The correct name for Black Crimson is Black Krim, and Black Crimson is an arbitrary renaming. Just so you know. (I would call it Black Krim.)

Anyway, any tomato variety can be successfully grown in the Metroplex, but you need to get a good early start and it is kind of late to be sowing seeds - the 15th (or earlier) would have been optimal. Start **today**

Bradley and Black Krim are particularly good for here and really everything else on your list should do well in Texas too if planted timely. Haven't grown the Rowdy Red and don't plan to; the others I have.

A good planting date for your area is March 15-23. You might have to protect at night a couple of times and be prepared to do so. Waiting until after the last possible chance of frost can mean you get your plants in too late to start setting fruit before it gets too hot. Why? Extended duration of hot temps denature (kill) the pollen, and especially both hot day *and* night temps.

For the most part, tomatoes are a spring and early summer crop in Texas. Sometimes you can keep some of the plants going, but fruit set is generally poor. Smaller fruited and cherry types will usually tend to set better in the heat.

Some varieties I like are that tend to do well in a hot climate are (Arkansas) Traveler, Indian Stripe, Jet Star F1, Rutgers, Mountain Princess, Break O'Day, Linnie's Oxheart, Wes, Momotaro F1, Burgundy Traveler, Grub's Mystery Green, Aunt Ginny's Purple, Better Boy F1, Aker's West Virginia, Moskvich, JD's Special C-Tex, Hege German Pink, Stump of the World, Cherokee Purple. Gregori's Altai.

Cherries/small fruited - Sungold F1, Sweet Quartz F1, Black Cherry, Jaune Flamme, Black and Brown Boar, Little Lucky, Bloody Butcher, Sweet Million F1, Gardener's Delight.

Another tip, plants don't need to be out in full, all day blazing sun in Texas. A little shade in the late afternoon can help a whole lot, or shade cloth when it starts to get hot. See my blog for more tips on growing tomatoes in Texas, hope it gives you some ideas. You are only a half-zone different than I am here, and timing is about the same or close.

Here is a link that might be useful: blog

Btw, I'm in zone 8b, Austin/Bastrop area. I have that in, but it didn't show up in the last post I made. No idea if it will in this one. :-)

I just wanted to add that info, and also mention that you can probably find plants of Black Krim, Texas Wild, Sungold, Black Cherry, Jet Star, Cherokee Purple, Rutgers, Arkansas Traveler, and Jet Star in your area if need be. Calloway's used to have a pretty good selection when I lived in Fort Worth, but it's been a few years.

Thank you both for outstanding advice and tomato recommendations for Texas. Being new to the area, I DID plant too late last year and hardly got tomatoes at all. This year I plan on planting between the 15-31st of March. I planted my seeds on 1/19 so I'm hoping they'll be mature enough to plant outside with wall-o-waters or frost cloth. THANKS AGAIN! Oh, and I plan to read the blog - looks like a treasure trove of goodies since gardening is my passion!

Suze's heat tolerance list is excellent, just don't expect full production all summer long unless you can find a way to reduce the heat (e.g. shading--a great idea). To her list I'll add Boondocks, Mexico and maybe even Gary 'O Sena. Good luck!!

Oh, forgot... Stupice is quite heat tolerant too and are extremely prolific usually. The fruits taste so-so raw (better than store-bought, though) but let me tell you, cooking them releases lord knows what, but they become sublime. A cup of hot Stupice juice with a pinch of salt is almost to die for.

My best general advice is if Suze says it, do it! She recommended two things to you that I did based on her recommendation and it has made all the difference to me. I have a small backyard garden and it faces due south with a brick wall behind it catching sun (heat) all day. The best thing I ever did was invest in some good sunshade cloth with sewn in eyelets (that makes instal a snap). Second best thing was to start early. Between those two actions, I've been able to go from fried plants that produced a handful of tomatoes before dying to having a fairly bountiful harvest that is enough for family and a few close friends. Last year, it produced from late May till mid August.

Jerry, did you get your shade cloth locally? I'm in DFW as well, and sure would like to look into this...
Thanks,
Susan

Susan: I ordered it over the internet. I'm going to have to remember to look at it tonight and look for which company it came from. The place I ordered from custom cut it to lengths and widths I specified to provide cover over my uniquely shaped beds. I believe I went 50% reduction and this will be the 3rd year to use it. Still looks to be in good shape too.

Hello, I have been on this forum for a year, but have not talked to much. Lots of info from some great tom. growers. thank you. what i would like to know is if solar fire and solar set toms. are good tasting. The reason is they will tolerate the heat and humidity of NE tx. without disease. thank you for any info on this.

Darlene

Darlene, I grew Solar Fire last year. It did alright, nothing special as far as setting in the heat. One thing it didn't have was flavor. I won't grow it again. Quite frankly, I thought Celebrity did much better, production wise and taste wise. YMMV
HTH
Susan

I live in DFW, last year was a very good year for tomato gardening in Dallas. Last year I had good luck with everything I planted: Celebrity, Sunmaster, Sweet Million, Superbeefsteak, Better Boy, Giant Belgium.

The Sunmaster variety was still setting fruit in July, till the night time temperature failed to fall under 80.

March and April can be quite windy, so be aware that your plants can really be damaged if exposed to the high winds, usually out of the south-southwest. Hail and high winds in April/May from thunderstorms usually take their toll too. Be prepared.

In regards to planting...last spring around St Patricks Day we had alot of really rotten weather that would have drown most new plants. I waited till about April 1st to plant. A little late but the mild spring made up for it.

Last freeze date in DFW is usually about March 17th but varies by area. I live inside Dallas and our last freeze has usually been about the 15th.

Bad thing about tomatoes is if you plant them in cold/cool soil they will just sit there and not grow. Better just to let them sit inside in the warm air for another 5-6 days rather than plant in the cold soil.

I started my seeds a week ago, a full week ahead of last year and a full two weeks ahead of the year before. Seems that I always get my first crop of tomatoes the same week every year, a week or three either way in regards to starting seeds does not matter for me.

I'd add Marion, Costoluto Genovese, Golden Monarch, Peron, Black Cherry, and Pearly Pink Cherry. All produce well for me through the summer and into fall here in East Austin, Texas, zone hell. Last year we had thirty some odd days of 110 degree day and 90 degree night temps. I also start many 5 gal pots of determinates for early production and don't sow my indies until Valentine's Day for mid March set out. I don't plant too many Brandywines anymore, but Landis Valley strain has done quite well for me for several years back as well but haven't grown it in a while.

thank you susan, I will try celebrity this year and see how it grows. I just wasn't sure which toms. would grow in this awful heat and humidity.

Darlene

Susan: Finally looked at this and I purchased white shade cloth, 50% block from a company at www.green-tek.com They make several greenhouse products and varieties of shade cloth. While my order was small time for them, they were prompt and easy to deal with and provided a quality product that was custom cut for my beds. I don't know if they are cheap or expensive as I just looked until I found what I needed. In my suburban, southern facing, blazing hot, up against a tall brick wall beds, this, more than anything else I've done, increased my productivity and longevity of the growing season.