Here in the South, tomato season is just about done for the year, so tomato breeder and tomato-growing expert Craig LeHoullier is back as my guest on the podcast so we can discuss what we learned this year and check in on the progress of Craig’s breeding experiments.
Craig is one of the kindest, most giving people in the industry of gardening and vegetable growing, especially when it comes to tomatoes. He is world-renowned for his expertise in growing and breeding, and he gave the beloved Cherokee Purple tomato its name. He is constantly breeding new varieties, because Craig epitomizes the message that “life’s too short to grow boring tomatoes.”
Craig LeHoullier wrote the book, literally, on “Growing Epic Tomatoes.”
Craig, who holds a Ph.D. in chemistry, is world-renowned as one of the most respected experts on tomato growing and breeding. He’s also the co-founder of the Dwarf Tomato Project and the tomato adviser to the Seed Savers Exchange. He lives and gardens in Hendersonville, North Carolina.
He is a contemplative person, and we can all benefit from his deep thinking and insight. This year, he’s thinking about where he’s at in this stage of life and what he still wants to do. He’s got a lot planned, including some really exciting new tomato varieties that are right on the verge of stabilizing to the point that the plants will grow true to seed.
Our annual look back together — assessing the good, the bad, the ugly — is something I always look forward too. And Craig finds it to be cathartic and part of the learning process. “ It’s all part of our becoming better gardeners,” he says.
Before proceeding with my conversation with Craig, I want to take a moment to let you know about two upcoming webinars I think will pique your interest.
On Monday, September 14, Melissa K. Norris, author of “Everything Worth Preserving,” will present “You Grew It. Now Keep It: 9 Ways to Preserve Your Harvest at Home” for the Online Gardening Academy community. Admission is $29, and the recording will be yours to keep. The program will begin at noon Eastern.
Then on Wednesday, September 30, I will host “Death in the Garden: Why Your Fall Cleanup Might Be Killing What You’re Trying to Protect” with landscape ecologist, researcher and author Shaun McCoshum, Ph.D. Shaun will show you how to read your garden’s dead and dying vegetation like a habitat map — and how to manage or redesign your space so it looks intentional, not neglected, while doing dramatically more for local wildlife. Admission is $29.88, and the program will begin at noon Eastern.
45 Years in the Garden
2026 is Craig’s 45th year growing a garden, and his seventh at his current home in Hendersonville — and it’s been one of his favorites. He says it’s on par with when he first discovered heirloom tomatoes. “ Each of my gardens became just a total mystery growing all of these varieties for the first time,” he recalls.
This year’s garden was filled with research projects, which means his garden was full of mysteries.
“ I only knew what color nine of my 80 tomatoes would be,” Craig says. “So the other 71 were all, ‘Wow, is that what it’s gonna look like? Is that what it’s gonna taste like?’ So that made it fun, and I think that’s how you keep gardening fascinating, is by changing things up a little bit each year.”
Why didn’t Craig know what color the tomatoes would be before they produced fruit? It’s because he doesn’t grow run-of-the-mill red tomatoes. These are new tomatoes that are being grown for the first time because he is breeding them.
“ They’re results of crosses that I made, or in one case, searching for what seemed to be a lost variety, and I actually found it,” he says. “So I think I counted up nine projects, and each one of them was successful.”
He gives his garden this year an A because of everything he learned and discovered, though if he had to grade it based on a yield or health, he might give it a B or a C.
You have to be careful about how you assess your garden, he advises. “It all depends on the parameters that you choose to assess it on.”
Craig is also helping to watch after his nearly 20-month-old grandson, which means he spends his mornings playing with his grandson rather than being out in the garden.
Rather than having the whole day to garden, Craig now fits it all in between 1 and 4 p.m. That made his gardening time precious, and he doesn’t waste a minute of it. But he does have to let some things go that he doesn’t have the time for.
“ It means relaxing and actually being a little less disciplined and letting the plants do what they’re going to do and not getting overly fussed about it,” he said.
Craig’s grandson, Eli, joins Craig at a tomato tasting and book signing at a local market.
Photo Courtesy of Craig LeHoullier
Battling Fusarium in Straw Bales
For a number of reasons, including reduced disease pressure, Craig grows tomato plants in straw bales rather than soil. But this year, some of his tomatoes came down with fusarium wilt — a soil-borne fungal disease.
Craig realized the problem was the plants’ roots were outgrowing the strawbales and growing into the soil beneath them.
“Clearly, fusarium has now gotten into some of the areas of my lawn that sit under the bale,” he says.
He plans to experiment next year by putting landscaping cloth under some of the bales so the roots can’t reach the soil. Will that stop fusarium wilt? Craig will find out, but my prediction is no, because I tried the same concept by using grow bags, and it did not stop fusarium wilt from recurring.
Growing in straw bales is a way to start tomatoes in a disease-free medium. But if the plants’ roots reach the soil below, all bets are off.
