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Gary350
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Tomatoes that grow in hot 100°f desert climate?

Doing google search for Tomatoes that grow in hot 100°f desert climate I keep getting tomatoes for sale with no information about the plants?

I am trying to find a 2½" RED tomatoes that will grow and produce in 100°f temperatures?

I am not doing the correct word search to fine information about tomatoes?

Tags on 4 pack tomatoes say nothing about how well they grow in any weather?

pepperhead212
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While it's not a true red tomato, I discovered a great tomato last season that did not stop producing in all of my heatwaves, though I only grew one of them. It was the Oaxacan Jewel. The name is what interested me - I figured if they could grow it in Oaxaca, then Jersey shouldn't be too hot! lol It's an OP potato leaf variety, that I only grew one of, but wished I had grown more! And amazingly, it was my 1st non-cherry to ripen - 7-3 - and had a great flavor, and incredible production. Didn't get as large as described - about 6 oz avg, I would say - but the number of fruits made up for that. Hardly any core in the fruits at all. And no disease - KOW. I'll be growing more this year - I took some of the extrq seedlings and transferred them to pots where the old seeds didn't sprout.
ImageOaxacan Jewel, about 6 oz, 7-16 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageOaxacan Jewel also ripening on 7-3 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageAll Oaxacan Jewels, from the same plant again. 7-30 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

imafan26
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Gary, like you I need to grow heat resistant tomatoes although 100 degrees is rare for me (only around August will it get close to that). Search tomatoes for heat tolerance and you will find a list. Everyone has a unique environment so it is important to grow what fits and the best way I found to do that is to search for the feature I am looking for like heat tolerance or disease tolerance. Next I would look for what people are growing in similar climates. For myself it would be what grows in hot and humid climates (Florida, Southern U.S. and Australia) around the tropical zones. Within the lists that I get from the search, I do have to look up the individual recommendations to see what their specific qualities are. I.e. which disease resistance they have, how big they grow, and how much heat can they handle some are o.k. up to 90, others will go up to 100 degrees like Florida 91 and Heatmaster. I don't get that hot so I can grow tomatoes all year round, but if I want tomatoes June-August, some of them have to have heat resistance. Cherry tomatoes usually fare better in the heat than beefsteaks. My short days means that even tomatoes that should be over one pound will probably come up short.

This is what I came up with searching for heat tolerance

https://dutchsgreenhouse.com/heat-tolerant-tomatoes/
https://www.tomatodirt.com/heat-toleran ... eties.html

Search specific for your climate by checking your local extension service recommendations

https://growinginthegarden.com/how-to-g ... -tomatoes/

You will notice a lot of the same tomatoes are mentioned. Many of them are the heat resistant tomatoes developed by the Florida Extension service
Heat master, Florida 91, Solar Fire, Celebrity, Juliet, Sweet 100 or Sweet Millions,
Red Cherry, Sun Chaser, Summer Set, and Phoenix.
https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu ... atoes.html
https://programs.ifas.ufl.edu/plant-breeding/tomato/

Large fruited varieties don't set very well in the heat because the pollen clumps especially in high humidity. But some are heat tolerant up to the 90's
Brandywine, Bella Rosa, Costuloto Genovese, Eva Purple Ball.

Some environmental things can be done like using shade cloth and fans in summer, Planting on the East side of the house in summer to protect from the afternoon heat. In my mild climate, I can grow year round crops by switching varieties, selecting more disease tolerant ones for the rainy season, more heat tolerant for mid to late summer.

You need to select within the choices for tomatoes you like. Because I need heat and disease tolerance, the trade off is often flavor. Brandywine did remarkably well for me even though I was warned about the pollen clumping. It did not happen for me, but my summer averages 88 degrees and rarely goes to 91. I found out Brandywine came from Pennsylvania and the summer there are over 100 degrees. Brandywine however is not very productive, the fruit can get over one pound, but not with my short days. It has almost no disease resistance so it needed to be grown in large pots above ground ( I have nematodes), and fungicide weekly when it is humid. The birds also really like large tomatoes, so I had to use bird netting sealed to the ground to keep them from eating all the fruit. I can no longer grow this variety because now I have TYLCV. It makes it hard to grow indeterminate tomatoes that are not TYLCV resistant. Most of the TYLCV tomatoes are determinate varieties but a couple are indeterminate like orange cherry and Sweet pea currant. I cannot net an indeterminate tomato, and I don't have a hoop house with insect netting. That is why I now am trying tomatoes from the dwarf tomato project since many of those have been crossed with heirloom tomatoes and are designed for warmer climates. They are not TYLCV resistant, but I can cover a 3-5 ft plant with tree insect bags.

