I deal with the same problem here in Laguna Beach. These are varieties that are good performers on the coast:

Black Cherry, Black from Tula, Costoluto Genovese, Green Grape, Green Zebra, Jaune Flammee, Momotaro, Reif Red Heart, Rutgers, Speckled Roman, Stupice (my favorite), Sungold Cherry, Sweet Baby Girl

There are probably many more, but these are the ones "tomato expert" Steve Goto, in a 2006 seminar, said do well in our June Gloom.

I've grown tomatoes in Torrance for over 15 years now and I'd say you have nothing to worry about. They will be fine during our early summer gloom--they won't grow like crazy, of course, and you will be worried the whole time if you are doing it for the first time. Then, from July onwards, you will see them take off, and wonder why you even worried. Trial and error will decide what toms are good for your area, and also talking to other growers in your 'hood.
Talk to some people at that plant sale, you'll get tons of advice. Last but not least, factor in your personal taste preferences, and to grow hybrids or heirlooms.
Go to the Tomato Forum here and you'll find info too.
Good Luck!

Did I really write June "glom"? -- dropped out an entire "o' there! Anyway, thanks johnpatrick for the varieties tips, I'll check them out. Peebee1, also thanks for the reassurance -- and I thought this /was/ the Tomato Forum? I need to look into that whole hybrids vs heirlooms thing. I just know that I want tomatoes that taste great in Caprese salads, in sandwiches, and on pizza. I'm a simple man.

Okay Rocky,
I wanted to send this to you privately but since you are too private to include an email address- here's my researched grow list that includes what I'm doing in my cool climate:

2008 Tomatoes All Heirlooms Varieties followed by * do well in cool weather
Akers West Virginia- Heavy yields of 1lb red fruit with deep, robust flavor. Ind 70 days
Anna MariaÂs Heart- Large pink heart New from Dr Carolyn Male. Ind 75 days
Aunt GertieÂs Gold- 1 lb yellow/orange beefsteak. Outstanding flavor. Ind 75 days
Aunt RubyÂs German Green- Green beefsteak. Sweet/spicy flavor. Ind. 80 days
Aussie Family Tomato- 8 oz ribbed red fruit. Sweet flavor. Good producer. Det 75 days
Black Cherry* Rich, sweet black tomato flavors in a round cherry. Early. Ind 65 days
Bloody Butcher* Dark red 4 oz fruit, very early & high yielding, strong flavor Ind 55 day
Box Car Willie- Very heavy crop of 6-10 oz smooth red fruit w/delicious flavor. Ind 80
Bradley- 7-10 oz dark pink fruit, heavy yield. Old fashioned big flavor. Semi D 75 days
Brandywine-Deep pink 1 to 2 lb beefsteaks. Excellent flavor. Ind 85 days
Chapman- 1-2 lb bright red beefsteaks with excellent flavor- heavy bearing plant. Ind 80
Cherokee Green- Mutation of CP. Emerald green when ripe. Very tasty. Ind 80 days
Cherokee Purple-Deep purple large fruits with green shoulders.Great flavor. Ind 80 days
Cosmonaut Volkov* 1-2 lb round red fruit. Does well in cool weather. Ind 70 days
Danko- New Medium size red heart. Seeds from Dr Carolyn Male
Dr WycheÂs Yellow- Deep golden 1 lb beefsteak, low production, great flavor. Ind 80
EarlÂs Faux- Deep pink 1 lb beefsteak, award winning flavor at taste offs. Ind 80 days
Elberta Peach* 3 oz red with gold stripes. Tangy flavor, unusual grayish foliage. Det 80
German Red Strawberry- 1 lb heart shaped fruit. One of the best for flavor. Ind 80 days
Gold Medal- 1-½ lb yellow & red bicolor beefsteak. Complex flavors. Ind 75 days
Japanese Black Trifele*Crack resistant 8 oz pear shape mahogany color,very tasty.Ind75
Jaune Flamme- Heavy yields of 3 oz deep orange fruit. Very sweet, great saucer. Ind 85
KellogÂs Breakfast-1 lb or more orange beefsteak. Whopping flavor. Ind 80 days
Kimberly* Ultra early red cherry 1-2 oz fruit with flavor like a full sized tomato. Ind 45
LillianÂs Yellow Heirloom- 1lb light yellow beefsteak, sweet rich flavor-citrus Ind 90
MariannaÂs Peace*Deep reddish pink 1 lb beefsteak fruit. Excellent flavor. Ind 85 days
Marglobe-Large crop of 6-7 oz fruit maturing at once. Great for canning Det 75 days
Marmande*Heavy clusters of 6 oz fruit. Cool weather tomato, complex tart taste 65 Ind
Matina* Very early, 2 to 4 oz fruit. Top flavor of the earlies. Long season. Ind 55 days
Mortgage Lifter-Deep pink, 1 to 2 lb beefsteaks. Rich meaty flavor. Ind 85 days
Neves Azorean Red- 1-2 lb beefsteaks with huge flavor. Crack resistant, big crop. Ind 75
Numer 12 oz orange fruit, slightly oblate shape, excellent flavor. Good producer Ind
Oregon Spring* Red 5 oz fruit. Bred for cool weather growing. Full flavor. Det 60 days
Paul Robeson* Blackish red, beefsteak shape, 10 oz fruit. Full flavored. Ind. 80 days
Persimmon- One lb golden persimmon shaped fruit. Tastoff winner for yellows. Ind 85
PrudenÂs Purple*Potato leaf plant,1 lb dark pink fruit, few seeds, excellent flavor. Ind75
Roma Pompeii- Heavy yields of flavorful paste and sauce tomatoes. Ind 75 days
Silvery Fir Tree* Fine fern-like silvery gray foliage, compact 24" plant. Heavy crop of 3" red, tasty tomatoes. Great for containers. Det 55 days
SophieÂs Choice*Orange/red full size (up to 10 oz) fruit on a 20" tall dwarf plant. Det 55
Stupice*Extra early and cold tolerant. 2- 4 oz red fruit. Sweet, good taste. Ind 50 days
Sunsets Red Horizon* Huge, red 5" heart shaped. Cool weather tomato. Ind 70 days
Tigerlike- Dwarf 22" plant grows loads of 2" striped fruit. Tasteoff winner. Det 72days
Yellow Pear*2" pear shaped, clear yellow fruit very sweet. Cool weather OK Ind 75 days

