What variety of indeterminate tomatoes? Heirloom?

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Do you recommend growing heirloom or hybrid tomatoes? I was thinking of heirloom because I’ve read it tastes so much better, but hybrids produce more.
I’m looking for an indeterminate red medium sized tomato variety. What’s your favorite to grow?

edit: I’m looking into better boy
 
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Do you recommend growing heirloom or hybrid tomatoes? I was thinking of heirloom because I’ve read it tastes so much better, but hybrids produce more.
I’m looking for an indeterminate red medium sized tomato variety. What’s your favorite to grow?

edit: I’ve see that big Beef is an AAS winner...my main criteria is flavor. If I’m growing something, I want it to taste good!
Tomatoes only set fruit during favorable nighttime low temperatures. The difference between indeterminate and determinate is mainly that determinates set their fruit all about the same time while indeterminates scatter theirs throughout the growing season. This is great for areas that have cool nighttime LOW temps of about 60F-72F. The closer it gets to 76F the less the probability of setting fruit at all with 72F the optimum highest temperature. Also, high humidity greatly affects the pollen of tomato blooms. High humidity means less fruit set. What I am trying to say, I suppose, is that in an area such as Miami with its warm temps and high humidity that open-pollinated heirlooms are not a better choice than hybrids. Hybrids will give you much more production. Having said all of this, I still love to get a few heirlooms each year and for the, IMO, best tasting and highest producing medium tomato, it is hard to beat Arkansas Traveler.
 
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Great thorough answer! I’m going to try the Arkansas traveler. Looked everywhere and it says it’s the best for my region! Can’t wait.
 
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We keep coming back to Celebrity. Its the taste mainly. Around here they go in the ground at Easter and are done by mid summer. Not much can handle the deep heat of our summer. I have tried some heat resistant hybrids but while productive to a point they were also kinda bland.
 
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Thank you.
I’m back here to ask another question...it’s right now almost June. My tomato plants failed this year from a virus, but I still wanted to try growing some tomatoes again. I’m torn between determinate or indeterminate. I kinda wanted to have a tomato plant that will produce through the fall and winter, but will it make it through the summer?

what’s the best option for starting tomatoes in June?
 
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Thank you.
I’m back here to ask another question...it’s right now almost June. My tomato plants failed this year from a virus, but I still wanted to try growing some tomatoes again. I’m torn between determinate or indeterminate. I kinda wanted to have a tomato plant that will produce through the fall and winter, but will it make it through the summer?

what’s the best option for starting tomatoes in June?
I presume you want indeterminates if you wish to have tomatoes through xmass. If you planted seeds June 1 you could set out July 1 the hottest part of the year. I would plant seeds the first part of July and set them out mid to late August. But you must remember is that no tomatoes except cherrys will set fruit when the nighttime LOW temps are above about 74F. I don't know what your temps are during the fall and winter but the following varieties are what I would try. Porter, Mortage Lifter, Cherokee Purple, Arkansas Traveler, Large Red Cherry, Costoluto Gennovese, Opalka, Super Sioux. These are all indeterminate heirlooms.
 
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I presume you want indeterminates if you wish to have tomatoes through xmass. If you planted seeds June 1 you could set out July 1 the hottest part of the year. I would plant seeds the first part of July and set them out mid to late August. But you must remember is that no tomatoes except cherrys will set fruit when the nighttime LOW temps are above about 74F. I don't know what your temps are during the fall and winter but the following varieties are what I would try. Porter, Mortage Lifter, Cherokee Purple, Arkansas Traveler, Large Red Cherry, Costoluto Gennovese, Opalka, Super Sioux. These are all indeterminate heirlooms.
I presume you want indeterminates if you wish to have tomatoes through xmass. If you planted seeds June 1 you could set out July 1 the hottest part of the year. I would plant seeds the first part of July and set them out mid to late August. But you must remember is that no tomatoes except cherrys will set fruit when the nighttime LOW temps are above about 74F. I don't know what your temps are during the fall and winter but the following varieties are what I would try. Porter, Mortage Lifter, Cherokee Purple, Arkansas Traveler, Large Red Cherry, Costoluto Gennovese, Opalka, Super Sioux. These are all indeterminate heirlooms.


thank you! May I ask if there’s a reason why you only suggested heirlooms? Just wondering.

reason being is because the big box stores mainly have hybrids, and I think I read that hybrids are more disease resistant?
 
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Ps. I know we generally don’t like big box store plants. But I was inquiring about hybrid vs heirloom.
I’m definitely going to wait a month!
 
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Ooh, almost forgot, I have about 6-7 pots. Do you recommend trying a few of your suggestions, or one? Like how many pots of the same variety would you plant?
 
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thank you! May I ask if there’s a reason why you only suggested heirlooms? Just wondering.

reason being is because the big box stores mainly have hybrids, and I think I read that hybrids are more disease resistant?
Because they are indeterminates. You will find very few indeterminate hybrids in BBS. Hybrids are more disease resistant, that's why they are hybrids and by far the biggest percentage of them are determinates. The disease resistance is part of the hybridization. Growers these days produce a simple easy to use product. Plants that don't get sick although they do as you found out. Stick a hybrid into the ground, feed it and water it and the plant makes its fruit in x number of days. The less number of days the better. Whereas indeterminates produce until first frost, not just in 63 days or whatever the number of days the determinate is rated. Indeterminates produce longer and if taken care of properly will produce more than a determinate. A determinate produces all of its fruit in a relatively short period of time. But the deciding factor in your case is the hot weather in summer and no frost in the fall and early winter. If you planted determinates they would bloom, not set fruit and possibly, if you could keep them alive long enough, rebloom and set fruit if the temps were right.
 

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May I suggest you check out this one:


The so called BBS carries them here, they are an indeterminate, highly disease resistant, and very productive. They are my go to tomato. When the side shoots get out two or three feet, I just throw some dirt on them and they become my fall tomatoes. We have extreme heat and humidity already here and these babies are full of many pounds of fruit.

I have no problem buying my plants at the BBS, whatsoever. My local Lowes has Bonnie as its supplier and provides super plants.
 

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