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digitS'
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This sure isn't a 2 1/2" tomato but since I see it on the tomatodirt website and Tomatofest, Tomato Growers & Willhite Seed mention the Texas Climate where it was developed (Victory Seed calls it "The Old Reliable"), I will say something about Porter. And, how would I know? I've grown it every season for about 30 years. My grandmother had it, my youngest uncle said, from Great Depression days. Grandmother grew it in SE New Mexico.

It is listed as 4 ounces. Tomato Growers says that it's great for sauce. I suppose so but one reason why I grow it is that DW likes "mild" tomatoes and that doesn't fit with my idea of a sauce tomato. Truth be known, I have never much bothered with sauce tomatoes and have simply boiled down surplus tomatoes of all sorts.

It nearly always hits 100° here during the growing season and Porter doesn't suffer. It never splits and that sure can't be said about some varieties. A semi-arid climate here but a problem for some warm-season vegetables are the cool nights. Yes, 100° afternoon but it would be unusual for it not to drop to 70° by morning. Those 30 degree difference (plus) can be happening right down the thermometer gauge so a 70° afternoon kicks up considerable anxiety in fidgety ..

. digitS'

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Gary350
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digitS' wrote:
Thu Apr 13, 2023 6:12 pm
This sure isn't a 2 1/2" tomato but since I see it on the tomatodirt website and Tomatofest, Tomato Growers & Willhite Seed mention the Texas Climate where it was developed (Victory Seed calls it "The Old Reliable"), I will say something about Porter. And, how would I know? I've grown it every season for about 30 years. My grandmother had it, my youngest uncle said, from Great Depression days. Grandmother grew it in SE New Mexico.

It is listed as 4 ounces. Tomato Growers says that it's great for sauce. I suppose so but one reason why I grow it is that DW likes "mild" tomatoes and that doesn't fit with my idea of a sauce tomato. Truth be known, I have never much bothered with sauce tomatoes and have simply boiled down surplus tomatoes of all sorts.

It nearly always hits 100° here during the growing season and Porter doesn't suffer. It never splits and that sure can't be said about some varieties. A semi-arid climate here but a problem for some warm-season vegetables are the cool nights. Yes, 100° afternoon but it would be unusual for it not to drop to 70° by morning. Those 30 degree difference (plus) can be happening right down the thermometer gauge so a 70° afternoon kicks up considerable anxiety in fidgety ..

. digitS'
I don't think there is such a thing as a 2½" slicer tomato that does good in 100° heat. I have saved seeds for 1" diameter cherry tomatoes that do very well in our 100° heat, I have been saving my own seeds for 45 years, no one sells these tomato anymore. I also have saved seeds for a 1/2" diameter cherry tomato that does excellent all day every day in full sun 100° every day. I learned to plant my tomato plants under a shade tree so they get cool early morning full sun then full shade 12 noon to dark. Today I read online celebrity tomatoes are hybrids that grow very well in hot weather but info does not says what temperature. I have never grown celebrity tomatoes so I bought 4 plants today. I have also learned if I spray cold water on hot tomato plants several times every afternoon in hot weather plants do much better in 100° heat. My tomato plants always slow down in 100° weather, it would be nice to have tomatoes that don't slow down in the heat.

Lowe's & Home Depot no longer sell vegetable plants in 4 packs for $3. The only thing they sell is single plants $5 each. Plant display is 80% smaller than last year. Last year people complained about $5 plants. The Amish garden store still have 4 packs for $2.70 each.

imafan26
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Celebrity is the main tomato grown for the local market. It has some heat tolerance, but I don't know if it will take 100 degrees. It is a determinate about 5 ft tall. It was an awarded plant. It is the most common market tomato variety. The flavor is o.k., but it is not a strongly flavored tomato.

I get most of my seeds from catalogs. It is cheaper to grow tomatoes from seeds than from starts. I also have more choices and the starts are averaging $3 now for a 4 inch starts.

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Gary350
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imafan26 wrote:
Fri Apr 14, 2023 6:03 pm
Celebrity is the main tomato grown for the local market. It has some heat tolerance, but I don't know if it will take 100 degrees. It is a determinate about 5 ft tall. It was an awarded plant. It is the most common market tomato variety. The flavor is o.k., but it is not a strongly flavored tomato.

I get most of my seeds from catalogs. It is cheaper to grow tomatoes from seeds than from starts. I also have more choices and the starts are averaging $3 now for a 4 inch starts.
I have never grown Celebrity because I know they are grocery store tomatoes and they never taste good. But maybe home grown will taste better. I did not notice Celebrity are determinate. Oh well. I learned from growing other determinate tomatoes plants produce about 25 tomatoes then die. I have 8 Big Beef plants and 2 different type cherry tomatoes both are hot weather. About June 1st I will start 4 Big Beef from seed in 2 gallon pots to transplant where Celebrity plants die. Another thing I learned, new plants do good in 100° hot summer weather and 3 month old plants don't. If Celebrity tomatoes don't have good flavor I won't let them die on their own.

