I have been growing (or attempting to grow) tomatoes in Tucson for many years now. My philosophy with tomatoes is grow sandwich sized tomatoes of good taste and heavy production on disease/heat resistant plants. I have tried Super Souix, Porter, and others with minimal success. The problem tends to be that the plants get very big without much fruit set before or after the main heat of the season. My experience has been that the bulk of my food production from tomatoes has been from varieties that are referred to as semi-determinate (tomato varieties that are determinate in size, but indeterminate in fruit production). The best tomato I have grown in this class has been the F1 Celebrity. It is very easy to come by and does very well with only a little west-side shade after the month of May. 6-12 of these plants will feed a family of 4-6 with tomato sandwiches all through the summer. (As a note I do not use shade cloth and plant my tomatoes FAR from structures such as houses or walls that radiate heat at night). Many heirloom and other open pollinated varieties of tomatoes can produce very nice foliage here in the desert but they often fail to produce any significant amount of fruit. After trialing multiple open-pollinated tomato varieties each year, the best open-pollinated variety I have ever grown that tolerates the heat has been Siletz (see the link below). This variety is parthenocarpic, so it will produce virgin fruit through the summer, then, from my experience, you will be lucky if you can get some seeds from the plant in the fall. (= Neptune is also another good variety but it is a classic determinate, meaning it produces only one crop before its demise. No matter what tomato I grow, the biggest key to growing tomatoes in a desert climate is to put them in the ground or have some kind of insulated container with a water reservoir. Once the plants are established you must wean yourself from the tendency to water every day. Gardeners who water (at most) once every 3 days have much more success than those who water every day. Though this is initially counter-intuitive, flood irrigating or watering for 2+ hours on a drip hose every 3 days enables the roots of the tomatoes to develop 18-24 inches below the surface of the ground where they are well insulated from the scorching summer heat. The main benefit from watering occasionally comes in less plant stress and consequently, much less disease and pest problems. If you are new to this area you might also note some of the considerations to growing tomatoes in the following blog post: http://scientificgardener.blogspot.com/2012/01/few-tips-for-growing-tomatoes-tucson.html Here is a link that might be useful: Siletz tomato trial

Weldon, check your email if you are signed up for Baker Creek. I just got an email of 15% off your order this week. It doesn't look like an individual code, but rather a general one. Put it in before check out. Use 15OFF2012. Here is a link that might be useful: Baker Creek Fall Gardening

Seysonn - Thanks for that explanation. I started a thread a week or so ago asking for early tomatoes with good flavor recommendations, which Dave is referring to. I am just realizing that early = short season. I grew Fourth of July last year for the first time, but had to plant out tomatoes later than usual, so I don't know how early it would have started ripening otherwise. We didn't enjoy the flavor, but they were our earliest tomato and very productive. I didn't mind the small size. Dave and others recommended some of those you mention - Bloody Butcher, Matina, Early Girl, etc. which I am going to look for at the nursery. I normally don't pay attention to DTM, I just choose by recommended named variety and I was just remembering how a lot of my tomatoes last year didn't ripen. I thought it was getting them in late, but really, I often have trouble with large tomatoes because of the reduced sun. [Only about 6 hours] Cherries do well for me, usually. This year, I'm putting 3 tomatoes out front where I have full sun. I grew the Fourth of July out there last year. This year, I'm trying one of each of Sungold, Cherokee Purple and Black Prince, both out front in full sun and out back in the 6 hours of sun. I expect those out front to perform to expectations. In the back, I am starting to think I should experiment with early - short season varieties. I have room for four more plants. I have seed for Black Cherry, Mountain Princess, and Hog Heart. I may try three of the early varieties instead. I was thinking of trying Brandy Boy too, which I see is a Mid Season. I live in New England, and have about 4 ft of snow in the yard right now and no warm up in sight.

Here's a good site; http://content.ces.ncsu.edu/grafting-for-disease-resistance-in-heirloom-tomatoes Both Maxifort and Estamino seeds are sold online and I've seen others on an auction site.