Climate zone is not likely the cause of your problems with Beefmaster, but other site conditions. Truthfully, Central Tennessee is great tomato country, in terms of summer climate. And Beefmaster is one of the many disease resistant cultivars popular all over the country.

Perhaps if you described the kinds of problems you experienced, we could help you narrow down causes.

Hi!

Tough to describe the specific issues that I experienced with the Beefmaster variety, but in general the fruit was small (compared to the published potential) and the ripe fruit would quite often have a tough, yellowish, unripened partial interior.
The soil analysis checked out A+ for tomatoes.
Maybe these Ebay plants I purchased were not Beefmaster?? Still, something went wrong. Would it be advisable to start from seed?

Thanks for your input; I do have other questions I'll post at a later date.
Warren

Maybe next year you could try a few different varieties including Beefmaster. I recommend Better Boy and Parks Whopper and please consider buying them from a local nursery.

Warren...there's no reason why you could not grow your chosen tomato varieties from seed yourself. But you should also be able to find a fairly decent selection of plants locally. A locally owned nursery (as opposed to a chain box store) might have a more interesting selection.

Warren, I do not have good luck with tomatoes either and I live in northern Alabama (zone 7). I am preparing my soil now with topsoil, compost and trying to have it ready for spring. The Amish community in your area may provide you some secrets. I was there and purchased corn and tomatoes from them. Every ear of corn was perfect and every tomato was to perfection. They totally amaze me with their crops. I am going to buy my plants from a local nursery next spring. I have been buying them from Home Depot.

Good luck,
Steve