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digitS'
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I grew Big Beef for a good number of years.

They always stood up well, stayed healthy, and produced a good number of tomatoes.

They may do just fine for you.

Steve

pepperhead212
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I grew Celebrity back in the 80s, before I started growing seeds, and it was new, at the time. Wasn't the greatest flavor, and it turned out to be a determinate tomato, which I knew nothing about, at the time. I got a large number of tomatoes, all at once, then nothing! They label them now "semi-determinate", but that was when I learned about what this was, and before I had a bunch of different varieties growing at once.

Many of those varieties that are supposed to be heat resistant, didn't turn out to be, when I grew them. They might last a little longer into the heat, but eventually most would drop blossoms in the mid to high 90s. I did Porter one time, and it was ok (not a real hot year then), but not very productive.

imafan26
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Celebrity is considered a semi determinate because it is short like a determinate tomato, but a very prolific producer. Unlike other determinate tomatoes that stop when producing, celebrity does continue to produce fruit over a longer period of time like an indeterminate. The fruit is not large 8-10 oz. It is an awarded plant and has good disease resistance. I can only grow this in a tree bag. It does not have resistance to TYLCV. Because it is not the best tasting and I can get this at the store, I rather try to grow other tomatoes instead.

Most tomatoes will stop producing when the temperatures approach 90 unless they are Summer Set, Florida 91, Heatmaster, and Phoenix. Even these will struggle above 100 degrees. Heatwave II does not tolerate 100 degrees but it is a reliable producer for me in my normal summer heat 88-91 degrees. Although the tomato is not particularly good, it is better than nothing.

In Summer it is easier for me to grow Okra, long beans, peanuts, jicama, gourds, bitter melon, eggplant, and sweet potatoes because these things thrive in the heat. The cucumbers do o.k. if I select the heat resistant varieties, but the tomatoes have to be planted where they get afternoon shade in summer and they still may stop setting fruit and dropping fruit on the hottest days. My hottest days only get around 91 degrees but the average summer temperature everyday is 88.

pepperhead212
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If that Oaxacan Jewel does as well this year as last, I'll be bagging some blossoms, and saving seeds from the best ones. That was the second hottest summer on record here, and Oaxacan Jewel did great.

I have also grown Big Beef most years - it isn't super heat resistant, but it produces for longer than most large varieties, maybe 95 or 96°, before dropping blossoms. And one of the best tasting - on a few of my "blind tastings" (I know what all the varieties are, but my friends don't) Big Beef has topped the tasting, despite being a hybrid.

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Gary350
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pepperhead212 wrote:
Sat Apr 15, 2023 6:24 pm
If that Oaxacan Jewel does as well this year as last, I'll be bagging some blossoms, and saving seeds from the best ones. That was the second hottest summer on record here, and Oaxacan Jewel did great.

I have also grown Big Beef most years - it isn't super heat resistant, but it produces for longer than most large varieties, maybe 95 or 96°, before dropping blossoms. And one of the best tasting - on a few of my "blind tastings" (I know what all the varieties are, but my friends don't) Big Beef has topped the tasting, despite being a hybrid.
My Big Beef never drop blossoms in our hot weather but I have them planted under a shade tree so they get full sun all morning then full shade after 12 noon. My plants continue to make tomatoes all summer they just slow down July & Aug then speed up again. I tie plants to cement rebar tomato stakes 7 ft tall.

pepperhead212
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I also get sun on my garden in the morning, then a large sycamore tree shades my plants, before they get more sun, before it gets behind my house. Some people wouldn't think they'd get enough sun, but they definitely don't seem to mind the shade.

imafan26
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I had Oaxacan tomato seeds. I could not use them because it was around that time in 2011 that TYLCV hit and that put the end to most of the indeterminate tomatoes. I could only grow the few tomatoes that had resistance and they were mostly determinate. I did discover some tomatoes that are resistant or at least do not show symptoms but few of them are indeterminate. I can only grow tomatoes now because I can use tree bags on the shorter tomatoes.

xtgold
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phoenix tomato

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Gary350
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imafan26 wrote:
Sun Apr 16, 2023 12:22 am
I had Oaxacan tomato seeds. I could not use them because it was around that time in 2011 that TYLCV hit and that put the end to most of the indeterminate tomatoes. I could only grow the few tomatoes that had resistance and they were mostly determinate. I did discover some tomatoes that are resistant or at least do not show symptoms but few of them are indeterminate. I can only grow tomatoes now because I can use tree bags on the shorter tomatoes.
What is TYLCV? What are, tree bags? I see a lot of people on YouTube that grow vegetables in Walmart green cloth grocery bags.

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xtgold wrote:
Thu May 18, 2023 9:24 am
phoenix tomato
The description in Willhite Seed catalog sure makes that suggestion -– Texas grown and it takes the heat.

The Porter that I mentioned is more widely available but also in that Texas catalog. Sometimes, maybe in a majority of cases, the location of a seed company makes little difference in their offerings. The seed is grown elsewhere. It looks to me that Willhite is one that keeps its focus on the location.

Steve, up here on the 48th parallel, ;)

xtgold
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Bonnie plants once delivered heatmaster to CT by mistake.
Another hot weather tomato.

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Gary350
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xtgold wrote:
Fri May 19, 2023 9:04 am
Bonnie plants once delivered heatmaster to CT by mistake.
Another hot weather tomato.
When I lived in Phoenix AZ area Lowe's sold several tomato plants they claimed would grow in hot AZ weather. Hot 100 & AZ special & Heat Master are the only names I remember. Names are just names they mean nothing in 114°f temperatures. The plant leaf temperature in full sun is 160°f. Even with full shade all day tomato plants died in summer. All the people from back East their brain is programmed to plant a garden in May and AZ is already 105° in May. Best time to plant tomatoes in AZ is Nov 1st it is 65°f all winter, frost in Feb so cover up the plants every night for a month.

xtgold
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Ground temps are a factor also.
I once had plants in containers that reached 87 F and they croaked on me.
Stacked 2 hole cement blocks,I would pump rainwater through hose snaked in and out of the holes in the spring to help warm the ground,and during the summer for cooling.Planted in the holes.3 hole cement blocks;the holes are too small.

imafan26
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TYLCV is Tomato yellow leaf curl virus. It is spread by whiteflies and since it came around 2009 first on Maui. I got it from seeds of Momotaro in 2011,and now, I can only grow resistant varieties. Once the virus affects the leaves, the leaves get chlorotic, stunted, curl up, and tomato production stops. the parts of the tomato what were good before the virus attacked is still o.k. but the seeds will be infected. It survives in asymptomatic hosts and since I don't have a true winter, and whiteflies are around year round, it is impossible to get away from it.
There are only a few varieties of tomatoes that have known resistance, but I have found a couple of resistant tomatoes not on the list. Most of the tomatoes that are on the list are determinate. there are only a couple of indeterminates I know of.

https://ipm.ucanr.edu/agriculture/tomat ... leaf-curl/

I get tree net bags from amazon. It is insect netting in a very large bag. MIne are 4.2 ft x 3.5 ft up to 4.9x3.2 ft, and I have one bag that is 84 inches tall and 6 ft wide, that is for a small tree.

The bags need to be completely sealed around the container. It is UV resistant and washable, but it does turn black over time and that does not come out. It is the same material as the fruit bags only bigger. I get onion bags (red ones have a finer mesh) for the cucumbers. The net bags are 6x10 inches so they can bag individual or groups of smaller fruit. I have to twist tie the purse string closure because the birds can open the bags and it is not tight enough to keep the pickle worms out. It works fine for mango. It stops birds, larger insects, but mites and fungal spores are very small so they can still get under the netting. I have to bungee tie the bottom of the netting to the pots the drawstring is too hard to get it tight and hard to take it off other wise. I can grow tomatoes up to 4 ft in these bags. taller tomatoes will push the netting. With the longer bags I can get the taller tomatoes, but they would still top the trellis. I do have patch any holes in the bag or the pest can get in. The bags are getting caught on the sharp points of the tomato trellis or stakes. I haven't found a good solution for that.

The tree bags allow me to grow some determinate tomatoes that are not TYLCV resistant. Unfortunately most of the determinates I have grown are not heat resistant, so they stop production in July-August, but can resume for a short time afterwards. I did get a determinate to live for 6 months, but it probably wasn't worth keeping it through the hottest part of summer since it only lasted a few weeks after it started fruiting again.

I prefer indeterminate tomatoes. So far, I only have two that are also TYLCV resistant. I did get one plant of the sweet pea currant that showed some mild TYLCV symptoms, but I had to pull it to avoid building a better bug. The other Sweet pea currants do not express the disease. This leaves me to believe that at least some of the resistant varieties may still be carriers of the disease, even though they don't show it.

Ground temps are also a factor. pots and raised beds are warmer, but you have most things in the ground. Even heat tolerant tomatoes probably cannot take much over 100 degrees for an extended time without some shade and and good air movement.

When it gets to be the normal 88-91 degrees here. I harvest most of the garden and use the time to solarize it. But I don't have a short season and I plant through the winter months. The only things that I have growing during the summer are things that like the heat. Dragon fruit, yard long beans, jicama, gourds, pumpkin, sweet potato, eggplant, and herbs. Kale and chard will grow all year, but in summer they are better with some shade.
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