what type of tomato should I get?

[cknmom]

My garden is almost ready to plant in. I am deciding what to plant. I want tomatoes but don't know what will grow here.
We are at 5847ft. Right now it is getting down to 60* at night and 96* during the day. We have strong winds sometimes, and being in CA, no moisture.
I used to grow beautiful tomatoes at the beach but am lost up here. My sister lives in similar weather(only a bit hotter) about an hr. away and everytime she tries tomatoes they die.
Anyone know what type might work for me?

Monia

 

[OaklandCityFarmer]

A couple of things come to mind when thinking about tomato varieties. I've grown close to 200 different varieties and I am thinking of a few that might help.

Is cooler weather making it difficult in the later growing season? It may be a little late for tomatoes now but you should be able to get a good crop in. I would think earlier varieties would do better. When does it start dropping below 55 at night there?

Just so you know, tomatoes prefer a growing season somewhere between 65-80 degrees. Under 55 at night and they won't set fruit and over 95 during the day and they may not redden. Also, you should definitely give them some protection from the wind, this can dry out plants very quickly and when growing tomatoes this can be a big problem since they enjoy even moisture. Using a piece of plywood or something might work. A minimum of 6 hours of direct sunlight is needed. I'd prefer 8-10 but 6 can work. Since you have issues with wind, I'd cage your tomatoes. I wouldn't recommend using the cages you find at garden stores since these can be too small at times. A couple of stakes and a roll of chicken/mesh wire works well. Tomatoes are heavy nitrogen feeders. A good handful of well aged compost added to the planting hole, with a few egg shells crushed up will help tomatoes a long way. Make sure you side dress with compost at least once in the growing season. Keep them well watered (about 1 inch a week) and evenly watered.

What's the soil like out there?

Now for the varieties.

Stupice a great Czech heirloom that is small but mighty. It has great flavor, can set and keep fruit in cooler weather and is an early setter which might be what you need.

Manitoba a Canadian heirloom that is very early (60 days) slightly larger than Stupice with a decent flavor. They can and slice very well.

First Pick is another very early heirloom from France that can set in cooler weather and keeps very well. Probably the best flavor, IMO, out of the three.

If the cool night time growing season isn't a problem. I'd still go with earlier varieties since it's so late in the season unless you plan to extend the season some how.

You can try 'Early Girl' even if that may help.

Gregori's Altai is a Siberian heirloom that originating in the mountains near the Chinese border and grows nice sized fruits but is a late season variety.

Good luck!

 

[cknmom]

OCF- We usually start having lower night temps sometime in Oct. Last year we had our first snow before halloween! The year before not until just before thanksgiving.

When we lived at the beach in ventura county, I grew tomatoes all the time. They still produced heavily even when temps were in the low 40's at night.

I will be watering daily as I always do in my garden.
I don't know if a wind block would work very well. We live in a valley and the wind comes from all directions and swirls! It mainly is a west to east wind though. The garden will be in the bottom of a bowl, so most of the wind will go over it. (I think)

The area gets full sun all day. I usually do cage them in some way or another. Yes, I agree about the store bought ones, I have broken a few of them. How about using the wire that has the 2"-3" sq./rectangle openings? I don't know what it is called. DH does but he isn't here. I know that is strong and I could make it as big as I want.

I will be putting some sort of mulch on the ground to help hold in moisture. I usually use miracle grow, unfortunately I have no compost yet. We only have wildflowers, pine trees and sage on our property, nothing to compost yet. The chickens get all scraps.
Our apple and shade trees are under 5', so not really any leaves from them either.

Our soil is very fertile but also very rocky. We are removing the rock from the soil. We will also amend the soil before planting. We have a testing kit we will use to see how it needs amending.

I have grown early girl's before. I have a catalog (from last year) Totally Tomatoes Do you know if they are any good? It is 42 pages of tomato varieties and several pages of other veggies. We also have a very good nursery here owned and run by a 5 master gardener. I haven't talked to her about veggies as yet. She only carries or will order things that grow here.

Thank you for your input, I will check into these varieties and talk to the nursery. I will post pics of the garden so far.

Monica

 

[cknmom]

After it was dug.

Dh scooping dirt.

Sifting rocks out.

Dumping dirt.

How it looks now.

We still have another evenings work worth of dirt to do. In the background you can see what I mean about the bowl.

