Floradade Tomato

The Floradade tomato was not bred to win flavor contests. It was bred to survive a Florida summer, and that goal shaped everything about it.

This is a University of Florida release built for heat, humidity, and disease pressure that would flatten a delicate heirloom. It trades some flavor for toughness, and it is honest about that trade.

If you garden where summers turn brutal, the Floradade tomato is worth knowing. If you garden for peak taste, it is worth understanding why this one is not your pick.

What the Floradade tomato actually is

Floradade is a determinate, open pollinated slicing tomato. The plant grows as a compact bush, roughly 3 to 4 feet, with enough foliage to shade its own fruit.

The fruit is a deep red globe of about 7 ounces. It is smooth, jointless, and notably firm, according to Victory Seed Company.

Maturity runs around 74 days from transplant, though some catalogs list 75 to 80. It carries resistance to Fusarium wilt races 1 and 2, Verticillium wilt race 1, and gray leaf spot.

The University of Florida breeding story

Floradade came out of the University of Florida program in Homestead, released in 1976. It belongs to a family of Florida bred tomatoes developed for the state’s growing conditions.

Those conditions are the whole point. Florida summers combine high heat, heavy humidity, and strong disease pressure, and most tomatoes struggle in that mix.

The University of Florida has run a tomato breeding program for decades aimed squarely at this problem. Floradade was one of its durable answers, and it stayed popular with Southeast home gardeners long after its release.

How it performs in real heat

The heat tolerance is not marketing. One grower on a plant database reported Floradade standing up to a week of 97 to 100 degree heat and still giving baskets of unblemished fruit.

That kind of performance is exactly what the variety was built for. Many tomatoes stop setting fruit when nights stay hot, and Floradade holds up better than most.

Another grower described plants near 6 feet loaded with fruit in clusters of five or six. Production continued as the fruit was picked, a steady return through the hot months.

The disease package backs this up. A grower confirmed practical resistance to Fusarium races 1 and 2, Verticillium race 1, and gray leaf spot, which matters most where humidity keeps foliage wet.

The honest flavor verdict

Here is where Floradade asks for honesty. The flavor is fine, not memorable.

One experienced grower put it plainly, saying the taste is good but not outstanding. Others have noted the skin can turn tough, a common tradeoff in firm, shipping friendly tomatoes.

This is the deal Floradade offers. You give up the melting, complex flavor of a top heirloom, and in return you get fruit that actually ripens through conditions that would kill the heirloom outright.

For a hot climate gardener who wants a reliable crop, that is often a fair trade. For a flavor first gardener in a mild climate, it is not.

Growing the Floradade tomato

Starting and planting

Start seeds about 6 to 8 weeks before your last frost. Transplant only once the soil has warmed and frost has passed, since this is a tender warm season plant.

Space plants 24 to 36 inches apart. The bushy determinate habit does not sprawl like an indeterminate vine, but it still needs room for airflow in humid conditions.

Support, water, and feeding

A short stake or a cage is enough support for a determinate plant this size. It will not climb to 6 feet the way an indeterminate tomato does.

Water deeply and consistently to keep soil moisture even. Steady water reduces cracking and fruit problems, a point covered in this site’s full growing guide.

Feed with a balanced fertilizer and avoid piling on nitrogen. Too much nitrogen pushes leafy growth at the expense of fruit.

Harvest

Expect ripe fruit around 74 days from transplant. As a determinate, Floradade concentrates its harvest into a shorter window rather than trickling in all season.

For gardeners battling extreme summers, this site’s guide to growing tomatoes in extreme heat pairs well with a heat bred variety like this one.

Saving Floradade seeds

Floradade is open pollinated, so it comes true from saved seed. That is a real advantage over hybrids, which do not.

Scoop the seeds from a fully ripe fruit, ferment them a few days to remove the gel coat, then rinse and dry. Keep it away from other flowering tomatoes if you want to avoid cross pollination.

Floradade vs Homestead 24 vs Celebrity

Homestead 24 is Floradade’s closest cousin, another determinate Florida style slicer bred for heat and humidity. The two are natural rivals for a hot climate garden, with similar fruit and similar toughness.

Celebrity is the widely grown hybrid comparison. It carries a broad disease resistance package and better all around flavor, but it is a hybrid, so it will not grow true from saved seed the way Floradade does. Floradade wins on seed saving and pure heat endurance; Celebrity wins on taste and disease breadth.

The verdict

Floradade earns its place as a climate tool, not a flavor star. If your summers are hot and humid and disease runs hard, it is a dependable, seed saving workhorse that keeps producing when better tasting tomatoes quit.

If you garden in a mild climate or you chase flavor above all, look elsewhere. Floradade is proof that a great tomato for one gardener can be the wrong tomato for another, and the difference is entirely about what you are asking it to do.

Frequently asked questions

Is Floradade a determinate or indeterminate tomato?

Determinate. It grows as a compact bush, sets its crop over a fairly short window, and needs only modest support.

Why is Floradade good for hot climates?

The University of Florida bred it for heat and humidity, and growers report it keeps setting clean fruit through week long 97 to 100 degree stretches.

Does Floradade taste good?

It is decent, not exceptional. Most growers call the flavor good but not outstanding, and some find the skin tough, so it wins on toughness rather than taste.

What diseases does Floradade resist?

It carries resistance to Fusarium wilt races 1 and 2, Verticillium wilt race 1, and gray leaf spot, which is a strong package for humid regions.

Can I save Floradade seeds?

Yes. It is open pollinated, so saved seed grows true to type as long as you prevent cross pollination with other varieties.