San Diego, eh? I'm in Long Beach, about 40 minutes north of you, and we have had nice 80+ sunny weather for two days now. (It should cool back down around 71 for the rest of the week).

You can grow any tomatoes you want around here. And you can plant them earlier. I put mine in the ground on March 1, but I could have put them in a couple of weeks earlier if I had wanted to. San Diego shouldn't be more difficult.

And gloomy weather is fine for new plants, isn't it? It gives them a chance to acclimate to their new surroundings before the deadly heat gets here.

Territorial Seed Company evaluates varieties for performance in cool summer weather. I remember "Delicious" as one which is said to retain fine flavor as nights cool off.

Over the years I've been posting online about tomatoes ( since 1989) the major problem that I've seen folks from your area having problems with is Powdery Mildew during JUne Gloom days. If it gets bad it can retard and sometimes kill plants.

Fusarium ( mainly b'c Fusarium race 3 is found in CA) and Root Knot Nematodes are two other rather common problems/

There are two kinds of Powdery mildew, different genera, and while I don't know the growing preferences of any of you who have posted above, the best anti-fungal around is Ortho Garden Disease Control, which is Daconil. And Daconil has less toxicity that does Rotenone, which is approved for all Organic certifications I'm aware of, and it also can be applied up to the day of harvest.

I have many friends in So Cal who are close to the coast and have the problem of mildew, so although I don't live and garden there I am aware of what they grow and what problems they might face in any given year.

Carolyn

To danincv: my bad for not making my email "public." New to the list and haven't tinkered with the control panel. Many thanks for the canonical list!!! I'll take it with me to Tomatomania!

doof, thanks for the reassurance that these fruit will survive the gloominess.

carolync1, I'll take a look at their catalog. Thanks for the tip!

carolyn137, it is indeed powdery mildew that I'm concerned about. I do hope to be able to avoid using anti-fungals, even those with "less toxicity," but one must be a realist, I reckon. I will ask the folk at Tomatomania about how to deal with that, and them nematodes, too.

I'm not having any problems with June gloom in Allied Gardens :)

I've been having to water some of my seedlings twice a day so they don't get baked in the 80+ weather we've been having here. I just noticed that my cherry tomato plant already has fruit on it.

carolyn137, it is indeed powdery mildew that I'm concerned about. I do hope to be able to avoid using anti-fungals, even those with "less toxicity," but one must be a realist, I reckon. I will ask the folk at Tomatomania about how to deal with that, and them nematodes, too.

