Archive for the ‘Heirloom Tomatoes’ Category
Growing Tomatoes in Florida
Growing tomatoes in Florida, especially in South Florida, is something that I have a great deal of experience with. So, for all you Florida gardeners, here are some tips for growing some luscious, vine-ripe tomatoes of your own!
Seasons for Growing Tomatoes in Florida – Winter
Here in South Florida, you can grow tomatoes practically year-round…with some caveats. One is that if you have ever had a frost during the winter, don’t grow a large tomato garden in winter, unless you are prepared to cover your tomato plants or you have them in containers and can bring them inside.
Here’s a sad but true story. One year I planted a gorgeous tomato garden, with at least a dozen plants (probably closer to two dozen). It had been a cool, but not cold, Winter, with sunny days. Beautiful growing weather!
Alas, one night it was expected to get down to around 40 degrees. I debated covering the plants, but figured they would be OK. They probably would have been if the temperature had stayed around 40. Unfortunately, they plunged to the low 30s, we got frost and my tomato plants died. What made it worse was that they were bearing a wonderful crop at this point! I was able to salvage some of the ripest (although still green) tomatoes, but lost most of the crop.
If you want to grow a Winter crop in South Florida, plant your seeds in September. I like to plant heirloom tomato seeds in the winter, as well as at least one variety of cherry tomato like Supersweet 100 Hybrid.
Spring Tomatoes
Spring is great in Central and South Florida. Generally mild with mostly sunny days, it’s a wonderful tomato-growing time. North Florida can still get chilly, though, so plan accordingly if you live in the Panhandle or around Gainesville and north.
Spring is the end of the Florida dry season, so remember to water accordingly, as the sun is getting stronger each day. Especially in South and interior Central Florida, it can get mighty hot in late Spring.
To harvest a Spring crop of vine-ripe tomatoes, start planting your seeds in December to late January. I usually plant a mix of heirloom tomato seeds, as well as hybrids.
Growing Tomatoes in Summer in Florida
For Florida in general, Summer can be brutal on your tomato plants. Nor only is the sun exceedingly strong, but it’s hot and humid — excellent conditions for mildew and gray spot to develop. I tend to grow more disease-resistant hybrids in the summer, like Celebrity.
I also tend to grow tomatoes in containers, in dappled/light shade in the summertime. Containers because I can move them inside if really bad weather approaches (like tropical storms), and dappled shade because the mid-day sun just seems too much for the plants. I grow the fewest tomato plants in Summer here in South Florida.
Another problem you may run into in South and Central Florida is plants growing too fast and developing lots of cracks. So the tomato varieties I grow are generally cherry- to medium-sized.
For Summer tomatoes, I plant sometime in April.
Tomato Garden in Fall
Fall can be a nice time of year to grow tomatoes, at least in South Florida. If you live in North Florida and the Panhandle, you’ll want your main crop in by mid to late October. Central and South Florida can extend that a bit into November.
Fall’s main issue is how cold it gets how fast. Here in South Florida, we can get nighttime lows in the low 40s as early as November. I know this year, it’s been into the 20’s and 30’s in North Florida by late November — too cold for warmth-loving tomatoes. So the further north in Florida you live, the more you’ll want to consider growing your tomatoes in containers that you can bring inside when you get really cold snaps.
For Fall, I like some of the heirloom tomato seeds, some of the container tomatoes like Tumbling Tom and a bush type like Better Bush Improved Hybrid.
For a fall crop, I plant around mid-July.
Heirloom Tomato Seeds
Heirloom tomato seeds aren’t any more difficult to plant than hybrid tomato seeds. The trick is finding the seeds you want to grow — and there is quite a variety!
But before I talk more about the seeds, let’s talk a little about what makes an heirloom tomato an heirloom.
About Heirloom Tomatoes
So what exactly is an heirloom tomato — what makes it different than “regular” tomatoes?
First of all, heirlooms are produced natually from seeds. In other words, if you save seeds from an heirloom, the resulting plants will be just like the parent. Not so with a hybrid tomato, because you’ll never know what you’ll get! This is because a hybrid is a cross between two varieties, neither of which may be great on their own (but wonderful together).
