There have been several folks, well many over the years, who have asked about the Everglades tomato and I think one of the earlier threads from this year as found by doing a search at the bottom of this first page is worth reading.

I wish you good luck with those seeds but as Hoosier said in the thread I linked to he only bought them to be able to escape the persons scalping prices and offer them elsewhere.

The aren't really anything special, but I'll let you read the thread I linked to below.

I have several friends in the Miami area and none of them expect to get tomatoes in the summer. They grow long and mid season varieties for the Spring crop and short and midseason varieties for the Fall crop and that seems to work out best for them.

But currant tomatoes ( S.pimpinellifolium) which is what you bought might give you some of those wee fruits to nibble on, and that's good.

Carolyn

Here is a link that might be useful: Everglades tomato thread

Garf, I love the Everglades tomato! Suggest growing it in a pot with a soil combination to which you add about 40% pine bark. Elevate pot on bricks (very important) in morning sun/afternoon shade or in dappled shade. Feed every other week with one half strength of liquid fertilizer. A rampant grower. Needs strong support. You will find that it has seeded itself around your yard next spring thanks to critter assistance. This is how I discovered it will grow and produce in total shade as I let some seedlings grow on in such a situation to see what would happen. My plants are thriving/setting here where we have had about 30 days of temperatures over 95 degrees. Would also urge you to purchase enough coir (cocoa matting) from box store or nursery, to tear it into pieces and fit those around base of plant tightly as a mulch. Coir inhibits the growth of various fungi which splash up on foliage and thus prevents many of the common tomato disease problems. I would encourage all those growing tomatoes in pots to mulch with coir. It really is helpful.

Nandina, and how would you compare the Everglades one to any other red currant variety or even a cerasiforme such as Matt's WIld, or any of the other ones that are designated "wild" as in Texas Wild.

I ask b'c some others have done some comparisons and think that this person and this website are really scalping folks price=wise.

Now if you didn't have to pay for the seeds , which was the reason Hoosier initially got some to share, then no worries. LOL

So how is the Evergaldes one different from the other red currant ones out there in terms of your experience.

All of the currants reseed prolifically and all that I've grown are extremely tolerant of the common foliage diseases.

But the one I like best is Sara's Galapagos which isn't a pure currant but a stable interspecies cross that occurred on one of the islands in the Galapagos. And I'm so sorry I didn't have room to grow it this year.

I grow all my currants away from my other tomatoes b'c about half of the currants have exherted stigmas that can facilitate, possibly, increased crossing. But there's one person here who says he's more worried about his regular tomatoes crossing with the currants. ( smile)

Carolyn

I think the Everglades tomato is a cherry tomato that escaped from someones garden and grew wild in the Glades. Then it went thru the process of natural selection to adapt to the conditions of the Glades.

Are there any other larger varieties that are proven to be heat tolerent?

garf, there are lots and lots of wild currant tomatoes ( S. pimpinellifolium) that are found all along the Gulf Coast into Fl. Some have names as found and named by someone, most don't.

They were brought to that great expansive area by the Spanish out of Mexico. They aren't escapees from a home garden and were spread to those areas back in the late 16th, early 17th century/

Carolyn

Carolyn, in this post I was trying to indicate to the OP that there was a good chance Everglades would grow and produce through a FL summer. As you suggest, there are numerous red current varieties, none of which I have grown here, that should be trialed by those growing in the Gulf Coast area for productivity in heat and humidity. As to cross pollination of Everglades with the main tomato crop, I cut off the early blossoms on it until the other tomatoes have set their first fruit, which I tag and collect the seed from. Then Everglades is set free to fruit.

Garf, after years of trying various tomato varieties in the south I now grow only two, Moreton hybrid F1(Harris Seeds) and Yasenichki Yabuchar. These do best for me in my climate and set fruit despite 100 degree temperatures. Based on my experience, to grow a tomato plant all summer to fall in the deep south it must be grown in a pot with superior drainage in morning sun/afternoon shade. Also, and I will ask Carolyn why(?), I find that snipping and rooting the tops of my tomato seedlings before hardening off and planting, doubles the fruit production.

Just a couple months ago we were in Big Cypress National Preserve, which borders The Everglades, and saw some wild tomato plants. Nothing impressive but they did have a couple tomatoes on them and were growing in the strangest of places. I assumed they were just volunters from an old tomato sandwich. Maybe not...Guess the gators don't care for them.

Guess the gators don't care for them.
=========================================================
Maybe not, but the possums and the birds certainly do.

