Ask Chris
by CHRIS WINSLOW
This is the time of year for Hays County gardeners to come up with strategies for creating a big tomato crop for 2012.
Texas A&M’s Agrilife calendar places mid-March as the kick off for tomato planting. March 15 also coincides with the average last frost date.
There is a myriad of tomato varieties to choose from, and it works best if you break it down into two main groups: heirlooms and hybrids.
Heirloom tomatoes are older, heritage varieties that are open pollinated and breed true to their variety. Their seed can be harvested, saved and grown from year to year.
The advantage of saving and re-growing seeds is that a particular variety will get used to the local climate and garden conditions. A disadvantage? Many of them don’t have built-in disease resistance.
Heirlooms come in a wide range of colors, shapes and sizes. Seed catalogs and garden websites list hundreds of varieties.
The most popular for this area are red and pink Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Black Krim, Arkansas Traveler, yellow and red pear, Mortgage Lifter, Roma and Bloody Butcher.
Hybrid tomato varieties are not open pollinated and their seeds do not breed true. Hybrids are selected crosses to promote traits such as high yields, disease resistance and high temperature fruit set.
Some popular hybrid varieties in this area: Phoenix, Tycoon, BHN 444, Solar Flare, Solar Fire, Valley Girl, Better Boy, Big Boy, Patio and Celebrity.
Celebrity has been the number-one hybrid choice of central Texas gardeners for over 25 years.
Rodeo 602 is new hybrid variety that’s just been released by BHN seed company. This medium-sized, heat tolerant tomato has the potential to produce up to 30-pound yields. It also has a great disease resistant package including tomato spotted wilt virus.
In trying to plan out what to grow this spring, plant a few varieties of both heirlooms and hybrids and keep records of your successes. And don’t forget to plant some cherry tomatoes. They never fail.
It’s About Thyme will have a free tomato growing and question and answer session as part of our gardening classes on Sunday, Feb. 26 at 2:00 pm. Hopefully our panel will cover everything you need to know to be a successful tomato grower.
Happy gardening everyone!
If you have a question, send it to me via email: [email protected]. (Please put ‘Ask Chris Winslow’ in the subject line.) Or mail your letter or postcard to: Ask Chris Winslow. It’s About Thyme: 11726 Manchaca Road, Austin, TX 78748 www.itsaboutthyme.com
