Well, I'm sure it's not what you were thinking when you asked, but I would say the worst, most common pest is the nematode, thye've been everywhere I've lived in CA, north and south. And there isn't much you can do about them, except find varieties which can power through it. I have tried spraying beneficial insects, planting elbon rye, even digging a hole and putting in commercial potting soil. They still survive to attack my tomatoes. Other pests can be annoying, but they rarely make much of an impact on the crop if you get them early (ie hornworms) Carla in Sac

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

1) Can't applybuilder just pluck a sucker and root from that. Winter doesn't last very long in So Cal. Sure folks can start new plants from suckers of varieties they like. I didn't mention it b'c I know most folks like to trial as many different varieties as they can, always looking for that perfect tomato, LOL, so almost all of my friends in high heat areas don't grow the same varities for the Fall crop that they do for the Spring crop. And one wouldn't anyway, if concentrating onlong and midseason for the Spring crop and early and midseason varieties for the Fall crop. And has been mentioned above by me and others have chimed in, plants overwintered don't usually produce as they did in the previous season; lots of variables there. 2) "Try to avoid the high heat conditions...". It's coming into the hot summer months here in July and August. But half of my crops appears stunt and havent' set at all. I want to pull them and plant a few plants to have a late harvest. Are you saying to not plant in the summer months ? What I'm saying is that you have to plant early enough so that the plants will pollenize while temps are still moderate b/c high temps inhibit pollenization and/or fruit set, and you want the fruits to mature before the high heat kicks in. None of my S Cal friends would be setting out plants for the Fall crop until maybe early to mid September. and so stating seeds in maybe early July or so to get those plants to set out transplant size of maybe 6-9 inches. And your nurseries there offer a lot of varieties to chose from for the Fall season as well as the Spring season. I never really appreciated the problems that folks in zones 9 and 10 have, as do others in other states, until I was invited to give a weekend program on heirloom tomatoes at Hortus Nursery in Pasadena. I also spent time at their then store in Orange County and it was great b'c I got to meet a lot of folks I knew from online. Hortus went out of business, but Gary, who ran it, has now been with Armstrong Nursries for quite a few years. Does the above help? Carolyn

What varieties are you all growing? What is the expected size listed (usually in ounces)? I've only seen one person mention varieties, and it sounded like they might be having a heat issue. No one has posted any pictures ... Details! Please! I've grown may varieties of tomato all in pots with no size issues, and I don't just do dwarf varieties ... I've had smaller plant size from using a smaller pot, but fruit is still generally in range, so let's look at other possible reasons. Small tomatoes are likely either a stress or pollination issue. Watering issues will stress a plant ... drastic will cause the whole plant to suffer but borderline may just cause stress that dwarfs or cracks the fruit. Not enough sun will stress the plant and usually cause excessive foliage trying to gather energy from the insufficient light and fewer, smaller fruit trying to conserve energy; these may be seedy due to the plant trying reproduce more efficiently. Heat is a common stresser ... tomatoes don't tolerate cold, but they're not great in heat either ... the fruit ripen too quickly if they set at all. Pests, disease, and and/or improper nutrient level/balance can cause all sorts of issues, too too, but I'd start by looking at water, sun, and heat. Pollination is usually taken care of my insects/pollinators (you know, bees ...) ... if flowers aren't properly pollinated, they won't create proper fruit, either dropping or creating tiny, seedless fruit (no pollen = useless to the plant -> abort mission tomato ... try again with a new flower).