Sharon, for several reasons I just haven't been able to get back to you, and trust me you have no idea of what's been going on here at home, but just this afternoon I made a list and since you've now posted at three message sites with the same request I'll go back to the one where I said I'd get back to you and list my suggestions.(smile)

Carolyn, who remembers very well where you are b'c of our previous communications. LOL

Thanks so much! That's not to say I won't take advice from anyone else, of course!! You're a doll! Everyone, give recommendations! It's so great to share!
Sharon

Oh, really sorry about the Better Boy not doing well. It is one of my favorite tomatoes. But I must admit I have never grown most of the ones on your list.

Rita, what are some of the toms you've had good luck with?my BB's have been cracking and now seem to be attacked by some type of worm. Frustrating!

Well, everthing this year is doing really well in terms of growing. Great production on everything except the CHEROKEE PURPLE which is just average. But also giving me tomatoes so I consider that a sucess. My favorite tomatoes thus year are BEEFMASTER, BIG BOY and BETTER BOY. The best tasting of all my hybreds that I grow. FOUTH OF JULY, PATIO, BETTER BUSH, SUPERFANTASTIC and WHOPPERS all will not be back for me as I was dissapointed in the lack of flavor on all of them. But they are producing like crazy, just like the rest of my tomatoes.

For the small tomatoes I love Sungold. Tastes great. And I love Juliet for large grapes that produce like crazy.

I don't grow heirlooms.

I can tell you what I am going to plant next year.

1- Mexico Midget
1- Cherokee Green
2- Cossack Pineapple (a Ground Cherry)but in the tomato family
and then probably going to try 3 more Dwarfs not certain of which ones yet. But most likely
1 Dwarf Wild Fred
1 Summer Sunrise
1 Rosella Crimson

Of all the ones I just listed the 2 best tasting ones are the strangest.
The Cossack Pineapple and the Mexico Midget.

and one thing I am going to do for certain next year is start VERY early.
I am going to plant seeds probably in January under the green house cover and do that every 2 weeks so by the end of February I should have at least a few seedlings.
Then plant them in their respective 20 Gallon Smart Pots as soon as I think I can get away with it.

Sorry but it sounds like you are assuming the problems are because they are certain varieties or with the fact that they are hybrids? But the problems you list - pests, splitting, disease, slow growth, delayed ripening, etc. - are all growing conditions related, not variety or type related.

Without providing proper growing conditions and care it won't make any difference which variety you plant, be they hybrids or open-pollinated.

So why not provide more info on the exact nature of the problems.

Dave

Hi Dave, and everyone, for myself, GZ has just not been a great tomato for me. I've planted in the ground, in a container, always in full sun always vigilant about watering, fertilizing, etc. I end up losing to BER some years. I don't find it very productive in comparison to Tigerella which I am growing for the first time this year.BB started out wonderfully, then cracked, and now appears to be getting eaten by something that leaves black droppings in the leaves. JBT also started off strong, showed some cracking, and now seems to be settling down. I am more vigilant about amount of watering and if it's going to rain, not that we've had much. The super San Marzano's all have this weird markings near the stem and just don't appear to be healthy. No sgn of insects or leaf disease. My cherries are great, and my last big hope is the Gold Medal which should be great if I can keep squirrels and crows away.
I will take all recommendations into account. Nunyabiz what zone are you in?
Thanks, Sharon

So how big are your containers? What does 'vigilent' mean? Daily whether they need it or not? What container mix? If in ground have you had a soil test done? Have you amended your soil in any way? Which fertilizer? How much? How often?

Most use containers that are far too small. Since BER and cracking are both watering issues the container size and the type of container mix used and the frequency of watering are crucial to preventing both. Cracking is also easily prevented by picking at breaker stage.

getting eaten by something that leaves black droppings in the leaves

Clearly a pest issue that requires intervention/treatment. Most likely hornworms which are common tomato pests regardless of variety and they don't care if it is a hybrid or a heirloom but are easy to control.

Watering is always a difficult issue with containers unless one uses an automated drip system - again no different for hybrids or variety A to Z.

super San Marzano's all have this weird markings near the stem and just don't appear to be healthy

No way to know what that may be without a photo and more details. But again it is not variety related or type related.

The point is too many people want to blame their problems on the variety or the fact that it is a hybrid or not a hybrid. That's a cop out. In reality the source of the problems is the gardener and their methodology, not the tomato plant.

If the gardener doesn't educate themselves and eliminate their mistakes then it makes no difference which variety or which type they grow, the results will be the same.

Dave

Sharonie
I am in zone 7b, very hot and humid in the summer.
The black droppings on the leaves is almost certainly Hornworms.

I think your best bet regardless of what tomato you grow next year is to get some 15-20 gallon Smart Pots, use a VERY well draining potting mix, add in a little slow release fertilizer like Osmocote, put about 3" of mulch on top.

