Daniels and Polish would be my first suggestions. You will have trouble finding seed of Daniels. Polish is widely available. Please note that neither of these will be as disease tolerant as perhaps you would like.

DarJones

I'd suggest Box Car Willie or Rio Grande, as they have done well for me in the past, and our summers are brutal. This year I am also going to try Kewalo.

Hi :)

I live in Dallas (7 or8 zone - not sure) and our summers are hot as hell and
my heirloombeefsteaks grew like wild fire last year - still producing into July - I got over 40 tomatoes per plant -

AND - they were in 4 gallon containers

I'll definatly try the other's recommendations!

best of luck

Hey blessedfrog, do you know which variety of "heirloom" did so well for you? I'm about sixty miles north of you and I am always looking for another variety which can withstand the heat.

txted

Money Maker is an English greenhouse tomato especially bred for warm humid conditions. It is supposedly one of the most widely grown commercial tomatoes in Europe. Its taste isn't anything to write home about though in my opinion. I sent some seeds to my daughter who is stationed in Guam, which is one of the hottest, most humid places on earth, and they are still producing tomatoes for her after almost a year. I guess in her climate they will be a perennial.

Parks Seed carries the Money Maker tomato and I was able to add it to my outstanding order yesterday. Thanks for the headsup and the folks at Parks!

Great balls of fire, if it will grow all over Europe and also on Guam, which are two climates as different as can be, I figure it's worth a shot 3 miles from greater metropolitan
downtown Negley, Ohio--on the north shore of Tomahawk
Lake.

have u tried the Henderson's Ponderosa Pink Tomato and Costoluto Fiorentino Tomato l have not tried them myself but read that they are very good

Ponderosa Pink, as sold by Northrup King, is the tomato that
set me off into seed saving and collecting 50 years ago.

I have no idea if it is Henderson's strain but it certainly is not the strain offered by Glecklers many years ago.

I have grown at least 6 or 7 so called Ponderosa Pink Tomatoes searching for the NK strain I had lost
a zillion years ago when the packet ran out. About 10 years ago Northrup King reintroduced it here in the US, and
I was able to buy a packet. Now I save seeds and find they do come true, which tends to confirm it is truly an old time heirloom.

It is a fine tomato, but I have to tell you that I discovered many other fine old pink heirlooms over the many years. If you can find Pruden's Purple that will do as well for you as the Ponderosa Pink.

Try the Mountain Series (Mountain Supreme, Mountain Pride, Mountain Spring, Mountain Gold.) They were developed at NC State University and are known for withstanding the heat and humidity of the south!

Here is a link that might be useful: Tomatoes for the south: best varieties for heat and humidity

So who has grown Better Boy? It seems to be protected against just about everything and it is indeterminate so i twont't demand to be harvested RIGHT NOW. Talk to me about flavor please.

Porter's Dark Cherry Tomato thrives in our HOT, dry summers here in southern New Mexico. We get some crazy monsoons in the late summer, and it thrives just fine.

It's not as sweet as other cherry tomatoes. It's a cherry-sized tomato with big, rich tomato flavor... prolific and disease/crack resistant. A friend of mine has some to trade at Dave's Garden. You can buy the seeds at Tomatofest.com as well. Bonnie Plants sells the actual plant (I prefer to start from seed, though).

I'd try at least one of these plants in your garden, if you have room! let us know what works for you this year! :)

what about the san marzano varieties?

I'm Zone 10 Florida so heat and humidity we have. If it doesn't have to be OP then Beefmaster F1 may work you, it's my primary workhorse, excellent disease resistance and production and the best beefsteak flavor I've found.

Sandy - Try Brandyboy. It's a large, pink, Burpee hybrid. Much better disease resistance than any of the Brandywines.
John A

as close as possible to that same meaty flavor, but with increased tolerance to heat, disease and better production.

Exactly what Brandy Boy was bred for.

However, don't disregard any variety based on one poor season. High heat and high humidity is something many of us have to deal with every year. Most any variety will still do well with those conditions IF it is planted out early enough. That often means much earlier than you may think.

Use a fungicide to prevent disease and then baby it through the worst of the 100 degree/90% humidity days until it can kick back into production when the weather breaks.

So who has grown Better Boy?

Search it by name here for many comments on it. Personally I find it to be just an average hybrid when it comes to flavor, especially when compared to so many others. Beefmaster is much better and Brandy Boy is much better than either.

Dave

To say it's hot and humid in Houston would be a large understatement. Whine, Whine (Native San Diegan here)
I have tried several varieties and found Celebrity the best here in our short seasons. Forget June - Sept.

I have grown Brandy Boy many years now along with Sudduth Brandywine. It's a great tasting tomato and very Brandy like but it did not show greater disease tolerance for me here in Delaware.

I have not had much success with Brandy Boy either. It was great the first year I grew it and has been a dud here the last three years, in both the fall and spring seasons. Beefmaster, on the other hand, has always been consistent for me....

I'm really surprised no one mentioned this one, but Neves Azorean Red (NAR) was an excellent producer for me last season when temps were well into the 90s, and occasionally topping the 100s, and the humidity was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Other varieties struggled through while NAR just kept producing consistent, practically blemish free, deep red, and delicious beefsteaks. I don't know if others have had the same experience, but if you have, chime in.