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Post by Deleted on Jul 22, 2020 8:53:48 GMT -5
Here it is nearly August, nights over 80F and tomatoes don't want to set.
Daughter has a variety called PHOENIX HEAT which she says sets tomatoes in this weather. Drawback is that she says the biggest is about the size of a baseball. Is this a big cherry tomato or a small standard?
Anyone know anything about the PHOENIX HEAT?
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jul 22, 2020 10:59:35 GMT -5
I haven't heard anything about that one, @oxankle2. I remember many years ago, in the 80s some time, I had a year like that, with hot nights - didn't really get that hot during the day, but wasn't getting out of the 80s, and nothing was ripening! I had hundreds of green tomatoes, and I think 8-3 was when they finally started ripening, when nights got cooler. After that, I started getting at least one variety a year that said it was a "hot setting variety", but it never happened again, and none of them were keepers, as far as flavor or production, plus, that never happened again here - just extreme daytime heat, causing blossom drop, was the problem. Turned out, that a couple of those hot set varieties I tried dropped the blossoms the same as others in the heat! Hopefully, Phoenix Heat is better in that respect.
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Post by octave1 on Jul 22, 2020 14:04:16 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Jul 22, 2020 16:53:41 GMT -5
Yikes? Almost fifty cents per seed for florida. I noticed that "Phoenix" on the net (I could find nothing on PHOENIX HEAT) were also quite expensive.
The thing that bothers me about both Phoenix and Florida is that they are determinate and appear to bear only one crop and quit. One site said "short harvest time". I want tomatoes that bloom and bear until frost.
So far only the cherry tomatoes seem to fill that order. I have yellow pear that are setting fruit now in my make-shift hydroponic unit, but I got that started late and noting is bearing yet.
My main crop tomatoes are suffering from both heat and drought. It appears that, for me, this will be a bad year for tomatoes. I am drying all I can and eating them like mad.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jul 22, 2020 17:51:15 GMT -5
@oxankle2 That's something that I (now that you mentioned it!) remember about those hot set varieties - that they were all determinate! Another thing that I didn't like about them. This is why I grow so many cherries - they recover quickly. A few of the ones that I got this year are indeterminate, that are supposed to be heat resistant, since some were bred for Florida, and some are from Hawaii. But most are determinate, unfortunately. I'll let you know about my results, but Laura_in_FL would be able to help better. Do you ever grow two seasons of tomatoes, like she does?
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Post by octave1 on Jul 23, 2020 0:04:05 GMT -5
@oxankle2 , 3 years ago I grew several determinate tomatoes for the first time just so I would know what/how much they produce. The result was that determinate plants produce many many tomatoes, and don't stop at a single crop. They do tend to have many fruits ripe at once, but they are literally loaded; and although they slow down after the first flush, they continue to produce tomatoes all the way until frost. Surprisingly for me, the most productive variety was Heinz.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jul 23, 2020 0:11:28 GMT -5
octave1 I've also grown some determinates that would grow second, or third flushes, even though smaller numbers. However, some would die almost immediately - some getting many brown leaves with the ripe tomatoes still on!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2020 9:52:13 GMT -5
Fellows; I do not plant a second crop, but I have cut tomatoes off short and let them grow new tops for a second crop. This winds up with some early fall ripe tomatoes and a ton of green tomatoes to wrap and store, or just fry green.
I would very much like to find a good heat-setting tomato that continues bearing well after that first crop.
Last year Early Girl and Better Boy worked well for me---not this year.
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Post by octave1 on Jul 23, 2020 11:13:46 GMT -5
@oxankle2, have you heard of Super Sioux? That is an indeterminate www.victoryseeds.com/tomato_super-sioux.htmlFor me the biggest difference between determinate vs indeterminate is the size of the plant. Determinate grew to be 1/4 the size of indeterminate, but other than that the yield was almost identical.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2020 15:22:31 GMT -5
Octave; No expert here, but it is my understanding that determinate varieties no not continue to bear from first flush to the end of season. For that reason I have never planted them.
As an aside; I usually plant a cherry tomato, knowing that it will bear even in the worse heat of suymmer. This year I ordered yellow pear. Imn the past my yellow pears were almost as large as a golf ball, and pear shaped. This year they are pear shaped but getting ripe about the size of a CHERRY, DAD BURN IT! i HATE THAT> I plant yellow pear because I think they are the best-tasting of the cherry tomatoes. So far I've not eaten one this year.
I am wondering if I got seed from the wrong company, or if my plants are not health (they look good). They are in a hydro unit---I wonder if this could haver an effect on their size.
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Post by octave1 on Jul 25, 2020 11:52:43 GMT -5
@oxankle2, Yellow pear are usually small, like a cherry, with a protruding neck. Never the size of a golf ball in my experience. They also ripen quickly and produce a lot. The larger Yellow pear tomatoes you mention may be something else.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jul 30, 2020 12:20:40 GMT -5
Sory I am late to the discussion. I haven't been around for a week. I don't know any determinate tomatoes that produce strongly after the first flush. I have grown several determinates that continue to trickle out fruit after the first big flush is over. I finally found an indeterminate tomato that will set some fruit during summer in my garden: Prime Rib ( heritageseedmarket.com/index.php/product/prime-rib/). Other than cherries, almost all tomatoes completely stop setting fruit in my garden after about Memorial Day. So a mid-sized beefsteak that continues to set and ripen even some fruit in July is a treat. This is not a true dwarf plant (it's not rugose), but it does stay short and bushy. And in the spring, before the humid heat and the intense insect and disease pressures of summer, my Prime Rib plant was positively LOADED with fruit. So, even though the plant is short, it needs a lot of support because of the sheer weight of fruit. So Prime Rib will be a repeat for me. It's determinate, but MoCross Elgin #9 heritageseedmarket.com/index.php/product/mocross-elgin-9/ also continued to set some fruit for me into July. My only hesitancy with recommending this tomato is that it's listed as determinate, but I could swear my plant is indeterminate. My plant is tall and sprawling and bears continuously (no giant first flush) like a determinate should have. Which makes me wonder if I have a crossed seed, so my review might not apply. I need to talk to Ellie (the owner of Bunny Hop Seeds) and see what her MoCross Elgin #9 plants were like. Creole ( heritageseedmarket.com/index.php/product/creole/) is another indeterminate that is worth growing in the hot and humid Southeast. It is very tasty (better than MoCross Elgin #9, in my opinion), and although I won't claim that it will fruit well for you into July and August, when I grew it in the past, it set fruit later than most of my tomatoes and was a very good producer. There are a lot of people selling landrace or other crossed tomatoes that are called Creole. (If they say "size varies," walk away.) The real deal is an old commercial heirloom, which is round, red, and consistently 4-8oz in weight. Monomoakh's Hat ( davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/157795/) is an indeterminate wispy leaf tomato, and it is the only heart tomato I have ever grown that is productive. In fact, it was very productive and extremely tasty, too. So big and meaty that it's great for processing into sauce, but the flavor and texture make it a winner for sandwiches and other fresh uses, too. It even set a few fruit later than most tomatoes. But I had a terrible time with Southern Armyworms the year I grew that it, and the plant didn't make it past early July. I think it is worth growing again. It is kind of hard to find seeds, but I have some I can send if you want. Super Sioux is on my "want to try" list. Also I want to try some of the old commercial heirlooms from Louisiana, such as Louisiana Gulf State: heritageseedmarket.com/index.php/product/louisiana-gulf-state/. But in my small garden, I can only try a few new kinds each year. So I have a whole bunch of seeds for varieties I plan to try.
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