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planting various heirloom varieties, tips?

so i am new to the whole gardening thing and it seems like heirloom varieties are the way to go. should i be worried about planting multiple heirloom tomatos varieties next to eachother? will there be any danger of the seeds becoming a hybrid and losing the true heirloom qualities when planting them next season? i may plant different types carrots and celery, etc if different vegetables will have different results id like to know. also, if you want to give me any random tips that would be awesome! thanks in advance!

Public Comments

1. Hello A, My name is Gardengail and I work for the home depot in the garden center. Your tomatoes will not have problems planted together as heirlooms, the only problem I see is that if you save your seeds, they will not stay true to the parent plant. Heirlooms also do not have any disease resistant qualities and cannot be planted in the same area year after year, although you may get away with it for the 2nd year.One of the best heirlooms to plant is rutgers for flavor and size. Black prince is a fun one also with excellent flavor.When you mulch your soil to make your vegetable bed, be sure to add bone and blood meal to the mix, you shouldn't have to feed again for a couple of months after that. Unless you go to some old variety site the only difference in the carrots is size and shape, and there is a new one out that is a red color that has more beta-caratine in it. Shorter carrots are for heavy soils. Hope this helps, Gardengail
2. My mom takes milk jugs And poke wholes at the bottom And sides and plant Them in beside the tomatoes with the top sticking out. This helps with watering them since tomatoes can get dissied. If water touches leaves. Also it gets the water down deep into the roots. Btw. Fill the jugs up twice when watering.
3. I grow many varieties of heirloom tomatoes. It is a learning adventure. I suggest you start with four varieties. Cherokee Purple, Brandywine Pink, Brandwine Red, Pineapple. Cherokee is the best of the best and the top producer. I have had no problems with cross pollination and I save my own seed every year. I live in the deep south and have already planted the seeds under growing lights. Learn about soil pH and get it at 7 or slightly below. You will need to check your plants on a daily basis because of insect problems, green horn worms, mostly, and stink bugs. I suggest you go to YouTube and type heirloom tomatoes in the search box. You can learn all you need to know. There are hundreds of videos. I plant my tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets. Don't try the tomato cages. Plants get way to large for them to support. YouTube is your answer. The difference between an heirloom and a store bought hybrid or a home grown hybrid is unbelievable. You will never plant a hybrid after you eat an heirloom.
4. Well, the good news is you can plant the tomato plants in close proximity without having to worry too much about crossing the different varieties. Most tomato varieties have a cone in the center of the blossoms that normally keep the pollen contained. On rare occasions pollen will escape or be picked up by bees and inadvertently transferred to other blossoms but it is a rare event. Most times to cross tomato varieties you have to remove the cone, collect the pollen and hand-transfer it to the recipient. Even then it is difficult to make an accurate pollination cross due to the likelihood of the recipient blossom having already been pollinated by itself. Good luck and enjoy!