I Withdraw My Assertion That I Cannot Grow Tomatoes

After trying and trying for the last twelve years: and getting close to zero globe and beefsteak tomatoes, I went all in on plum (Roma) tomatoes. I’ve gotten Romas to produce before but I’ve never planted an entire bed with them. I fully expected to get a small supply from the six plants, that all of these tomatoes came from. I ended up with over 21 pounds of Romas from six plants. This is the sort of harvest worth messing with!

At the same time, I planted some heirloom tomatoes. The heirloom plants are now giant bushes, with zero flowers and zero fruit. This is my usual experience with tomatoes.

I think my problem is that I have never tried to grow a mess load of paste tomatoes. They were always just a part of a large trial of many types of tomatoes, all others consistently failed.

Since I’m always looking for a harvest large enough to can, I will only be growing Roma tomatoes from here on out. Ridiculous amount of tomatoes from six plants. Had I skipped the heirlooms and planted four more Romas: I would have a little less than twice this many tomatoes. Plus, I had a decent amount that needed to go straight into the compost because of holes or soft spots, so this was probably more like thirty pounds off of six plants. So, my yeild was actually higher than this. However, if you have a soft spot or a hole in a tomato and it isn’t ripe, go ahead and toss it. It will rot before it ripens.

So, in conclusion: if you are struggling getting tomatoes to fruit in southern zone 8b/9a and higher. With night time temperatures so high tomatoes won’t flower, try Romas. Lots and lots of Romas!