setting fruit over 90F?

luke · November 7, 2019

Interesting comments over the course of the summer. I'm right on the edge of zone 9, and I put out about 30 tomato plants for the fall. The summer was brutal. High 90's/lows in the high 80's at night for an extended period with very little rainfall. I tended my plants best I could, but had almost zero fruit set. Even my peppers - the stout overwintered plants - which usually love the hot weather, tucked tail.

Tonight I have four tomatoes (all Better Boy) that I could play marbles with...and have a forecast for a freeze in 24 hours.

Shame of it is that I grew up a 3 hours drive north of here, and our tomato plants lasted all summer and continued to produce into the fall. We usually had ripe tomatoes for Thanksgiving (via the paper bag method) every year. Not down here in the foundry.

I'll continue to experiment with some varieties, but if we have another summer like this one, I'm staying in the cold A/C.

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November 7, 2019	#31
luke Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2011 Location: Mississippi Posts: 177	Interesting comments over the course of the summer. I'm right on the edge of zone 9, and I put out about 30 tomato plants for the fall. The summer was brutal. High 90's/lows in the high 80's at night for an extended period with very little rainfall. I tended my plants best I could, but had almost zero fruit set. Even my peppers - the stout overwintered plants - which usually love the hot weather, tucked tail. Tonight I have four tomatoes (all Better Boy) that I could play marbles with...and have a forecast for a freeze in 24 hours. Shame of it is that I grew up a 3 hours drive north of here, and our tomato plants lasted all summer and continued to produce into the fall. We usually had ripe tomatoes for Thanksgiving (via the paper bag method) every year. Not down here in the foundry. I'll continue to experiment with some varieties, but if we have another summer like this one, I'm staying in the cold A/C.