So that’s one; an heirloom produces plants like itself. The next is how long the plant has been producing tomatoes; that is, how many generations have been produced with consistent results. I’ve heard quite a few different numbers — 100 and 50 seem to be the two that pop up the most. Some people use the year 1945 as the cutoff; if the tomato variety was growing in 1945 with consistent fruit results, the plant can be considered an heirloom.
One other thing about heirloom tomatoes is their taste! In general, the heirlooms produce a sweet, meaty tomato. Many of the heirloom varieties produce big fruits — beefsteak or larger. If you love tomato sandwiches, you’ll love these tomatoes.
There is a downside, though. Heirloom tomatoes are pretty strong growers, but they are not necessarily disease-resistant. So especially if you live in a hot and humid climate, you need to keep a closer eye on your heirlooms. (But it is worth it!)
Heirlooms generally produce, on average, fewer tomatoes per plant than hybrids. If your household is small, that’s not always a bad thing, so you’re not drowning in too many tomatoes at once!
Heirloom Tomato Seeds
There are tons of varieties or heirlooms out there, and I’ve tried many of them in my day. But I keep coming back to a few that are the easiest for me to grow, but that also have fun results! I like red tomatoes for sure, but I also get a big kick out of the purple and the striped tomatoes. That being said, here are a few of my favorite heirloom tomato seeds.
Brandywine always seems to be on the list whenever I do my seed planting. I love the big fruits and the juicy meat of this heirloom tomato. The seeds germinate fairly quickly and transplant easily. I do have to keep my eye out for blight here in the south, though. Some of that can be circumvented by putting a protective layer of mulch over the soil. Whenever my friends ask for suggestions on tomato varieties, Brandywine is always on the list. This is an indeterminate plant that needs staking and bears fruit in about 80 days.
This is a fun tomato because it’s purple! OK, it’s not the kind of bright purple you might be imagining; it’s more of a dusky violet. The name comes about because it’s believed to have originated among the Cherokee people, and is over 120 years old. These are big tomatoes, which can weight a pound or more. Sweet and meaty, they are great for salads and sandwiches. But the purple does take a little getting used to, especially when you serve it to guests! Cherokee Purple is an indeterminate tomato that bears fruit in about 80 days and requires staking.
I plant these heirloom tomato seeds just about every time because my husband David loves them so much. He claims that they make the very best tomato sandwiches, and they sure are pretty. Why? Because Pineapple is a yellow-and-red striped tomato! They are absolutely gorgeous to look at, and deliciously sweet to taste. Pineapple is also a great way to introduce a tomato of a different color to people who have never eaten anything but a red tomato. This tomato is indeterminate, needs staking and is late-season, bearing fruit 85 to 95 days out, so it’s best grown in a warmer climate.
If you regularly use tomato sauce, you really need to consider growing this heirloom tomato. Once you make sauce from this red tomato, you won’t want to go back to store-bought. Not into sauces? You can eat this tomato fresh, too. This variety is among the smaller of the heirloom tomatoes, but is still nice-sized. One thing, Constoluto Genovese really likes warm weather, so it’s not great for cooler climates. Another indeterminate, this heirloom tomato needs staking and produces fruit at around 78 days.
The last of the heirloom tomato seeds I’ll talk about today is one that bears monster fruits — Big Rainbow. It’s also another of the striped tomato colors, with gold and red, so it’s very pretty to look at. Not to mention great to eat! This heirloom tomato can get fruits up to 2 pounds in size! Naturally that’s with optimum growing conditions, but 1+ pounds tomatoes can be expected on average. This tomato is also exceptional in that it’s one of the most disease-resistant of the heirlooms! (Reason enough to grow it.) Big Rainbow is an indeterminate, requires strong staking (possibly multiple stakes). It bears fruit roughly 90 days out.
So there you go; some wonderful heirloom tomato seeds for you to consider planting. For additional information on planting, check out the post on planting a tomato garden. Not to mention how to germinate tomato seeds!
