Choosing the Right Heirloom Tomatoes for your Climate
By Michael Nolan
As much as I adore tomatoes of all shapes and sizes, there are certain heirloom tomato varieties that simply do not do well in the hot Alabama summer sun.
As I have received quite a few questions about this topic recently, I decided to give you a short list of a few heirloom tomato varieties that tend to have better results in certain climates. I am intentionally calling attention to varieties that I have not yet covered on Tomato Casual:
Heirloom Tomatoes for Hot Weather Climates
- Aunt Ruby’s Green – a long time favorite that originated in Tennessee, these beauties are light green, often with yellow stripes. They are flatter than they are round, and an excellent choice for fried green tomatoes.
- Cosoluto Genovese – originally from Italy and used most often for preserving, this variety has the odd shape most commonly associated with heirlooms, accompanied by an intense and acidic flavor.
- Box Car Willie – Bright red, delicious and as lumpy and misshapen as the King of all Hoboes for which it was named. Huge yields!
Heirloom Tomatoes for Cool Weather Climates
- Black Prince – An absolutely beautiful deep shade of garnet, rated in the top ten best tasting tomato varieties according to a taste test by Country Living magazine.
- Moskvich – From Russia with love! This variety produces results quickly, usually in 60 days, and the taste is nothing short of amazing. It is one of the best tasting and most naturally disease-resistant heirloom tomato varieties I’ve ever tasted.
- Stupice – This gem of a plant from Czechoslovakia is full of tons of little tasty tomatoes that thrive in cooler climates.
By now you have probably already started your tomato plants for this season, but if you can inch another plant or two into your space, you might want to consider one or more of these phenomenal heirloom tomato varieties. If not, there’s always next year!
April 27th, 2008 at 9:57 am
Many people have sung the praises of ‘Black Krim’. I tried it last year and was very disappointed…and I think you’ve put your finger on it. ‘Black Krim’ probably favors cooler climates and didn’t like our torrid Texas summers.
I hope more garden bloggers will compare notes on what tomatoes did well for them and, most importantly, where they garden.
I’ve had very good results with ‘Persimmon’, ‘Sungold’ and ‘Carmello’.
April 27th, 2008 at 10:42 am
Very valuable post, Michael! And yikes, I forgot to mention ‘Boxcar Willie’ as one of the great tomato names in my “Ben Picks Ten: Tomatoes” post. Drat!!! But thanks for reminding me!
April 27th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Why grow when you can just steal from the neighbors? They usually sleep very soundly at night after having worked so hard in the garden all day.
April 27th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
mss: Black Krim originated in Russia, so it is safe to say that Texas heat would probably have done it in no matter what you did to try to save it. Sungolds are fantastic!
Ben: It was your post that inspired this one. Glad I could remind you!
Obbop: Thanks for the laugh. I needed it today.
April 28th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
I grow lots of tomatoes, both heirlooms and hybrids in the blazing Texas heat. I’ll throw a vote in for ‘Green Zebra’. Medium sized green fruit maturing to yellow with green stripes. Prolific producer with a nice fresh sweet flavor. I canned a bunch of them last year.
April 28th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Leslie: that’s a variety I have tasted but never tried to grow. I guess I’ve been missing out!
April 29th, 2008 at 9:32 am
Another one you can forget about in very hot (and/or very humid, for that matter) climates is Brandywine Sudduth. Glorious, glorious tomato that’s flaky in production terms at the best of times, but just won’t set fruit in prolonged heat or humidity. It was an autumn cropper for me back in Sydney, ditto now here in Italy.
There’s some informed argument to suggest that it’s the varieties with larger flowers that don’t do well in the hotter climates, which is to say that they struggle to set fruit.
May 16th, 2008 at 6:56 am
I live in the Philippines and it is hard to find good tomatoes and want to grow some large beef stake type tomatoes what type do you suggest and where can I get the seeds. Thanks.
May 16th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Sonny, With the severe rain potential, most tomato plants will probably have trouble due to the excess water. For that reason I would recommend that you try growing your heirloom tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets that have been drilled to provide adequate drainage. Tomatoes are native to the tropical climates of South America, so I know that it is possible to grow them in your climate as well. Just make sure that they are properly watered during the dry season and have plenty of drainage when it is quite wet outside.
Any of the Brandywines should handle your climate well, as will the Cherokee Purple, both of which are available through many mail order providers. If you need help locating them, just leave me another message and I’d be happy to help.
May 31st, 2008 at 12:56 am
[...] only to my love of the heirloom tomato (any variety) is my love for home grown [...]
July 31st, 2009 at 12:57 am
OMG, thanks again. Now it’s coming back to me why I have ‘Black Prince’ in my garden. I did stumble on your article LAST YEAR. I’ll relax and see what BP brings me. My season is just starting to happen…I’ll write again sometime soon. THANK YOU!