I would have to look up my source for Wild Florida Everglades but mine were pink, not red...

{{gwi:1334487}}

Also, and I will ask Carolyn why(?), I find that snipping and rooting the tops of my tomato seedlings before hardening off and planting, doubles the fruit production.

*****

Probably b'c you DID maliciously and with dire intent savagely cut off the leader stem on your indeterminate seedlings thus forcing the production of suckers, aka lateral branches, which would then increase fruit production.

You know the tomato police can arrest those who traffic in plant abuse. LOL

Carolyn, who would never, but never SEVER the leader stem of an indet variety, but then she doesn't live in the south and I guess rough tomato times in Dixie often call for bold actions. LOL

Carolyn, I LOVED your answer!! What I am experimenting on is something told me by a Master Gardener too late this spring to complete entirely for the 2010 growing season. I posted it awhile ago. The premise is...cut and root the top of a tomato seedling and fruit production will double. I am at that point right now and am growing the heaviest crop I ever have in my 20 years of fighting southern tomato growing. Next year I will continue on with the experiment which is...again cut and root the tops of those first seedlings that were cut and rooted. I am told this will even further increase fruit production. Then repeat this operation a third time which is 'supposed' to triple fruit production. But, if repeated a fourth time the tomato will bear no fruit. Hey, I'm retired and have time to play. An interesting project. Wonder what the results will be?

Somehow that sequential plant abuse sounds ridiculous to me in terms of increased fruit production.

let us not forget the genes that determine the traits that a variety has as to rough days to maturity, fruit yield, and on and on.

Cut off the head of a plant and you still have the same genes in the plant cells left.

With your current plant abuse afoot how many CONTROLS are you using? You used to use controls for this and that and if you believe what you're being told you darn well should be doing those CONTROLS.

Do you think that severing the main leader stem could be compared with taking sucker cuttings as a CONTROL for the same variety?

Carolyn

Carolyn, I agree with what you are saying above. When the Master Gardener told me of this method I thought the same thing but, it was the suggestion that a seedling tomato cut and rooted, repeated two more times and then the absolute assurance that done a fourth time that plant would produce no fruit is what intrigued me. Curiosity leads me to go through the steps next year and experiment. I do have controls set up, BTW.

What a load of hooey!

First of all, if you cut the leader off the tomato vine, root it and grow it out, how can you tell if production is doubled? You cut off the original plant and no longer have it to compare to.

Same with subsequent cuttings. How can you tell if cutting the leader off the rooted cutting, rooting it and growing it out will triple production? Again, you no longer have the original vine or the first rooted cutting to compare to.

Now, I'm a Master Gardener too. Go fetch me a left-handed monkey wrench.

Since growing season has just begun here in Miami, I'm considering starting some Everglades tomato seed. I think I only have 10 seed.

I just checked the seed packet. There are at least 30 seeds in there. I only planted 4, so we'll see what happens.

I just got my first sprout out of 4 seeds planted. It took about a week. I'm hoping for more. It looks half the size of other seedlings.

Hi Garf, I'm in Largo in the Tampa area and I'd like to try some of these tomatos too. I asked John - username hallandalegal - who had post last summer and was sharing seeds - for some seeds but haven't heard back yet. Where did you get your seeds and how much were they?

If you do a search you'll find his post. I see where the tomatoes supposedly start of small when the plant is small and then as the plant grows it starts producing much bigger tomatoes. That sounded pretty interesting!

Thanks very much!

Oh Duh! Why don't we swap some? I just ordered these from tomatofest.com and I can share. Below the list I ordered is the list that Gary ISban sent me for tomatoes that would be successful in my area - in case it is useful to you.

Item
Cherokee Purple-Tomato Seeds
Dagma's Perfection Tomato Seeds
Arkansas Marvel-Heirloom Tomato Seeds
Creole
Neptune
Tropic

Subject: Re: tomatoes for clearwater/largo area
Hi Tina,

Here are some varieties for you to review:
Cherokee Purple
Creole
Arkansas Marvel
Box Car Willie
Hillbilly
Florida Pink
Healani
DagmaâÂÂs Perfection
Brianna
Marvel Stripe
Tropic
Neptune

If you do a search by name on tomatofest.com you can find photo and
description.