Time to Get Smaller
Craig will soon turn 71 years old, and he thinks about that as he looks ahead to future gardening seasons.
“Each year, my gardens are going to have to get smaller,” he says. “This year, once again, almost did me in, because it’s a lot of work to get all that stuff growing, and to process it, and to seed save it, and to taste it. So it’s regrettable, but I think it’s going to be time to get smaller. ”
Craig and his wife, Sue, have been discussing perhaps moving into a condo in five years, and his days of growing 80 plants will be over.
“The end of it is in the tunnel ahead, and I have to come to terms with that personally on what it’s going to feel like to have a much smaller garden.”
He can go to a local vendor for a few ears of corn when he wants corn, and he will grow fewer squash, eggplants and sweet peppers because those are all crops that give him trouble in Hendersonville anyway.
I can relate because I get more enjoyment out of gardening when I’m not growing crops that I don’t want to eat anyway. Life is too short to grow what you don’t enjoy.
Eli helping Caitlin push the mower around.
Photo Courtesy of Craig LeHoullier
Cross-breeding Sun Golds for Better Disease Resistance
Sun Gold tomatoes are popular hybrid cherry tomatoes known for their intense, candy-like sweetness and vibrant tangerine-orange color. This was Craig’s first year since 1998 not growing Sun Golds because, in Hendersonville, he ran into disease issues when growing them.
“It’s an older hybrid that they didn’t breed a lot of disease tolerance and disease resistance in,” he explains.
For three years, he has been playing with a cross between Sun Gold and Captain Lucky — a tomato that was bred by Millard Murdock in Flat Rock, North Carolina, not far from where Craig lives.
He chose Captain Lucky because, like Sun Gold, it is among his top tomato varieties in terms of flavor and complexity.
”So you’re crossing an orange whose parents aren’t known that’s a cherry, with a one-pound slicer that’s purple on the outside and green on the inside. What the heck would that do? So this was sort of a shot in the dark,” he says.
He knew it would mean he would get a lot of interesting tomatoes to look at.
“I grew out the hybrid. I saved lots of seed from it,” Craig says. “I sent lots of that seed to gardening friends. They grew a few, and then they sent me back the seed that they grew.”
He grew 18 seeds and got 18 different results.
“ I had tomatoes that were four to five ounces that were pink with yellow. I had orange with dark green interiors, and bright canary yellow, and chocolate and purple and pink and red and yellow with swirls. And of the 18, at least 10 or 12 are so delicious that they need to be taken forward,” he says.
One plant produced a fruit that is a dead ringer for Sun Gold, with almost the exact flavor while not cracking as much.
Ultimately, the goal is to create open-pollinated tomatoes that will grow true to seed.
“It may take us years to stabilize any of these. I may send these out to people, and they’ll grow them, and they’ll look nothing like what I sent them. But that’s what happens when you’re early generation with tons of diversity like this. So we’ll just see.”
The midst of the harvest.
Photo Courtesy of Craig LeHoullier
Rediscovering Pale Perfect Purple
Craig last grew Pale Perfect Purple in 1994. It’s a tennis ball-size purple tomato without the dark shoulders that Cherokee Purple has.
“Seed companies are selling it, but they’re selling a tomato that’s pink. And so I said, ‘No, nobody out there is selling the right one.’”
After investigating for a few weeks, he tracked down Tad Smith, the creator of Pale Perfect Purple back in 1990 by crossing Ozark Pink and Purple Price.
Craig asked Tad to send him seeds, and he also discovered that Pale Perfect Purple was in an Ontario, Canada, seed bank.
“ So I now have two beautiful plants,” he says.
Tripoli and Craig’s Folly
Craig had success creating a cross he calls Tripoli. The parents are Walter’s Fancy, Choemato and Cherokee Purple.
One result was tall-growing with variegated foliage, and it produced one-pound, yellow-red fruit that tasted like a Brandywine tomato.
“ I’m finally going to name a tomato after myself. People have been yelling at me, ‘You name them after dogs and cats, and your, your pets, and your aunts, and your uncles, and your daughters.’ So I’m calling it Craig’s Folly.” he says.
Craig will be sending me some seeds to grow.
“Even though it’s only going to be F3 generation, there are so many recessive traits in it that it should be very, very close to stable already,” he says.
Craig’s Folly, a new tomato variety developed by Craig.
Photo Courtesy of Craig LeHoullier
Settling on a Pruning Technique
Craig has settled on a tomato pruning technique: Remove all suckers under the first cluster of flowers, and eventually remove the lower leaves when they show signs of Septoria or early blight.
For heirlooms, the stems split two or three ways above the first leaf cluster. Craig leaves the split alone, but any suckers on those two, three or four stems, he removes.
“ The thing that shocks you is you have to go out and remove suckers every single day,” he says. “ … Indeterminate tomato plants just want to grow, but I found a way to tame them without using violence.”
This sucker (growing out of the 45 degree angle between the stem on the left and the leaf branch on the right) can continue to grow, bear fruit, and develop more suckers.
