I grew a dozen or so about 10 years ago. Started early spring indoors, put out for summer, then brought them back to the greenhouse as it cooled off in fall. My experience was that they were very sensitive to cold (much more than tomatoes or Brugmansias) and never amounted- and unlike my other "tropicals" they did die in the GH before it even got cold out. They just seemed to reminiscent to Brugs, but culture wasn't as simple.

Nice to see you check in treefrog and thanks again for the seeds,i have 2 of the goosecreeks growing now from seeds you sent and one brandyboy. Im surprised i havent read no where on this site or rthe other of anyone growing florida pink. These huge, 2 to 3 lb fruits are a gorgeous light pink. Extremely juicy, sweet and crack free, Florida Pink out-produces most plants in our garden. With very few seeds, huge production and great flavor, it is a favorite for cooking and fresh eating. Setting fruit well in hot areas, this beautiful tomato will be a fine addition to your garden. thats what laurel says about it. rowdy red is another i think will do well im growing. Named by Gary Ibsen, the seeds of this variety came to Gary from tomato breeder, Archie Millett, who crossed his favorite tomato varieties over many years to finally produce a disease resistant tomato with intense flavor. 'Clint Eastwood's Rowdy Red,' is an open-pollinated tomato (78 days to maturity). The tall, indeterminate, plant produces lots of 2-inch (6-10 oz.), deep-red, round fruits with a subtle point on it's end. Fruit has robust, 'not for sissies,' bold, tomatoey flavors, with a firm, juicy flesh, that invites snacking in the garden, cooking, canning and seed-saving. Its fruity sweetness is perfectly balanced with plenty of acidity, earthy nuances and complexity. kirk Here is a link that might be useful: laurells tomato plants

NorthernMater - like the handle, thanks for the comments. This year I wanted to try something different so I bought Totem, but never got the seed started - ran out of space and time. Will try that one next year. I never heard of Tiny Tim so I will look into that one for next year as well. I tried Micro Tom one year and, while a very interesting, incredibly tiny plant (bonsai 'mater?), it was not that impressive a variety and had very poor tasting fruit IMO. This year I did start seed from a packet from Livingston Seed called "Container Tomato" of all things. Plants not nearly as healthy as Red Robin, but they seem to be perking up after getting some warm humid days and a healthy shot of fertilizer. Will see what they do but so far I am not impressed. I still have the original seed packet that states "Red Robin" but there certainly is the possibility that the incorrect seed was in the packet. I have searched quite a bit on the Red Robin issue and have not seen any definitive information stating one way or the other regarding whether hybrid or OP. If anyone can steer me to some definitive information online I would appreciate it. It's not a big deal, I just like to know what I am growing and I do not like to unintentionally misinform others and add to the confusion. BTW I got into container gardening as an experiment because many people I know do containers and struggle with the concept and have lots of problems with their plants. I wanted to know why. What I have found: container plants need LOTS of attention, LOTS of water, big pots, rich soil with minimal peat (wicks out the soil moisture very quickly), and lots of sun but protection from the hottest, brightest part of the sunny days. Follow those details properly and I am convinced anyone can be successful. I have found container plants to be much more labor intensive than gardening using regular, old-fashioned garden plots (my main gardening method). But I do not consider that to be a negative because I like growing and caring for plants. I think the main problem is some folks either do not take the time or have the time to properly care for their container plants. I know for a fact some have gotten into container gardening thinking it is easier than regular gardening - I do not find that to be the case. Two major benefits - weeds are not an issue; because of the isolation I have much fewer disease and insect threats or issues with container plants than with plants in the regular gardens. Take Care, -Tom

KatieC, I might have agreed about our similar growing conditions until you said last year was bad for you... last year was the best gardening year EVER here! But I'm with you 100% on going with varieties I know will grow well (and mature) in my conditions!!! You should have great luck with King of the North! but I do think the strain isn't completely stable, and it produces many peppers that aren't bell shape.... I think I grew around 8 plants of KotN last year and at least 3 plants produced non-bells. (ETA: I bought that seed from High Mowing Seeds - Organic). Many years ago I did lots of seed-trading on GW and tried many different varieties of tomatoes and peppers like Jimmy Nardello's and Marconi-- but I got so many dud seeds that didn't even germinate, or they were incorrect varieties, so I gave up on trading with strangers. lol! Way back then I was looking for a specific and rare pepper from Italy and I found a guy there to trade with... he sent some fantastic Italian and Spanish pepper seed varieties, including paprikas, but my growing season wasn't quite long enough to get good production. There's one he sent that I do continue to grow, he called it LaCrime di Christo... tiny and VERY HOT! Otherwise, the peppers I grow every year are things like Portugal Long Hots, Hungarian Hot Wax, Balloon Peppers, Anaheims, an old unknown Italian sweet variety that's very early (not bell), etc. I've tried Poblanos a few times but my growing season isn't long enough. :(