Hi can i get some advice please i live in the philippines and would like to grow my own tomato, the soil is volcanic so i would assume its acidic,very sunny and hot ie mid 30 most of the year what would be best strain to try?

Hi Steve and welcome

I would suggest that you first do a soil analysis to know exactly what you are dealing with. If you do not have any place local that can do the analysis, then you can send it off. With that said, I have found tomato plants to be a lot stronger and hardier than you might expect. With reasonable care, watering and fertilizer, I would think you should be able to grow many varieties. Good luck.

The cherry/ grape tomatoes seem to tolerate heat better than the large ones. If you check some of the seed companies, look for heat tolerant varieties.

Welcome to NGA, @subicsteve !

30C is approximately 86F, 35C is about 95F, I believe -- which I don't think is really excessive for tomato plants, as long as they receive plenty of water. As Carol said, you should probably look for "heat tolerant" varieties. I know nothing about volcanic soil, so I totally agree with having a soil test done, if possible; or you could buy a soil test kit that would give you an idea of where you actually stand. Many tomato varieties will grow well in containers, particularly the "dwarf" types and "patio" types, if you have problems growing them in the ground.

Your problem isn't the high heat during the day which tomatoes tolerate pretty well, it's the high night temperatures you'll have problems with. Tomatoes don't like to set fruit when the night temperatures get over 21 to 23deg.C . Some heat tolerant types and the cherry tomatoes do better with this, but there are no guarantees.

One "wild" variety I had some seeds for is the Everglades tomato, a sport that someone grew and still grows in South Florida. They are known to bear fruit right through our tropical summers, which are very likely similar to your equatorial climate.

I know we have one very knowledgeable gardener on this forum who is from the Phillippines so I'll call on her @tarev What do you think?