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livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] Cool Climate Tomato Growing

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  • From: yarrow@sfo.com
  • To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Cool Climate Tomato Growing
  • Date: Sat, 5 Jan 2008 21:31:32 -0800

Is Early Girl on your list? I grew it last year, and it produced well as a late tomato, but it wasn't much earlier than the heirlooms I grew. Here in the SF Bay Area, where we have cool nighttime temperatures, I picked the last one around Thanksgiving. This year, I planted one in a pot for a neighbor. It still has flowers and has been trying to ripen one fruit for the past month. (At my garden, the tomatoes were all frosted a couple months ago.)

By itself, the flavor is good, on the sweet side. But compared to any of the heirlooms I grew, the flavor of EG was flat instead of multidimensional. It keeps very well because it has thicker than usual skin. When I had both Siberia and Early Girl in my garden, EG tasted far better and seemed to produce a little better in cooler weather, too.

On the gardenweb tomato list, discussions of early tomatoes (or tomatoes that set fruit in cooler weather) usually end up with this: none of them are really worth growing, if you can bear to wait another couple weeks for the really good ones. Two early varieties that some people think have good flavor are Sophie's Choice and Moskvich.

Other early tomatoes I've grown are Siberia (huge production, but so-so flavor); Stupice (consistent production, small, ok flavor but not good enough to try more than once) -- and, of course, many varieties of cherry tomatoes, which for me are reliable and tasty both early and late in the season when other varieties are weak. I've liked Tommy Toe, Galina, Sun Sugar (hybrid), Black Cherry, all of which produced huge amounts and had great flavor.

Other varieties worth trying are the long-season tomatoes. Here, some indeterminates peak early in the season and then produce a few small tomatoes. These varieties are supposed to produce better over a longer season: Rostova (Sunset Red Horizon), Big Zac, Mexico, Earl's Faux, Ste. Lucie, Persimmon, Druzba. Last year, Aunt Ruby's German Green produced big tomatoes even toward the end of the season for me.

At 8:29 PM -0800 1/5/08, Phil Bunch wrote:
That's good news.

I'm going to try some of the varieties that are supposed to set at temps
considerably below 55F planted out normally. However, not having grown them
before, I don't know if we are going to like the flavor. Hence the backup
plan with the hoop house.

-----Original Message-----
From: livingontheland-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:livingontheland-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of
TradingPostPaul
Sent: Saturday, January 05, 2008 7:36 PM
To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Cool Climate Tomato Growing


If you can count on most 50 degree nights then no problem. My single layer
greenhouse stays at least 10 degrees higher than outside at night,
depending on the wind factor. The ground inside holds daytime heat once it
gets warmed up in spring here. Without added heat or heat storage in
barrels etc. Most of our summer nights are 50 or below. Most tomatoes set
fruit above 55 and below 90. Ours are all Mediterranean heirlooms (used to
heat) and kept setting fruit and ripening as nights outside fell to the
30s. Straw mulch. YMMV.

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********

On 1/5/2008 at 6:58 PM Phil Bunch wrote:

Climate wise we get 70-72F days and +/-50F nights year around. I'd like to
use organic mulch and this will work for potatoes but I don't think I can
warm up the soil under organics enough to radiate enough heat during the
night. The black plastic would act more as a solar collector than anything
else.

-----Original Message-----
From: livingontheland-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:livingontheland-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of
TradingPostPaul
Sent: Saturday, January 05, 2008 6:23 PM
To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Cool Climate Tomato Growing


The soil will warm during the day but ventilation is needed to avoid
overheating. I have no idea what your climate will be tho. I can't comment
on black plastic for mulch since I have no plans to ever use it.

I'm facing the same challenge here with our four month frost free season.
But we need more than 55 degrees in the greenhouse for best production,
and
we need to hold down heating costs. Maybe set up a wood stove? We use
straw
mulch on 4'x12' framed beds.This greenhouse is single layer 6 mil UV and
lumber, 15'x50', and a double layer structure would be far more expensive
seeing how I did this one myself for well under $1,000. Seeding should
start Feb 1st to have loads of ripe tomatoes by June 1st at least, and has
to be started in pots in one walled off end with a small room heater.


paul tradingpost@lobo.net

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********

On 1/5/2008 at 6:02 PM Phil Bunch wrote:

I'm thinking about how to raise night temperature from 50F to 55F for
tomatoes. Anyone think a double walled hoop house with black plastic
mulch
would do it? I'm thinking that if one warmed the soil during the day the
radiation at night may be capable of 5 degree rise in air temperature.
I'm
pretty sure that the dimensions of the hoop house would be critical but I
don't know how large it would have to be.

Any ideas?




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