Edith on Heirloom Tomatoes

by Edith Isidoro-Mills -- Recently I saw a Facebook post seeking answers to why their heirloom tomatoes didn’t produce tomatoes in Northern Nevada.  There are a number of reasons why tomato plants don’t produce fruit during a growing season and one of these reasons could be the tomato varieties you choose to plant. Another reason is when you plant the seeds. The most popular heirloom tomato varieties, such as Brandywine and Yellow Brandywine, require 78 to ripen.  This means that it takes 78 days from the time the seed germinates to the first fully ripe tomato on the plant.  Tomatoes are tender annuals in our climate so their seeds need relatively warm soil to germinate and frost-free days to stay alive.  In Churchill County those conditions don’t start until around the end of May.  That means it could be the end of August or the beginning of September before the first tomato ripens. Short season tomato heirlooms like Moskvich and Glacier that only require 55 to 60 days to produce the first ripe tomatoes will more reliably produce fruit in northern Nevada. One reason some people are so insistent they must raise the popular heirlooms rather than Moskvich or Glacier is that these two varieties produce smaller tomatoes.  The people planting Brandywine tomatoes like their flavor and “beefsteak” size.  The hybrid variety, Big Beef has the size and only takes 70 days to mature.  It also is more disease resistance than the heirloom varieties.  Still, it is only 8 days earlier to maturing.  You can probably get a lot more tomatoes if you plant an even shorter season tomato variety. If you are willing to settle for smaller slicing tomatoes, the selection of varieties is larger if you include some hybrid varieties.  Varieties such as Early Girl, New Girl, and Oregon Spring only require 60 days from germination to first ripe tomatoes. Some of these varieties will tolerate a little bit of cold weather.  Additionally, hybrids tend to be more disease resistant since that is one of the characteristics plant breeders select when choosing plants to cross. Generally, the larger the tomato, the longer it takes to ripen. If you don’t need to have a slicing tomato and like tomatoes you don’t have to slice, try cherry tomatoes. They usually only take from 55 to 60 days to ripen and produce lots of little tomatoes. How you plant tomatoes can also affect whether you get tomatoes in our climate.  Direct seeding tomatoes in the garden is not recommended since various insects and animals will consume the seed before it ever germinates.  The best way to plant tomatoes is to start them indoors and transplant them outside when the danger of frost is nearly zero.  This is usually around mid-May.  If you have a sunny window or want to use a grow light you can start your own tomatoes from seed.  Tomato seeds should be started indoors about six to eight weeks before you plan to transplant them outdoors. If you can’t create ideal conditions indoors for germinating tomato seeds try purchasing tomato plants from a local nursery. Transplanting does shock the plant and it sets the plant back a few days.  This will lengthen the time from germination to first ripe fruit by a few days.  The larger the plant is when transplanted the greater the shock will be.  The best size tomato plant to transplant into your garden is from 4” to 6” in height.     Support local, independent news – contribute to The Fallon Post, your non-profit (501c3) online news source for all things Fallon. Never miss the local news -- read more on The Fallon Post home page.