Winter Tomatos - S. Florida 2015

Hi folks. I've been off the site for a couple of years but I'm growing some tomatos this winter down here in Miami. Got a late start but a few are ripening - Red Brandywine (Landis), Cherokee Purple and Linnie's Oxheart.
Others with lots of green fruits are Indiana Red, Tennessee Britches, Mariana's Peace, Paul Robeson, Pink Potato Top, Black Brandywine, Pink Brandywine (Sudduth), Royal Hillbilly, Neves Azorean Red, Aunt Gertie's Gold, Green Doctors, Pineapple and a few others.
Pictured here is a few Red Bwines. I'll have more pics in the days to come.

Flip

I'm jealous I can't get Brandywine to set fruit and I can't believe we are more humid here. Glad to have you back!

Thanks! Good to be posting here again. I remember you from before and I'm hoping your Bwines set for you. Hope to have some good pics for everyone pretty soon.

I picked a few of the Linnie's Oxheart and they were very good. First time I tried these and I'm happy with the taste. I've also had a few Cherokee Purples and they're pretty decent too.

Thanks, but you don't need to hope my Bwines set fruit....I no longer bother with them. I couldn't even get yellow Bwine to set, and I've heard they set easier. I may try those 1 more time. I've grown many of those that you mentioned and had great production. I'm growing a lot from the dwarf project and I really like them.

Please keep us posted on your progress.

Too funny.. I have been off this site for a few years too and was a creeper for the most part and tonight decided to see if the same South Florida peeps were still here. Been trying to re-educate myself on the South Florida do's and dont's.. So glad to see you are still at it. I have just moved to a new home and will not be ready for my raised gardens just yet. But have a few tomatoes going in containers and some herbs. Welcome back!

I've heard a lot about the dwarf project but need to catch up to see where u all are. What type are u growing?

I remember the name meszaros from back then. Hope you've been well. What do u have in the pots? I also have herbs, lettuce, bush beans, radishes and peppers.

I need to figure out how to make my pic posts not appear upside down? Anybody help here?

Flip, is that you? Welcome back!

Hi Gymgirl. Yep. it's me and I'm back here posting. I recognize some of the folks here but not all. Are u growing this winter?

Here's a few I picked yesterday. Red Brandywine, Cherokee Purple and Linnie's Oxheart

Hey, Flip!

Of course I'm growing this winter, LOL! Fall/Winter is my BEST season before the Fires of Hell set in around April 1st (just foolin' -- or AM I?)

Got a garden full of greens, broccoli and beets going full blast. I was off all last week, and managed to get 14 trays of tomato seeds started on Jan. 3rd. They're all up as of January 11th, and about 1.5" tall already! They are really growing fast!

Schedule is for potting up in another week, then transplanting tomatoes out Feb. 14th. Should be harvesting starting 5/5/15 at the earliest, and ripping the vines out by the middle of July.

I started the following: Arkansas Traveler, Black Cherry, Black Krim, Crimson Cherry, Dwarf Wild Fred, Kellogg's Breakfast, Momotaro, Mortgage Lifter, Pruden's Purple, & Sweet Ozark Orange. I think it's a pretty good mix. We'll see!

Good to have you back!

Linda

Hey Linda,

Yes, this is the best time of the year for me, even tho I got a late start. Normally, I plant out by Oct 1, but this year everything but the 3 I'm harvesting didnt go out until early November due to an issue with my original seedlings. Had to restart everything.
Too hot at night here to get much done after April. I've grown those on your list except the dwarf. Good luck!

Flip

Well this is a test cuz my pics have been Previewing upside down. I want to see how they show after I Send them.
This is a Paul Robeson with 25-30 green ones

Weird. They show upside down in the thread but when you click on the pic it shows up correctly. I don't like that too much. Anyone seen that?

This message was edited Jan 12, 2015 3:00 PM

Hi Flip,

Yes they look upside down. That is weird. I dont know how to fix that. sorry.. they still look awesome just have to tilt your head a bit.. :)

I am growing out Mortage Lifter, Rutgers, Rosemary, Dill... I am two weeks away in putting up a fence around my backyard and then my beds go in.... They have ECHO nursey over my way that offers a variety of native edibles. I am going there to start experimenting with a few of those, like Moringa and Chaya.. Have you ever grown native edibles?

Have you had the Paul Robeson before? How are they?

I'm gonna have to figure out this pic thing. When you click on the pic does it display upside down also?

No, I've never grown anything other than veggies, citrus, bananas and avocados.

Never tried the Paul Robeson before tho one is ripening and I'll get to taste it soon. I've heard they're a good one.

They are probably my favorite tomato....there are many that come in a close second...but PR taste fantastic IMHO. Some of the dwarfs I grow are bred from PR.

Can't help you with the pics. I'm much better with dirt then computers. You might want to click on the link to The Help Desk and ask them.

Hi Flip, I post here occasionally. Are you taking photos with your iphone or ipad? I have seen this happen on occasion elsewhere. Sometimes they even show up sideways. Especially if you orient your apple device a certain way and then don't re-orient your photo prior to posting. Make sense? I know, it shows up correctly on your apple device, but not on a non-IOS-based computer. Just a thought.

Edited to say....wish I could have a slide of one of those CPs right now. One of my favorites but it's way too early to think about tomato planting here yet. Nice ones!

