Kelloggs Breakfast and I found it to be quite strongly flavored. It had some disease problems but everything seems to here. I grew a Cherokee Purple and it did well but I was only able to save one fruit from the cold snap. It is ripening on my table right now.

Oh here is what I have started seeds for so far. I am not sure I will have room for all of them. I don't live on a farm.

Cuostrolee
KelloggÂs Breakfast
Giant Belgium
Cherokee Purple
Hillbilly
Aunt Ruby German Green
Stripped German
Stupice
Red zebra
Black zebra
GregoriÂs Altai
Garden peach
Paul Robeson
San Marzano
Sunsugar
MattÂs wild cherry
Black Russian cherry
Black from Tula
Black Krim
Earl of Edgecomb
MarekÂs Pointy Heart
Amish Salad

I've only gone back to veggie gardening the last two years, so I'm way down on the learning curve. The best tomato I've grown as far as disease and nematode resistance is Celebrity. It's a determinate or semi determinate (whatever that means). Better Boy has been good for me and I grew one Beefmaster this fall which was very good. I tried the BHN 589 and it was my best producer of very nice looking and tasty fruit despite not being nematode resistant, and they were infested, but showed good disease resistance. This spring I'm growing some Roma types, Marghurita and Viva Italia just because I end up canning a lot of what I grow. Tomato Growers Supply is a good source for seeds.

john

Thank you for your replies. That will give me some good suggestions for things to try. I do want to try some hierlooms as well. I did get a TGS catalog. I got some cherry tomatoes (black cherry and green grape) from them last year that did okay not great but I think it is because they were in the ground and not in pots. I keep hearing good things about them so will do this year's in pots. and some hot peppers that did really well. I will definitley give Celebrity, Better Boy, Purple Cherokee, Beef Master, and the Kellog's Breakfast a try!! :) Thanks again.

Whatever sets are available, my seedlings didn't survive the Big Chill....Hopefully some Beefmasters, if not I'm sure I can find some Big Beef's, my two primary indeterminate workhorses.

Tom

Tom, sorry to hear you lost your seedlings. I would bet you are already familar with the link I'm posting, but maybe not. This guy has an amazing list of mostly heirlooms for sell and a few hybrids, Big Beef being one of them.

john

Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato plants

Impressive website John, I'll check it out tonight after work. Thanks!

Tom

I grew a Riesentraub early last spring. It grew all summer and never produced a single tomato. hmmph

I grew a Riesentraub early last spring. It grew all summer and never produced a single tomato. hmmph

First off, you know we can't grow tomatoes here in the summer, right? They won't set fruit with night temps. > 75F, other than the currants, which are about 3/4 the size of a penny.

Second, CRAP! I just bought this one hoping it might be a great producer late spring early summer. I'm 10A so if it won't set in late spring in 9B I guess I'll wait until next year :-(

Tom

Yep Tom, I know that. I planted it out at the end of February. My other tomatoes produced fruit. I never saw a single blossom on the Riesentraub.

tomncath,

You are so funny!

First off,....

Second, CRAP!

Hi Lynette!
I have seen your posts at the BGI. I live on the Westside Jax. How many tomatoes do you plan to plant?
I have started a few varieties in the beginning of January from the seeds that Silvia shared with me - Thank you Silvia!
They are about 2" now and do look pretty good. Surely, I'm not going to plant them all and could give you a few extras.

Tom, what mix have you decided to use in you 5 gal SWC?

Tom, I did a little research on the tomatoes before I bought them. I too had high hopes for Riesentraub. I remember reading that one woman had great luck growing them, but that if she saved the seed, the new plants weren't great producers. I started 3 plants along with other varieties, but the tops of the other 2 got nipped off in their trays by a bird.

I may go ahead and plant some more this year just to give it a try, even though it is a little late to be starting seedlings. Maybe I had a bad seed. lol

I will be trying new tomatoes this season, along with some favorites. The new ones are some varieties that I got that were bred for hot and humid weather, somebody really nice gave me those. If successful in my garden, I will be saving those seeds.

For me most tomatoes are good if homegrown, there are a thousand ways to use them. If not perfect I make salsa and give it to everybody I know. Together with my very hot peppers that I grew this past season, it is a big hit!

And you are welcome Chara, during the season I will highlight the new tomatoes along with the others and after the season is over I will have plenty of seeds to share.

Have a good tomato season!

Silvia

Well N2G, I may start a few seeds anyway just to see how they do. A few years back I think Denise was able to get Dr. Carolyn's and Black Cherry to produce through the summer. I also started some Sunmaster's in March two years ago and was harvesting tomatoes until mid-July, but they really didn't have much taste.

Amber - I'm glad you like my warped sense of humor :-)

I'm sure there have to be some decent sized cherries with good flavor that will grow through the summer....

Tom

Chara2, sorry I missed your question, I'll be trialing 5:2:1 and 4:2:1 bark/peat/perlite.

Tom

Tom, please let me know if you have better success with the riesentraubs. I planted several seeds, but only one plant survived and was planted out in the garden. Hopefully my one plant was just an anomoly.

Will do N2G, I'll start several different cherries this weekend to set mid-March, to see how things go from May on.... My sister up in Lecanto can grow cherries up through July, but it's just too hot here where I'm at at night....

Tom

What I have now that survived the freeze...
97L97*
Kazakhstan Heart*
Dacosta's Portugese*
Cuneo Giant Pear*
Ugly*
Cherokee Purple*
Pamyati Korneeva
What I just Started...
German Queen
Goose Creek
Ed's Millenium
Opalka
Brandywine Suddith
Low Acid Yellow
Orlinoe Serdtse
Mortgage Lifter
* indicates fruit on!