Best regards,
Gary

Gary Ibsen
Box 628
Little River, CA 95456
www.tomatofest.com

"I see where the tomatoes supposedly start of small when the plant is small and then as the plant grows it starts producing much bigger tomatoes."
tinae101, the Everglade tomatoes do not increase in size as the plant increases in size. Some of my fruit is smaller, but most is regular size. They are amazing in that the volunteers show up in places not expected.
The flavor has a good old fashioned tomato taste. The fruit flavor is very good when they are all you have. Once I start eating Brandywine & Earl's Faux, the Everglade flavor does not compare. Then after the Brandywine stops producing, the Everglades once again are appreciated.

korney19, your tomatoes look red to me.

Ha! I guess I read too much into the other post string started by hallandalegal who said "These tomato plants get huge and produce large numbers of tomatoes year round. I send you seeds for the plum sized wild tomatoes. At first, they produce tomatoes the size of Tiny Tims. BUT when the root systems get large, the tomatoes get larger. "

One of the Everglades plants I started from seed is in high gear. Several others aren't far behind. I bought an Everglades plant from a local nursery and it bears no resemblance to the ones I grew from seed. There must be a lot of sub varieties called "everglades".

The new plant is doing well.

My wife loves these things. She eats them as fast as I can pick them.

I always have bad results growing tomatoes here in the Dominican Rep. very hot humid summers with heavy showers, in the past I have had fungus, white flies, and more fungus :) so this year I decided to try these "Everglades Tomato".

At last! healthy tomato plants. we have had two weeks of heavy rains each afternoon, and the plants love it.

I am not giving them any care, no fungicides, just letting them do what they will. they are in home made self watering buckets. on the roof of a 6 story apartment building. I only ad water if it hasn't rained in a week.

They taste great, wonderful tomato flavor in such a tiny fruit.

I grow mine and tie them up to the fence. I like to grow walls of everglades so I can pick bowls of them like berries.

I wanted to start some Everglades for the summer season. I DON'T HAVE ANY SEED LEFT. I reordered some new seed. Incredible.

In a post above Mark Korney said he had a pink everglades one and someone said it looked red in the picture.

A few years ago a man named Ted, whom I had met online before, asked his daughter if she would go to the nursery and pick up a plant for him. It turned out that the fruits were pink. Ted didn't kow how to save seeds so I asked if he could smush up several fruits, put them in a double baggie and send them up to me from Florida.

He did, I processed the seeds, and when grown out yes, they were pink, We named it Ted's Pink Currant and I've been offering it in recent seed offers elsewhere. It wasn't that big of a surprise to get a pink one b'c all it takes is an epidermis mutation from yellow ( red fruit) to clear ( pink fruit).

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=ted+pink+currant+tomato

But there was only ONE pink currant that I knew of before, and that one was bred by someone, was then not natural so to speak, and disappeared when the website of that person also disappeared.

Carolyn, who used to maintain several varieties in their red and pink versions but never distributed seeds for the wrong color. Others did so with different varieties, but I'm not "others".

My seeds are here. I hope the are the real thing.

You should know it's my second batch of Everglades seeds.

I currently have 12 Everglade tomato seedlings. I rent and can't really
dig up my yard to grow them in the ground. What size container would be
recommended? I currently grow my tomatoes in 5 gal. buckets but suspect, considering their prolific growing habits, might not be large enough. Would it be okay to plant more than one seedling in each
container? Can't really afford to buy a dozen containers and the potting soil to fill them.

Normally they tell you that the larger the container the better. The minimum size is considered to be 5 gallon. The smaller sized need far more attention mostly in hot dry weather or with heavy rain. Rain flushes nutrients out of the soil. I use between 10 to 15 gallon containers. The smaller the container, the smaller the plant.

These are currant tomatoes. They can produce fruit if you grow it in a cup, no need for 15gallon containers. But currant tomatoes grows wild, they are very vine-y and like space. You can either let it craw or climb all over on a fence. I don't even understand why people would fertilize this, it's not beefsteak.

It have a strong in the face flavor that is worth tasting once.

Update, these are the toughest tomatoes in the world, I put mine in one of those homemade self watering container, on the roof of the building I work at. I sometimes go months without going up to the roof. I maybe water them two or three times a year, they survived a 2 year drought, they re seed and grow back, even if I let them die. As Max said, they do have very rich flavor, I love them.

So far I have 30+ babies on 3 plants. I have 6 plants started, so I am hoping for a lot of baby tomatoes.

I have 30+ babies on 3 plants now. This is a bad time of day for pics with my old camera. I will try again later.

I am hoping they are red and not pink.

Another try.

Any suggestions to help a plant that produces flowers but little fruit? Thanks!