This message was edited Jan 15, 2015 12:24 PM

I started panicking: I must have missed the date for me to start my tomatoes! I even pulled out my calendar and checked the start date! LOL

Now I know the meaning of zone envy!!!!


(STILL waiting to start. . . impatiently!!)

I counted the tomato seedlings, night before last................385.....inside.....under lights.............

WHAT WAS I THINKING?????!!!!!!

I have zone envy bc it's been freezing here every morning for the last few weeks. Lol

Hi you all,

Outside playing - thanks for the info. Both my phone and iPad are Apple types so I guess I'll need to figure out the best way to post pics. I'll tellyou, the CP's, as the plant matures and I become more patient, are tasting really good!
Betnc - sorry I got u going there. It's tough to beat 10b in the winter! But I can't grow when you all do cuz night temps are way too hot and the buggies go wild!
Gym girl - ur a wild girl! Keep me and all of us posted.

I'm at Disney for the weekend so see u all soon.

Lisac - ur time's comin!

Flip

This message was edited Jan 16, 2015 8:37 PM

LOL, "wild and crazy girl!"

My birthday was last Thursday, and, although I was off the whole week, it was too cold to go out.

So, the luncheon with my besties at the 5-star restaurant was rescheduled to tomorrow. And, all I really wanna do is stay home and start potting up those seedlings!!!

Make that just a "crazy" girl, LOL!

I need an intervention!!!

I still haven't figured out why my pics won't come out correctly but here's one anyway. A cluster of Paul Robeson

And yesterday's pick. Still waiting on most of varieties to get ripe.

Names, please. They look beautiful.

Hi Lisac,

Thanks. Been away a few days but the pics above are Red Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Linnie's Oxheart and the clump of six are P. Robeson.

Also, I just picked my first few Indiana Reds (they are big and great tasting hearts), a handful of Green Doctors (great tasting green cherry), the first Mariana's Peace (very tasty pink/red beefsteak) and my first Yoders (nice yellow) of the season. I'll try to snap a pic of these.

Wow, you're tomatoes are really producing. I just had a thought, whatever that's worth, lol I've never had PR grow in a cluster. The only black tomato that I know of that grows like that is Nyagous. You might want to check it out or maybe somebody, that knows more then myself, can add to this. I grow PR every year.

Well, there you go. I've never grown them before and was given a small seedling and told it was a PR. Oh well, they grow good and taste good so I'm good with it for now.
Here's a pic of Indiana Red, a Marianna's Peace and a Yoders.

I've been eyeing the Indiana Red....think I may have to try them. Im not sure about the PR and Id hate to give you the wrong info. both are in DGPFs so you may want to look them up and see what you think. May I ask where you got the seedling?

I'm living vicariously through you. Lol

Well, after looking at Pfiles I agree that these are not PR. The seedling came from my brother who also had Noir de Crimee and he may have got them mixed when potting up from the seed tray.

Well, Noir de Crimee looks like a good one too. I wanted to warn you in case you were saving seeds. Enjoy!

Yesterday's pickings. Things are starting up a bit. The two Indiana Reds and the Tennessee Britches on the right are all very nice sized. Had one of the Indiana Reds Caprese style with dinner. Really tasty.

Another group I picked a few days ago. Pretty good season so far - about about 15 plants doing well and about another 10 doing so-so to awful.

At least we're eating good tomatoes for a few months.

Hey Flip... Lookin good... What a nice pic!!

What kind of problems are you having with the so-so - awful ones?

Hey Meszaros,
Basically, everything in an earthbox or large pot did pretty well and the ones I planted in my
back fence garden did not. My soil is really rocky with coral rock fill a few inches down. Back in the day when I could chop thru it and make very large holes and fill it back with good soil, they did quite well. This year the holes were pretty small and tho I fertilized properly, once they outgrew the hole the just did really poorly.
How's your season going?

Been away for a while. Having a decent year but not as good as I'd hoped. One garden is still doing pretty well but the other pooped out like I mentioned above. I should be able to keep picking for another 3-4 weeks before the buggies and night time heat shut me down.

I did pick a lot of fruit yesterday and the day before and was able to fill my window ledge.

Hope everyone is soing well.

Flip

Flip,
What are the nighttime temps to watch out for that will shut you down?

I'm going long-season beefsteaks, that should've been set out the 2nd week of February. I'm way behind, but hope to get them in this weekend. Most are 85dtms.

Our nighttime temps have been averaging in th mid-50s, but next week they could be in the mid-60s.

Hi gymgirl,

If the nighttime temps don't get lower than 80 F, the fruit won't set for most tomatoes. As long as your fruits are growing they should be ok with proper watering, etc. good luck!

Flip

Thanks, Flip!

We're still hovering around 55 at night, but, I had a medical set-back that kept me from planting out the tomatoes. Hope to get them in this weekend. If I don't send them in to transplant shock, they should take off fairly quickly.

Pray, cause they're long-season indeterminates. I was hoping to be through with the harvest by mid-July, but, at this rate, looks like it'll be the end of July when it's hotter than Hades outside, LOL!

Good luck ggirl!

Sorry I've not been overly attentive here but I had thumb and wrist surgery a week ago and doing everything with my wrong (left) hand is a bit of a challenge. I hope you all have a good upcoming season!

Flip