Hi from Los Angeles

[Harry Cabluck]

Howdy, and welcome from Austin, Texas...about 25 miles northwest of Bastrop, Texas. Your tomato-growing ideas are welcome hereabouts.

[DavidO]

[mention]bobrarian[/mention] It does seem like a lot of us here! Really excited about that haahahaha.

I am about 2 miles away from the ocean and we get June gloom for more then just June! Last year it felt like we had it from April to July! It is amazing at how many different types of climates we get in LA County. I feel like right now I am in an explorer phases just trying to try out as many different varieties as possible to see what does well here. A lot of the varieties I use to grow growing up dont work as well here.

Its funny you mentioned that because I was actually going to try and grow Brandywine Sudduth this year...I guess we will see how it goes!

[bobrarian]

I currently work (and used to live) on the Westside, so I'm familiar with the coastal climate. You should have a long growing season with cooler weather. Although I remember one heat wave last summer when it got to 100 degrees even along the coast! That was insane. It got up to 111 where I am, and made my tomato plants a bit crispy. That pretty much ended my growing season.

You should definitely give Brandywine a try! Your growing conditions should be better suited to growing it. I'd be curious to know how it goes.

Bobby

[DavidO]

[mention]bobrarian[/mention] Thanks I will definitely be sure to keep you updated!

[peebee]

You can certainly grow Brandywine, like you can grow almost any tomato hereabouts, but I doubt it will be productive. I grew it several years ago, but alas got very few tomatoes. I think they do best in colder climes.
And for me personally, dwarfs & pastes will no longer be attempted in my garden. I've wasted far too much time & effort on them, for such disappointing results.
But do try growing what you want, there will always be surprises & exceptions! That's the thrill of gardening

[DavidO]

[mention]peebee[/mention] Definitely I do love how everyone can grow different things. I am not sure about the pastes, I grew san marzano tomatoes 2 years ago and had mixed results with BER. I didnt have my irrigation in at that point or my beds so I am interested in trying a paste again. Are you by the coast or more inland?

[peebee]

I'm in Torrance within 5 miles of the coast I'd guess.
You hit it on the nail about pastes here--BER. Plus low productivity. But I've read about how some gardeners in S. CA have raved about them. I must've tried at least 5 varieties.

[Shule]

Welcome to TomatoJunction! It's good to have you.

[Shule]

I wish we had some ivy. I want to grow some in the house to help clean the air; I'm hoping to try growing it from seed, some day. I used to have a plant from a cutting my grandma gave me.

[Texgal]

Howdy and welcome!

[DavidO]

[mention]Shule[/mention] oh man I can ship you truck loads hahahah. even after we got rid of the ivy 2 years ago it is still my most hated/active weed in my backyard. It's so prolific that I accidentally dropped part of the steam of one when carrying it out to burn in an unholy fire only to find that it had rooted a few days later.

[LindyAdele]

Welcome! So glad to have you here!
I hope you can post pictures of your amazing backyard " farm" someday. I also just have a city backyard garden, but alas, no fruit trees!
What is your favourite tomato?

[DavidO]

[mention]LindyAdele[/mention] Defiantly will post some pics at some point. Thats pretty hard since I am still relatively new at gardening but from the ones I have grown so far I would have to say druzba. This year though I am growing another 11 different tomatoes so, maybe I will find a new one!