Picking Tomatoes

Even with optimal tomato care, the stresses of excessive summer heat and drought can make for a poor harvest.
Next year, consider growing varieties next year that have been developed to withstand hotter conditions. Another option is to grow determinate varieties, which fruit abundantly in one flush and then die. Most varieties are indeterminate, which mean they flower, fruit and grow continuously through the season. But a determinate variety timed to fruit in late July would avoid the problems of poor flower pollination and heat stress in August.
North Carolina State University has developed several commercial varieties for hot climates that are available in some seed catalogues for consumers. This winter, look for Mountain Pride, Mountain Fresh and BHN 640, all determinate types.
Megan Gardner, a Virginia Cooperative Extension tomato specialist, also recommends a determinate plum tomato named Plum Crimson.
Jon Traunfeld, of the Maryland Home and Garden Information Center, recommends two hybrids that do well in hot climates: Celebrity, a determinate, and Big Beef, an indeterminate. And David Chambers, who manages the 7.5-acre fruit and vegetable garden at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Ga., said an indeterminate variety named Jet Star did well in this difficult year. "It seems to set fruit even when the temperatures are in that 80-degree range at night," he said.
The three experts are unanimous in urging growers to use a generous layer of mulch. Gardner said it's especially important to remove diseased leaves and not to water overhead. Diseased vines should be kept out of the compost pile, she said.
from The Washington Post