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Need some tomato plant ideas

bpost
I am going to plant several Roma tomato plants for canning but would like some ideas on a flavorful slicing and eating tomato too. What are your favorites, beefsteak has been my go-to but I am looking for ideas.

Also, ground cover plants, I need some LOW maintenance low growing fast spreading plants that will grow in crappy soils, any ideas are appreciated.

THANKS!
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Comments

14 comments

Date Votes
  • KenK/84Bravo
    Romas usually produce quite nicely.

    I have had very good success with Early Girls, as well. I usually try to vary my Tomato plant selection based on when they ripen. Trying to spread out the varieties to encompass the entire season. (That is just me.)

    JLTrent, seems to be the Garden Guru, around here. (Based on the pictures of his extensive garden, he has posted last several years.)


    Some have said, and I've read, putting red mulch around the base helps. Miracid (Tomato specific,) is your friend. Cages to retain/support the plants are key, in my experience.
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  • Sam06
    Early Girls

    Juliet

    Celebrity

    German Johnson

    Better Boy

    Cherokee Purple
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  • hillbille
    I second the cheroke purple, very large andmeaty and have taste of yellow tomatoe.. friend of mine swore by mortgage lifters, this will be the first year I have tried them. I have pretty much given up on the big tomatoes, and have 4 pots around the deck for cherry tomatoes 3 red and one yellow cherry, better taste and can get at least a dozen a day once producing, if you want them for a sandwiche just slice them in half
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  • varian
    i have never had any luck growing tomatoes in my garden here in south miss. i have gone to growing in buckets, set up an irrigation system with drip hose and a timer on my spicot. in containers i try to stick with determinate varieties and have found Celebrity works very well. i also grow romas, cherry and grape tomatoes. Cherokee purple is a good tomato but i find it hard to grow for me. You have to start early here the heat in the summer is very hard on them. also look into using calcium nitrate as a supplement, i have really good luck with it especially for treatment of blossom end rot.
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  • montanajoe
    • Community moderator
    An elderly Italian man lived alone in New Jersey . He wanted to plant his annual tomato garden, but it was very difficult work, since the ground was hard. His only son, Vincent, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament:
    Dear Vincent, I am feeling pretty sad, because it looks like I won?t be able to plant my tomato garden this year. I?m just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. I know if you were here my troubles would be over.. I know you would be happy to dig the plot for me, like in the old days. Love, Papa
    A few days later he received a letter from his son.
    Dear Pop, Don?t dig up that garden. That?s where the bodies are buried. Love, Vinnie
    At 4 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left. That same day the old man received another letter from his son.
    Dear Pop, Go ahead and plant the tomatoes now. That?s the best I could do under the circumstances. Love you, Vinnie...
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  • jimdeere
    :D
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  • KenK/84Bravo
    As far as the low ,fast growing ground cover for crappy soils -English Ivy.
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  • Junkballer
    If you go with an heirloom you won't go wrong, stronger plants, disease and drought resistant and better flavor too. Hybrid tomato plants are weaklings and suck ;)
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  • remingtonoaks
    :D:D
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  • diver-rig
    I really love Brandywine variety heirlooms. Big, and very flavorful. Definitely need good cages, as they get big, and the fruit weighs a lot.

    I clean out the egg layers chicken coop once a year, right before I till the garden, and my broiler coop, I have a slab of concrete I shovel the coop out almost daily while it's occupied, and put yard waste, and compost from the kitchen in it also. Then dump it in the garden before tilling it all in also.
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  • Brookwood
    I highly recommend "Big Beef" for a great hybrid beefsteak type tomato. Good disease resistance and quite early for a large fruit tomato. Before Big Beef came along my favored fruit was "Celebrity" as Sam mentioned above.

    I am now retired but owned and operated a now 4th generation family run greenhouse. Every year I grew and sold an average of 40 different varieties of tomato plants.

    As for your question about a good ground cover, I would need to know how much sunlight the area you are planting in is getting.
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  • jimdeere
    We always grew Rutgers for canning tomatoes.
    Amish Paste tomatoes a substitute for Roma.
    Once established, less watering is better than more watering.
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  • Sam06
    I 2nd Rutgers

    They are a great canning tomato and taste good too.
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  • jimdeere
    So far, I count nine varieties of tomatoes recommended. Plant a few of each and you should be good. :)
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