hot dry summer climate: what's your largest and most productive tomato?
- habitat-gardener
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- Location: central california, Sunset zone 14
hot dry summer climate: what's your largest and most productive tomato?
If you have hot, dry summers (here it doesn't get below 90F from about June to early October, more or less, and there are heat waves where it's over 100F)...
...what tomatoes have you grown that are productive and medium to large?
...what tomatoes have you grown that are productive and medium to large?
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- Location: Kansas
- karstopography
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- Location: Southeast Texas
Re: hot dry summer climate: what's your largest and most productive tomato?uig
My BIL, longtime tomato grower, seems to always have great large tomatoes in Southlake, Texas, just north of Ft. Worth. Southlake is routinely at or above 100° during much of the summer.
I know he likes German Queen (he’s a big fan of German stuff being of mostly German descent). I believe he transplants tomatoes into the garden early to mid April.
I really don’t fully understand how it works. Possibly he’s getting fruit set earlier in the summer when nights and days are cooler and the plants are “suspending” development of the fruit until later in the summer. I’ve been at his home the last day of August and the plants themselves are huge, healthy, green and loaded with tomatoes. Grown in Zero shade and and with zero shade cloth in slightly raised and amended native sandy loam soil
I do know in my own experience with our summers the large beefsteak tomatoes I like to grow will set, providing the temperature is right, many more fruit than they can or will mature at any one moment. What then happens is that if maturing fruit is removed, the suspended fruit will spring to life and begin to rapidly increase in size. My goal is to get surplus fruit to set when temperatures are favorable and then maintain plant health until the time that the surplus fruit freed up to develop.
I know he likes German Queen (he’s a big fan of German stuff being of mostly German descent). I believe he transplants tomatoes into the garden early to mid April.
I really don’t fully understand how it works. Possibly he’s getting fruit set earlier in the summer when nights and days are cooler and the plants are “suspending” development of the fruit until later in the summer. I’ve been at his home the last day of August and the plants themselves are huge, healthy, green and loaded with tomatoes. Grown in Zero shade and and with zero shade cloth in slightly raised and amended native sandy loam soil
I do know in my own experience with our summers the large beefsteak tomatoes I like to grow will set, providing the temperature is right, many more fruit than they can or will mature at any one moment. What then happens is that if maturing fruit is removed, the suspended fruit will spring to life and begin to rapidly increase in size. My goal is to get surplus fruit to set when temperatures are favorable and then maintain plant health until the time that the surplus fruit freed up to develop.
"No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden."
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
- Shule
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- Location: SW Idaho, USA
Re: hot dry summer climate: what's your largest and most productive tomato?
Regarding karstopography's post, you can find a bunch of reviews of German Queen here:
https://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/100278
And here's the page on Tatiana's TOMATObase:
https://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/German_Queen
https://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/100278
And here's the page on Tatiana's TOMATObase:
https://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/German_Queen
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet
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- Location: Connecticut
Re: hot dry summer climate: what's your largest and most productive tomato?
2015 drought year here I had german queen volunteers that survived weeks at a time without watering.
Hybrid plants croaked.
Indoors now I have Phoenix for next year.
I can do an oops and forget to water those and they stay alive in containers.
Hybrid plants croaked.
Indoors now I have Phoenix for next year.
I can do an oops and forget to water those and they stay alive in containers.
"A chiseled face,Just like Easter Island" 

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Re: hot dry summer climate: what's your largest and most productive tomato?
One year Bonnie shipped Heatmaster up here by mistake.
They never did it again and I never saved the seeds.
They never did it again and I never saved the seeds.
"A chiseled face,Just like Easter Island" 

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Re: hot dry summer climate: what's your largest and most productive tomato?
The last summer I lived in Utah, Stupice, Flammee, and Black Cherry were super. And Yellow Pear, of course.
Black Krim, Indian Stripe, Aunt Rubys German Green, Ferris Wheel, and one named something like Isbells Golden Colossal were other standouts.
Black Krim, Indian Stripe, Aunt Rubys German Green, Ferris Wheel, and one named something like Isbells Golden Colossal were other standouts.
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Re: hot dry summer climate: what's your largest and most productive tomato?
Oops I missed the largest part. Aunt rubys and the Colossal one were big.
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Re: hot dry summer climate: what's your largest and most productive tomato?
Your climate sounds a lot like mine in the high desert of Northern Nevada. My favorite tomato is a GWR called Malakhitovaya Shkatulka aka Malachite Box. I love it for the flavor, but it preforms consistently for me despite the hot weather. I have to say, I've been growing it and saving the seed for almost a decade so it could be what I'm growing from now is more adapted to the heat than seed you'd buy elsewhere. I'm happy to share my seed if you're interested in trying it.