[Arid_gardener] Re:When and Which Tomatoes to Plant

[Olin Miller]

When?
          Although you can find lots of tomato plants in the nurseries right
now, it really is a bit late to plant unless you don't mind fussing with
ensuring exposure to sunlight and providing cold and frost protection.  For
the low desert regions of Maricopa County,  the U of A Cooperative Extension
at
http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/garden/az1005.pdf
recommends setting out transplants from mid July to Mid August for the fall
crop and from mid February through March in the spring.  With the warm
winters in the past ten years (excluding the past winter) it has been
possible to plant fall tomatoes a bit later and still have tomatoes ripen
before the colder winter weather.  Planting in containers makes it easy to
move the plants around to take advantage of the changing climate but the
yield is much less with containers.

What Kind?
          There are lot of differing opinions but I do not believe there are
any that are well adapted.  It seems to be a question of perspective and
expectations.   I was raised on a farm in the Midwest where we grew tomatoes
to sell at a roadside produce stand.  It would have been difficult to sell
tomatoes of the quality we can grow here and with our lower yield it really
would not be worthwhile.  But we can grow our own tomatoes that are still
much better than the supermarket tomatoes.
          Most of the determinate bush varieties were developed for the
commercial market to have short maturity times and also for the entire crop
to ripen at the same time so that mechanical pickers can get the entire crop
at one pass.   These qualities are also useful for our short growing season.
The indeterminates produce over a longer period and given our short growing
seasons are less productive than they would be in more temperate climates.
          At the Tomato Growers Supply Co. site at
http://www.tomatogrowers.com/
the tomatoes are listed as to the growing season.  Results with "Early
Season" varieties may vary from year to year for the same variety depending
on the weather .  Some of the "Mid Season" types will also make it in the
spring if planted a bit early but results are less reliable. The fruit is
larger but the quantity is usually less.  Many of the "Small Fruited" cherry
types are also pretty good producers.  Most of the others listed are
heirlooms that are interesting to grow and will yield a few large tomatoes.
Note that there are other good sources but I like to look at the TGS site
because of the way the catalog is organized.
          Since coming to the valley in the mid 1960s, I have tried many of
the listed varieties.  I would have a hard time ranking them but would
recommend beginning with an early  season type (=< 70 days).  If you have
specific questions about a variety, please repost and I will try to answer.

Olin Miller, Master Gardener Volunteer
U of A Cooperative Extension, Maricopa County AZ

The above answer is the opinion of the message author.  The University is
not responsible for the content.
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----- Original Message ----- From: <bhill38 at cox.net>
Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2007 5:55 PM
> Barbara Hill 85020 bhill38 at cox.net
> I would like some information on what kind of tomatoes to plant and when.
> Will be a small area with full sun on a timed irrigation system.