****

Rocky, the original Tomatomania was a yearly event held at Hortus Nursery in Pasadena. I was invited out there to lecture, give workshops and whatever.

Subsequent to that Hortus folded and thus came about the "floating" Tomatomanias.

The volunteers who sell the plants may not necessarily be the ones to ask about mildew treatments, Fusarium and Nematodes.

So I suggest you gather whatever information you can, from wherever, before you decide on possible avenuses of approach. ( smile)

Carolyn

Don't sweat it.

I have a Celebrity that over wintered outside, through the cold ;) southern California winter in Laguna Hills. With the 80 degree temps we are having recently it is really taking off and even has blossoms. The year before, an Isis Candy made it through.

They may not grow as fast as you want to in May and June, but come the hot days of July and August they will thrive.

Just be sure you do not over water when it is cool an foggy they hardly need any water.

I had a Red October (the fall storage tomato) seedling make it through our foggy winter on the porch. Though Burpee doesn't like to release disease-resistance information on its varieties, I read somewhere that it is tolerant to nematodes.

If mildew is the problem, you might also think about varieties promoted for the greenhouse, such as Sweet Cluster.

The other Carolyn

Rocky, I used to live in Pacific Beach about five blocks from the ocean and had to deal with May Gray and June Gloom every year. I put seedlings in the ground in mid March and never had a problem. I wouldn't worry about it. Even though it may be cloudy during May/June, coastal San Diego is NOT humid. I don't know why powdery mildew would be a problem.

I now live about three miles inland (and only occassionally deal with the gloom since I'm near the cut-off line) but I've realized it hasn't made any real difference in my plants. They all grow about the same as they used to in PB.

Thanks, clob! I picked up four varieties at Tomatomania and will be get some cheap trash cans to cut down, drill drains into, fill with potting soil and amendment, then I'll plunk these little babies right in and wait patiently until they get nice hot weather to fruit. In the meantime, I will work on refining my sourdough pizza dough and learn how to turn fresh tomatoes into tomato sauce for some nice Pizza Margherita this coming summer! That, and a bottle of chianti and we'll be happy campers here!

For those in the San Diego area, I just thought Id mention that the Armstrong Nursery on Morena Blvd (by SeaWorld Drive/Tecolate Road) has some great tomato varieties. They started offering more obscure varieties last year (than you would usually find in a nursery around here) and the plants look great. I was just out there last weekend and they have Black Krim, Cherokee Purple, etc

I picked up a Sungold plant there last year which did great in my garden. And I did same thing this year. I usually plant about ten varieties from seed and this year I decided not to do Sungold from seed because I could just pick up a plant from them thats about 18" high, healthy, and only pay $4 for it.

Last year they also had Kelloggs Breakfast which did really well in my garden. I didnt see it last weekend but may do a drive-by tomorrow to see if its back.

Thank goodness for the June gloom. Here above Pasadena, when the hottest weather starts in July and August, my larger heirloom tomatoes shut down production, sometimes for the year. Yes, there will be a tomato or two in the fall, but hardly worth the water and space. Even the cherry tomatoes slow down. I've tried some of the new hot weather tomato varieties, but have been disappointed in their flavor.

I live in New England, but I plant tomatoes for my elderly father every year at his house a few blocks from the beach in La Jolla. Last year June was cool and wet and he had really bad foliage problems and crummy yields. I don't see any way around it if the weather doesn't cooperate. It seems the closer you are to the ocean, the more at the mercy of June Gloom and Gray May that you are. I have to second cob's comment about Armstrong's. I go to the one on Via De La Valle in Del Mar and they have really big healthy seedlings and a good selection of heirlooms. I took my dad to Tomatomania when I was visiting two weeks ago. I have to say I was disappointed. I've seen better selections at local nurseries here in Massachustts. The only mania I saw was in trying to find a parking place.
Lou

After a couple years of absence, I hope to grow some tomatoes this year. I never worry about the June Gloom... just the excessive heat. It was 100 deg F here in Long Beach (inland) yesterday, and will likely be the same today. Thank goodness I'm not trying to pollinate in such weather. As Caroline once pointed out to me, anything over 90 deg F is likely fatal to pollen.

Daconil abates all my mildew problems easily and immediately. I get my mildew in August heat... and almost always in the same places in my small backyard garden... microclimate must have something to do with that.