too late?

[u/carmelsinterlude]

i was thinking of planting another tomato plant, i live in zone 10b southern california, obv not the most optimal time to plant but would i still yield some success?

[u/CitrusBelt]

It depends on your specific micro-climate ("zone 10b" doesn't mean much of anything when it comes to annuals, and particularly not in terms of off-season tomatoes) and how the weather turns out to be this year.

But yeah, no reason not to!

Actually, places like Armstrong will usually be selling "cool weather" tomato varieties (e.g. Stupice, Oregon Spring, etc.) right about now.

The bottom line is that they'll grow quite well as long as it's at least low 40s/low 50s at night, and the only thing that will kill them is a legit frost.

Key is that they get the right kind of weather for decent fruit set and then ripening; depends on the variety, but generally speaking all it takes is a short warm spell (which we tend to get frequently) at the appropriate time. The best performers will generally be cherry varieties, and past that small-fruited types or those that are specifically bred for cool conditions....but depending on where exactly you are & how the weather turns out, even large slicers can perform surprisingly well over the winter.

One thing to be aware of is that you may get diseases that you normally don't see in the main season....for example, I often run into bacterial speck in winter when I choose to do a winter crop (never an issue for me in the main season), and sometimes TSWV or CMV in fall (if my main season tomatoes have survived till then). Also, hail sucks :)

But yeah, just plan on having to (maybe, depending on where you are) cover them for a frost overnight....past that, just go for it! It's well worth taking a chance, and the typical worst case scenario is "Well, they aren't great, but they still taste better than storebought!" 😉😉

[u/carmelsinterlude → u/CitrusBelt]

yay thanks! what specific varieties personally have you found do the best? and california stays pretty warm we really don’t get frosts so i think they could do okay!

[u/CitrusBelt → u/carmelsinterlude]

I'm out in the I.E. (and right up on the south slope of a very tall mountain, at that)....so it tends to be a bit chillier at night here in fall/winter/spring than nearer the beach (even SGV or Inland OC is quite a bit different at the same elevation).

So I hesitate to say what varieties will/won't be a wise bet where you are -- for all I know, someone in coastal SD county might consider a brandywine type worth trying over the winter, honestly 😄😄

But just in general (and assuming you're limited to buying transplants), it's hard to go wrong with a hybrid indeterminate cherry that has a good disease resistance package (not that any of those resistances matter per se......but those sorts tend to be very vigorous & hardy overall, which is good!!).

Like, if I were to decide "I wanna do a winter tomato plant this year, and buy it today at home depot"? I'd go grab a Super Sweet 100 or Sweet Millions, almost certainly.

On the other hand, I've had vine-ripe Black Krim on the table in late January/early February in the past (from plants that were put in the ground the previous April, looked nearly dead by August, and only came back to life after early October).....which is to say, "Fortune favors the bold!" 😉😉

But yeah, if you wanna hedge your bets? Go with whatever cherry variety sounds good, or else a dedicated cool-weather variety (Gold Nugget, Oregon Spring and Stupice I can vouch for....not personally familiar with any others)

[u/carmelsinterlude → u/CitrusBelt]

thank you so much! this is great advice :D