Your county Extension service or local Master Gardener should have some good information on tomato varieties. Also check with your nurseryman.
In her Lazy Gardener's Guide, Brenda Beust Smith recommends the following:
- Champion
- Celebrity
- Dona
- Early Goliath
- German Johnson
- Hawaiian
- Sweet Chelsea
- Texas Wild
In Year Round Fruits and Vegetables, Bob Randall recommends these (In order from large to small, with some repeats from Smith's list):
- Super Marmande (early)
- Dona (early)
- Carmello
- Big Beef
- Arkansas Traveler (late)
- Sweet Chelsea
- Sweet 100
- Texas wild (Produces in summer)
- Viva Italia (cooking)
- Sunmaster (Produces in summer)
- Patio
- Pixie
- Tiny tim
- Saladette
- Stakeless
- Atom
For better information on growing tomatoes here in the Houston Metro Area, I strongly recommend getting copies of the books by Smith and Randall. These are most easily obtained by going to Urban Harvest.
4 comments:
I also found this page googling about texas summer tomatoes.
I've got a little experiment going with Texas Wild, Sweet Chelsea, and Arkansas Traveler in 5 gallon buckets.
I just can't bite the bullet and buy re-mesh to make tomato cages. I think I'll try making bamboo cages this year. What do you use?
Frankly, I haven't had much success with tomatoes yet (mostly due to a deplorable habit of starting seeds first, and thinking about making beds for the plants much later), and so haven't reached that stage. :( Maybe next year I will be more organized.
Actually I would love to know what other creative ideas people use, too.
I've posted the pictures of the transplants in their buckets, and I'm picking up the bamboo from 'Plants for All Seasons' tonight. I don't know where you are in Houston, but if you're near 249, this nursery is worth checking out. The owner is a super nice guy.
I'll let you know how the bamboo works out.
That's why 5-gallon buckets are nice. Just add dirt,and you have an instant raised bed.
Ha! I also googled - thanks for taking the time to write your blog.
Post a Comment