Monica

 

[Tutter]

Wow, what amazing work you guys have done so far! :happy_flower

Bountiful Gardens and Territorial each have a selection of short season/early tomato varieties. I usually get a handful for early tomatoes.

Thanks for the pics!

 

[bills]

Looks like a major operation going on in those pics. Nice to have the tractor to save the back!

Do you have any organic matter that you can mix in with your soil before you plant? Grass clippings, manure, straw, peat moss, compost? It looks as if your soil could use some. It would also help to stop that soil from compacting. You will find that it helps tremendously. Perhaps you could also plant a winter ground cover to till in the spring, clover, or winter rye perhaps. This will help your soil for next summers garden.

Mulch on top of the soil, again grass clippings, straw, etc., will help the soil from drying to quickly from the winds. Even plastic will help.

Oregon Spring tomato's, if you can get them is fairly cold hardy, as they are bred for the Pacific Northwest, where we do get cooler weather for the most part.

I might suggest you get the biggest plants you can find at the nurserys, as you are getting a late start. In many cases you can swing a deal on the "last of the season" plants, as many who would grow tomat's already have them, and the nurserys like to get rid of their stocks.

If it gets really cool at night before they ripen, you could build a frame over the garden and cover it with removable clear plastic. Also a small wall around the perimeter of the garden may help with the winds.

Good luck, and have fun with your garden!

edit; oops I missed the part about your already planning to mulch the soil..

 

[OaklandCityFarmer]

OCF- We usually start having lower night temps sometime in Oct. Last year we had our first snow before halloween! The year before not until just before thanksgiving.

When we lived at the beach in ventura county, I grew tomatoes all the time. They still produced heavily even when temps were in the low 40's at night.

I will be watering daily as I always do in my garden.
I don't know if a wind block would work very well. We live in a valley and the wind comes from all directions and swirls! It mainly is a west to east wind though. The garden will be in the bottom of a bowl, so most of the wind will go over it. (I think)

The area gets full sun all day. I usually do cage them in some way or another. Yes, I agree about the store bought ones, I have broken a few of them. How about using the wire that has the 2"-3" sq./rectangle openings? I don't know what it is called. DH does but he isn't here. I know that is strong and I could make it as big as I want.

I will be putting some sort of mulch on the ground to help hold in moisture. I usually use miracle grow, unfortunately I have no compost yet. We only have wildflowers, pine trees and sage on our property, nothing to compost yet. The chickens get all scraps.
Our apple and shade trees are under 5', so not really any leaves from them either.

Our soil is very fertile but also very rocky. We are removing the rock from the soil. We will also amend the soil before planting. We have a testing kit we will use to see how it needs amending.

I have grown early girl's before. I have a catalog (from last year) Totally Tomatoes Do you know if they are any good? It is 42 pages of tomato varieties and several pages of other veggies. We also have a very good nursery here owned and run by a 5 master gardener. I haven't talked to her about veggies as yet. She only carries or will order things that grow here.

Thank you for your input, I will check into these varieties and talk to the nursery. I will post pics of the garden so far.

Monica

Wow Monica, that is quite an operation.

Well looks like the soil isn't a problem and since you're going through a lot of work to prepare, I'm thinking your tomatoes will be fine. Stick with a variety this year that will produce within 65 days. Anything more and you'll be fighting frost. Remember, if there is a frost predicted within the week or so, pinch off the top of the plant to let the tomatoes on the plant a chance to ripen. This will allow the energy to go to the tomatoes and not the new growth.

Oregon Spring is a good variety as bills mentioned. You also might want to try Bloody Butcher it's a fast growing, very early and delicious variety that should do well for you.

I've never seen Totally Tomatoes before but I checked it out and it look pretty good. It's a very user friendly website. They have tons of varieties! The Glacier Tomato they have listed is a good variety that also could do well for you. I think there are a lot of options here. So try away.

Also, you have one of the best resources at your finger tips. The local master gardener should be able to help you out a lot. She knows the area, the climates, the pests, etc. Talk to her and become good friends. Certified California Master Gardeners have to take a lot of training and it's good to have one locally.

If nothing else, you'll have a great head start for next year!

 

[cknmom]

Everytime we go to the nursery we spend a couple of hours talking to her. I will look for these varieties and talk to her about them also. Thanks for all the advice. Now to decide what else to grow right now.

Monica