They are on a drip system and are being watered at each tomato plant with a gallon and some with a two gallon feeder for ten minutes three times a day. I am sure that they are being eaten by an animal. When I say "hollowed out," I mean there is an animal that takes a bite of the tomato and then eats away at the inside. There are also other tomatoes with just bite marks in them. I also have a cherry tomato plant that had hundreds of green tomatoes now depleted to a couple dozen. I attached a photo on the original post and another one on this post for reference. Thank you in advance for any advise.

I'm a Orange County native, so have quite a few years of experience with dealing with OrCo growing conditions. Still not a tomato expert, but here are my thoughts: Nothing is more discouraging than poor soil, especially clay that smothers the roots if over-watered. If you have never tried one, I seriously suggest you try making/using an 18 gal tupperware earthtainer. You might be very pleased with the results. My wife doesn't understand why I try to grow tomatoes in the ground anymore. The container that my wife recommends is made with a circle of strong wire mesh, 3 to 4 ft tall, lined with a trash bag and filled with compost based soil that she buys bulk, $25 a mini-truckload. First year she tried this planter she received at least 100 tomatoes per plant. Other ideas that have worked well for me are 15 gal pots,I pay about $2 for used ones or new at the wholesale supply. I drill 1" holes in the bottom (smaller than gophers, you do have gophers don't you?), fill them with container soil and place them on the ground. Container soil gets plants off to a great start, roots gradually grow into the ground over time. Raised gardens are good, skip the expensive wood sides if you want. If your native soil is anything like mine, you will want at least 50% compost. On to tomato varieties: I personally have not experienced the rotting problems you report, so I may be of limited help. Check the posts for blossom end rot (BER). I read, though have not tried using Calcium Nitrate fertilizer. Large tomatoes often don't set for me, the ones that have produced for me are Supersteak and Ponderosa. I usually stick to small to medium sized tomatoes, early or mid-season. Although we have a long growing season, large, late season tomatoes seem to need warmer nights that I have. I have successfully grown dozens of varieties of tomatoes,though few have been successful just growing in my native soil. Have you grown a variety named San Diego? Bred for our conditions and always produces reliably. I just finished picking my last round of Paul Robeson tomatoes, so if you are looking for a long season tomato you might try that variety. Gary

I've had luck with my cherry volunteer (he started last summer, overwintered and is now ENORMOUS) and Moskovich has started blushing and I've had 3 ripe ones off of that one. Sprite, Fargo, martino's Roma, Sophie's choice-all have green ones, but no sign of ripening. Last summer I had the same issue-they sat green seemingly FOREVER and only started turning when I went on vacation! That wasn't until mid-July. These mild summers don't do it for the tomatoes!

Carla in Sac posts here fairly often. She has terrific tomato growing success in Sacramento. Here's her list of heat tolerant varieties: Large varieties for hot weather (above 100 degrees): Mexico, Giant Belgium, Stump of the World, Marianna's Peace, Big Beef, Brandy Boy, Boondocks Medium/paste varieties: Stupice, Jetsetter, Arkansas Traveler, Burgundy Traveler, Manalucie, Moskvich, Orange Russian 117 (altough these can grow to beefsteak size), Peron, Jubilee, Heidi, Italian Gold Most cherry/grape varieties. To that I can add Cold Set (yep, setting tomatoes in my back yard right now, 100+ degrees). Also Gary'O Sena and Dora are reported to have good heat tolerance. In Redlands you probably could grow anything and at worst have a two-month shutdown in summer.