Thanks for the recommendation--- especially if the fruit is SWEET-- I am sick of growing tomatoes that pucker up my mouth---- tell me, do you spray? with what, and how often?? Thanks again, sally

You're welcome = )

& I don't spray anything but seaweed extract & maybe some Bt once in a great while. I do amend the planting holes w/ homemade compost, alfalfa pellets, bonemeal & I recently started using the Espoma organic fertilizer they sell @ Home Depot. I also use compost tea & occasionally side dress w/ the above mentioned. I also mulch very thickly w/ rotted hay - the soil is rich & black & full of earthworms.

A couple of other things I use are diluted milk & cornmeal. The milk is watered in around the base of the plants maybe once or twice during the season & the cornmeal is dusted over the soil before mulching.

I learned all these tips over on the Organic Gardening & Soil & Compost forums here - I've been coming to GardenWeb since the late 90s, I think.

& my main remedy for pests is to scout the plants daily & squish any caterpillars I find.

HTH

Ditto First Prize. They're prolific, have good resistance to RKNs and foliage diseases and taste great -- nice and sweet!

I'm going to have to try that "First Prize" variety. This is only my second season growing tomatoes. I grew Better Boy and SuperSweet 100s in the fall and again this spring. Both were productive and relatively easy. I had a lot of splitting with the Better Boys in the fall, but not this spring.

However, I find the taste of Better Boy to be underwhelming. Rather bland. I want to try some other varieties, but I don't want to pick a loser.

Supersweet 100s are ridiculously easy and productive, btw. Does anyone want any cherry tomatoes? There's no way I'll ever eat them all. They are indeed super sweet.

Being that this is my first year growing tomatoes, my experience is rather minimal. For my first attempt, I went with seeds of Roma VF and Martha Stewart Sweetie (probably the only thing I have ever gotten with her name on it. Ever.), both were purchased from my local HD. I find both to be quite enjoyable, but the Sweeties are definitely sweeter. They're also smaller. Neither variety is big by any stretch, I would not be able to use them on sandwiches, but they have been great for plucking and eating while working in the yard. I keep telling myself I'm going to try making my own spaghetti sauce out of the romas, but have yet to light a fire under my butt in that little endeavor.

Next year I will be growing one Sweetie, one Roma and one... bigger variety as I would really like to have some good sandwich/burger tomatoes. I was thinking of trying Better Boys, but after Tradition's comment, I might try something else.

Anybody else have any variety recommendations?

I want something that is happy in Central Florida's climate, disease resistent, productive, strong tomato-y taste, in a hamburger topper size.

The Tradition, you are probably more successful getting other people input if you start your own thread on tomato varieties. In this thread Carolb is recommending the varieties that she grew and she liked them....

Carol, Tom was growing I think the First Prize this season in his garden and he said he liked them and will grow them again.

Silvia

I can' t be much help to you on advice for growing the tomatoes. I can sure grow the plants, but not much fruit. LOL.

But to help the others help you - What is it that you like in the flavor of the tomato? Do you like a tomato that is tangy? Sweet? Meaty or more jell?

Personally I don't care for a sweet tomato. But what I like more than that - is a HOME GROWN tomato. I don't care much for cherry tomatoes because most of them are too sweet but almost any other tomato is good for me. LOL. Now, if someone could find a good cherry/grape or otherwise small salad tomato that was bit less sweet? Oh, I'd be all over that! Meanwhile I'll keep to trying one or two new varieties each year and just keep growing monster vines until I get it right. My plants seem to set fruit AFTER the dang horn worms are everywhere.

Good luck to you.

Sweet or tangy, either one is fine. It's tasteless that I have a problem with. I guess I like meaty rather than juicy for a sandwich or burger topping. Juicy ones are better for sauce, maybe? I hate losing all that juice on the cutting board.

Barbie,
Another one of those 'tips I've heard, but haven't tried' is to put a peanut feeder near your tomatoes to attract peanuts... no... wait... put a bird feeder containing peanuts near your tomatoes. This will supposedly attract Blue Jays that will bypass the peanuts in favor of a juicy hornworm instead. The problem with this tactic, as I see it, is that it will likely attract squirrels as well. Like I said, I have not tried this yet, and so far I have not had hornworms. But the moment I see one of them on my plants, I will be putting a tuna can filled with peanuts out near my tomatoes to see if it works. Which, considering the number of Blue Jays in my area, it shouldn't take long to attract one. Also, if you try to attract Blue Jays near your tomatoes, make sure you have a water source nearby for them to drink from, to prevent them from poking holes in your fruit for a drink.

OOPS - I meant to post that over on the other thread where the question was posed for types of tomatoes. Oh well.

Thanks for the tip - I have tons of jays and mockingbirds and more than that I have squirrels that I'm about to start trapping because i have too many. They steal every single peach off my HUGE trees.

In general I think it's just that the moths are attracted to my garden because I'm one of very few people with a garden in my area. But, people are finallyat least planting flowers in their yards this year! LOL

Actually, something got into the corn and knocked it all down yesterday right as it is setting - so the traps must be set. I think I may have an opposum that is living in the front garden bed. :-(

Barbie~

ibarbidahl try Singa and Mexico Midget for the cherry tomato that's less sweet,as far as a hybrid goes,Jetstar is the absolute best tasting one out there !!!!!!