So, I have containers that are at least 19" width x 18" height. I know at the very least they hold at least two bags of container mix that are 30 liters each. I use organic container mix, with added lime and I use a shrimp compost. I plant them very deep. By watering vigilantly, I mean I water when the soil is almost dry, which meant almost every day this summer considering the extreme heat. I never water the leaves. I fertilize every two weeks with an organic fertilizer like Mykes. About once a month I will add a bit more lime and some compost.
I recognize that the performance of the tomatoes lies in my hands, but certain conditions also have an impact. Re: San Marzano's - those are in the ground. I guess they don't like that particular spot. The top half of the fruit is yellow and shriveled looking. My second Better Boy is also in the same area and is doing better than the SM and it's counterpart in a container. The container BB has the hornworms.
My two Gold Medals are also in the ground, different location, plenty of sun, very healthy. And as I mentioned, my cherries are all doing well.
I have it had a soil test done, which is something I will have done.
Does that give you a clear enough picture?
Thanks Sharon

Yes it does help. Thanks. It identifies at least a couple of the problems. One, your containers are too small. As Nunyabiz said 15-20 gallon containers will improve your results 10 fold. Larger is even better.

By watering vigilantly, I mean I water when the soil is almost dry

Top of soil or down at root level. Condition of the top soil isn't a valid indicator of the need for water. BER is prevented by maintaining consistent soil moisture levels - never dry and never too wet. Allowing soil moisture to go back and forth between dry and drenched causes BER. Larger containers with slow drip irrigation maintains even soil moisture levels. Otherwise it is often necessary to add small amount of water several times a day and always first check the soil moisture at the root level. Container plants should also be heavily mulched with several inches of a good organic mulch.

I fertilize every two weeks with an organic fertilizer like Mykes. About once a month I will add a bit more lime and some compost.

This is a major issue and discussed here often. Organic fertilizers do not work well in containers because the soil has been sterilized and lacks the needed soil food web, the soil micro herd, that is necessary to convert the organic fertilizers to usable nutrients. The only way to make organic fertilizers and compost effective in containers is to regularly mixed in one of the various brands of soil activators that provide the needed bacteria. Using one of the bacterial-active liquid organics can help but since they leach out of the containers on a daily basis they must be replaced on at least a weekly basis if not more often. Otherwise one has to acknowledge that while organics work quite well in the ground, they don't work in containers and use liquid synthetics instead.

The top half of the fruit is yellow and shriveled looking.

That sounds like sun scald, uncommon for San Marzanos as they normally have quite thick foliage unless pruned too heavily.

Of course weather is beyond out control other than providing shading when necessary but this past year has been record setting bad weather for the majority of the country so results this year are not a valid indicator of either variety or type performance.

Hope this helps.

Dave

Thanks. Can you give me an idea of which liquid synthetics I should be using. I also use a chicken fertilizer with calcium, but again it's in pellet form. What about a seaweed liquid fertilizer? I know container growing is challenging. I know about the soil dryness. I will definitely get new containers for next year.
The San Marzano's have not been pruned at all except for pinching out suckers. I found the foliage also not what I expected, so maybe it didn't like it's enviroment.
Again, thanks,
Sharon

"Pinching out suckers" IS pruning. It is also a source of stress for the plant and costs you production as well as exposing the fruit to sun scald. Not to mention that San Marzano is a semi-determinate so should not be pinched or pruned at all.

As for liquid fertilizers, there are 100's of brands available. Seaweed is just one component in several them and a good additive but you want something that is well-balanced and also contains the many micro-nutrients. To do that you first need to understand exactly what and how much of each nutrient the brand you choose contains.

There are many discussions here about fertilizers, both organic and synthetic full of recommendations for or against the various brands. Just type 'fertilizer' in the forum search bar at the bottom of the page.

Synthetics range from Miracle Grow (of course) to plain old 10-10-10 dissolved in water. Again unlimited brands available. Your choice.

Dave

Hi Sharon-

Couple of things that work for us. We have come up with a hybrid system that works very well for us. We use containers...3 gallon black pots (these come from free from the flower shops) and we cut out a large hole in the bottom. We use Fafards 52 mix, Dyna-gro fertilzer, and till the strip of ground that the pots sit on. This type of system helps us out in many ways...we don't have to use HUGE containers with HUGE amounts of soilless mix, the tomatoes LOVE the extra heat the above ground pots provide, watering and weeding is simple and effective, and foliage is kept up and off the ground. Oh yea, the plants are trellised on concrete mesh panels.

All-in-all the system works great for us. We have planted lots of tomatoes in ground and we typically battled fungal issues, pest issues, etc., etc. I love our system we have now and the plants love it too. We changed over to Dyna-gro fertilizer this year and have fantastic production coming off of these plants. Our German Giants are super big and plentiful:), and to think we got our plants in somewhat late this year (about a week into June) I had to smile when our neighbor asked about how our tomatoes were doing, hers were experiencing BER. Now mind you, our neighbor received all of her plants from US, so we were growing the same varieties...just growing them differently:) She was battling BER, we DID NOT have ONE tomato with the issue. Perfect example of what digdirt mentioned about varieties. Our neighbor could be on gardenweb complaining about varieties, but it isn't the varieties...its tomato management:)

Thanks Dave and naturemitch. Didn't know that about San Marzano's. Obviously I missed that one. So sun scald must be the problem. I like your hybrid system. And it's definitely another thing to consider for next year. Dave I will look into fertilizers. I have used Miracle gro in the past, and it's true, there are pros and cons for all of them. In any event, I'm removing them at first blush and we'll see. I'm assuming gold medal will be my best one this year! Thanks. To be continued....