Say goodbye to boring tomatoes: Where to find the most unusual ones for your garden now

In case you didn’t get the memo, March is Tomatozania-mania-party time in Southern California, when specialty growers offer pop-up sales of hard-to-find tomato varieties, rain or shine.

We’re talking serious exotics with a range of flavors from smoky to sweet and evocative names like Thorburn’s Terra Cotta, Cherokee Purple, Evil Olive Cherry and Brandywine Pink.

Cal Poly Pomona’s 28th Tomatozania plant sale begins Saturday, March 15, at the school’s Farm Store in Pomona, selling more than 150 varieties of tomatoes all grown by Cal Poly Pomona student employees (who are also plant science majors). Proceeds support the school’s plant sciences program and the students. Its annual Pepperzania begins in April at the store, with more than 150 varieties of peppers, and in May it offers the hottest of the hot peppers during its Ultimate Pepper Plant Sale.

Independently owned Tomatomania! is celebrating its 25th year of pop-up sales of tomatoes and peppers, offering more than 100 varieties of tomatoes at 13 venues between Santa Barbara to San Diego counties and Santa Ynez. Its first event began Feb. 28 at Roger’s Gardens in Corona del Mar (where remaining tomatoes are available through March, until they run out) and other Tomatomania events are scheduled well into April. Its venues for the remainder of March include Otto & Sons nursery in Fillmore (March 13-15), Tapia Brothers Fruit Stand in Encino starting March 21, Wachter’s Hay & Grain in Ojai on March 29 and Anawalt Lumber in Hollywood March 29-30.

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And on March 22-23, Jo Anne and Alex Trigo are reopening Two Dog Organic Nursery just for the weekend to sell 44 tomato varieties — 12 more than last year — at their Mid-Wilshire home-based nursery from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days. The Trigos closed the daily operation of their nursery in 2021, “but there’s just something about sowing LOTS of seeds at the beginning of the New Year that I can’t seem to ‘retire’ from,” Jo Anne wrote in her email announcing the sale. And true to their nature, the Trigos also are offering a few companion plants, such as tomatillos, basil and Persian cucumbers.

Get in on these sales as soon as you can, but before you plant, be mindful of the rain — which we badly need after a very dry winter. Depending on how much rain we get, your soil might need a few days to dry out before you start planting, said Tomatomania owner Scott Daigre. Tromping around in wet gardens can compact your soil, making it hard for tiny roots to grow and water to penetrate deep into the ground.

Daigre has a long list of general tomato growing tips on his website, as well as tips for growing tomatoes in coastal areas and in containers. (Two Dog Nursery has an extensive list of tips as well.) Here are a few important reminders:

• Tomatoes love the heat and do best with at least eight hours of sun each day.
• If you’re growing in containers, however, note that too much heat in a pot can stress out your plants, especially if they’re sitting on concrete or asphalt, so try to give them shade after 2 p.m. or so, especially in inland areas where temperatures regularly push 90 degrees during tomato season.
• Containers should be at least 15 inches deep and 15 inches wide to handle deep-rooted tomatoes, and have plenty of drain holes so they don’t drown when they’re watered. “The best advice is buy a bigger pot,” Daigre said.
• Choose smaller size fruits like dwarf or cherry varieties if you’re growing in containers. Large varieties like beefsteaks will take a long time to mature and produce only a few tomatoes.
• Always remove the bottom leaves of your tomatoes so the plant doesn’t touch the soil. This helps increase air flow to the plant and reduce the chance of spreading mildew or other diseases.
• If you want quicker results, buy tomatoes in 1-gallon containers, remove the bottom leaves and plant them pretty much as deep as they were in the pot. You don’t need to disturb the roots unless the plant is root-bound, Daigre said, which shouldn’t be an issue this early in the season.
• Tall leggy plants with main stems more than 5 inches tall can be angled into the ground horizontally, to encourage strong root growth along the stem, but plants with 3- to 4-inch stems don’t need to be planted deep, Daigre said.
• Some people like to add special things in their tomato holes — such as a banana peel for extra potassium as it decomposes — but at a minimum, Daigre said, be sure to work compost and organic fertilizer into the bottom of the hole to keep your soil and your plants healthy. Add a bit more fertilizer and compost on top of the soil once the plant is in the ground, so those nutrients will filter into the soil when you water.