The Great Tomato Project

Okay, so I've made a couple posts before asking if my area (Northwestern South Carolina) was good for growing tomatoes. General consensus was that yes, my land is good for them, so here's the results of several days of work transplanting and setting up a huge tomato experiment.

Starting with picture one, depicted is a mix of old heirlooms and hybrids, most notably the Genuwine hybrid, Bonnie Original, Black Cherry, Big Zac and Kentucky Beefsteak. This is my in ground group, where fun fact: my late uncle worked the land pictured for more than a decade until his passing in 2021, and the old garden sat mostly unused until now, where I've decided to restart it in his honor and grow well, tomatoes.

Picture two is my container group, which I'm growing in the more controlled environment of a 5 gallon bucket. It consists of only hybrids, some bred specifically for containers like Burpee's Sweetheart of the Patio, some not like Sweet 150 and Lemon Boy.

Picture three is what I refer to as the control group, and it consists of only 7 Rutgers plants in a raised bed kept separate from the native soil. My father insists that Rutgers is the gold standard and all we need to grow, which I won't fight with him on, Rutgers is a beloved heirloom for a reason, but he's never even tried anything besides a typical round red tomato.

Picture four is my most recent plantings in ground, again a mix of heirlooms and hybrids like 1884, Costoluto Genovese, Marianna's Peace, Abe Lincoln, Sun Sugar, Sun Gold and Sweet Million.

Some other plants I have in other areas are Mr. Stripey, Isis Candy, Blue Cream Berries, Black Strawberry, and Brandywine Sudduths strain.

If there's any advice or suggestions on varieties I should grow, don't hesitate to tell me, I'm still kind of a novice to growing tomatoes specifically, so any help would be greatly appreciated.