Enjoying the Journey
“I’ve evolved to a stage where the end point is not even as interesting to me anymore as everything along the way,” Craig says. “We’ve always talked about the journey being great, but the tomatoes at the end have almost become somewhat of an afterthought. Yeah, they’re something you eat, you save seeds from them, but what do they look like? What is their color? Who can I send those seeds to, and how did I get there?”
In Craig’s experience, the most fun is found in the middle — between planting the seed and harvesting the fruit, and the end game signifies the end of the journey.
Craig’s 2026 garden in full swing.
Photo Courtesy of Craig LeHoullier
I hope you enjoyed my tomato season wrap-up with Craig LeHoullier. If you haven’t listened yet, you can do so now by clicking the Play button on the green bar near the top of this post.
How was your tomato season and what did you learn? Let us know in the comments below.
Links & Resources
Episode 003: Growing Epic Tomatoes with Craig LeHoullier(opens in new tab)
Episode 004: Heirloom Tomatoes: Past, Present and Future with Craig LeHoullier(opens in new tab)
Episode 047: Tomato Seedling Mistakes with Craig LeHoullier(opens in new tab)
Episode 056: Tomato Care Checklist with Craig LeHoullier(opens in new tab)
Episode 173: Starting a New Tomato Garden: Lessons Learned, with Craig LeHoullier(opens in new tab)
Episode 357: Tomato Talk and Big Gardening and Life Changes, with Craig LeHoullier(opens in new tab)
Episode 422: Gardening Through Changing Life Circumstances, with Craig LeHouiller(opens in new tab)
Episode 469: Playing ‘Ketchup’ With Tomato Expert Craig LeHoullier(opens in new tab)
September 14th webinar: “You Grew It. Now Keep It: 9 Ways to Preserve Your Harvest at Home” with Melissa K. Norris, author of “Everything Worth Preserving”
September 30th webinar: “Death in the Garden: Why Your Fall Cleanup Might Be Killing What You’re Trying to Protect”
joegardener Tomato Care Checklist free resource(opens in new tab)
joegardener blog: Busted – Top Five Tomato Growing Myths(opens in new tab)
joegardener blog: How Do I Grow Tomatoes(opens in new tab)
joegardenerTV YouTube: Sunscald – What Happens When Tomatoes Are Overexposed(opens in new tab)
joegardenerTV YouTube: How to Save Tomato Seeds(opens in new tab)
joegardenerTV YouTube: The Ultimate Tomato Cage in 5 Simple Steps(opens in new tab)
Fall Gardening Masterclass – Get access to the webinar replay for $20.
joegardener Online Gardening Academy™: Popular courses on gardening fundamentals; managing pests, diseases & weeds; seed starting and more.
joegardener Online Gardening Academy Organic Vegetable Gardening: My new premium online course. The course is designed to be a comprehensive guide to starting, growing, nurturing and harvesting your favorite vegetables, no matter what you love to eat, no matter where you live, no matter your level of gardening experience.
joegardener Online Gardening Academy Master Seed Starting: Everything you need to know to start your own plants from seed — indoors and out.
joegardener Online Gardening Academy Beginning Gardener Fundamentals: Essential principles to know to create a thriving garden.
joegardener Online Gardening Academy Growing Epic Tomatoes: Learn how to grow epic tomatoes with Joe Lamp’l and Craig LeHoullier.
joegardener Online Gardening Academy Master Pests, Diseases & Weeds: Learn the proactive steps to take to manage pests, diseases and weeds for a more successful garden with a lot less frustration. Just $47 for lifetime access!
joegardener Online Gardening Academy Perfect Soil Recipe Master Class: Learn how to create the perfect soil environment for thriving plants.
Ultimate Gardening Sheath(opens in new tab)
Craig LeHoullier: Heirloom Gardening for All
“Epic Tomatoes: How to Select and Grow the Best Varieties of All Time” by Craig LeHoullier
“Growing Vegetables in Straw Bales: Easy Planting, Less Weeding, Early Harvests” by Craig LeHoullier
Milorganite® – Our podcast episode sponsor and Brand Partner of joegardener.com(opens in new tab)
Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I receive a commission every time you purchase a product through an Amazon affiliate link. Some product links in this guide are affiliate links. However, none of the prices of these resources have been increased to compensate us, and compensation is not an influencing factor on their inclusion here. The selection of all items featured in this post and podcast was based solely on merit and in no way influenced by any affiliate or financial incentive, or contractual relationship. At the time of this writing, Joe Lamp’l has professional relationships with the following companies who may have products included in this post and podcast: Milorganite, Soil3, Territorial Seed Company, Cool Springs Press / Quarto Group and Dramm. These companies are either Brand Partners of joegardener.com and/or advertise on our website. However, we receive no additional compensation from the sales or promotion of their product through this guide. The inclusion of any products mentioned within this post is entirely independent and exclusive of any relationship.
