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What Happens To Your Tomatoes When Mother Nature Turns Up The Heat?
Depending on where you live the heat can be a big determining factor on how your plants produce. High temperatures especially a sudden spike can cause the blossoms to drop off and fruits to crack but if you closely monitor them some (but not all) loss can be prevented. The most important preventative is to improve growing conditions by putting a thick layer of mulch around the bottom of your plants. This helps keep the moisture level in your soil more even, prevents it from drying out to quickly during spikes and keeps the soil cooler. Blossoms fall off when the soil gets to dry BUT don't over water either...there is a fine line between moist and soggy and to soggy can cause the roots to rot and die.
Watering: If temperatures are below 85 degrees it's a good idea to water them deeply at least once a week. This will encourage the roots to grow down seeking the cooler soil and will help during any temperature spikes. When the temps get over 95 degrees and continually stay there you may have to water 2 to 3 times per week. Containers dry out faster so you may have to water them everyday until temperatures cool off. It's always a good idea to water your tomato plants first thing in the morning and try not to get the leaves wet by watering them at the base. This will help keep airborne spores from sticking to your plants.
So if Mother Nature sends a hot flash your way and you've got a lush plant full of tomatoes get ahead of it by picking the tomatoes that are starting to show a little color, about one-half green and one-half pink (called the breaker stage). At this stage a layer of cells forms across their stem, sealing them off from the main vine so they can ripen on or off the vine with no loss of quality or flavor. For the tomatoes that are too green to pick erect some kind of shade for the hottest part of the day using a screen or cheese cloth to shield them.
Intense heat is can be really hard on tomato plants but with these tips hopefully you can save some if not most of your crop.
Now the most important tip....cross your fingers and hope for a cooler summer:) | 
I get a lot of emails asking me about what types of tomatoes work best for small gardens or patios. What could work better than the Cherry Tomato!? This bush type tomato grows great in every climate and in every size garden. They really work great in pots or the upside down containers. That's why I added 4 new varieties for 2011 (actually they'll be on the website soon). If you love tomatoes but live in a condo or have a small patio then the Cherry Tomato is exactly the tomato for you. Here are some Cherry Tomatoes that you will definitly want to try:
