We moved here right when I retired. The first year we planted using what was sold in the green houses here. Learning to adapt to this red dirt has been a challenge. Angela is from New York and I was from tri state area. Our first attempt was a disaster Maters would get turning good and the 100 degree blast furnace kicked in. Cooked the top half right on the vine The blossoms all drop at this time as well. Watering them doesn't help as the red dirt is like a rock and it mostly runs off/

I make no claims to understanding red dirt / clay
the thing I would try , is compost
there is actually a method where you take some fencing and make a hoop , and you start compositing in that your lawn clippings food scraps , and compost from your main compost

now you are growing in compost rather than red clay

this method will actually work on a asphalt parking lot with a base of wood chips under the compost
it does take more water as it has more surface area for evaporation.
half 55 gallon drums would work as well , just open rings fill them up with wood chips and compost and grow some maters

We tried something about like that using 5 gallon buckets with potting soil.Thinking they called it the global bucket system. it uses 2 .5 gallon buckets per plant, Drill a hole about 4 inches fill above the with potting soil above the base drill holes at that depth so water fills until flows out the 4 inch hole and fill as needed. Sounds more complicated then actually is. Each year we dump the used potting soil and till it into the garden.

Maybe warrior will chime in since he's from red dirt country. As for scalding you might try letting the suckers go to provide shade.

Grow a good determinate variety and get em planted early as you can.get all you can off of them before the heat sets in then plant something else there that tolerates heat more like okra

Anytime i tried five gallon buckets my tomato plants looked poorly. The amish at the green house use 1/2 - 3/4 55 gallon drums on skids via bob cat for reference.

If it was me I'd get a post hole digger and back fill the hole with good soil. I'm guessing it sucks to dig there but maybe an auger would work? If not raised beds then I guess.

Dig down some and throw a couple of old tires or something on it and then fill all of that with some good dirt.

Other than that I'd have morning sun and then shade the last half of the day. Ideally just shade middle of the day when its hottest.

Make sure to use a starter mix (less disease) and to keep them dry (less fungus). If you have high humidity I'd find a high humidity tolerant tomato plant. They typically hate moisture like that.

I have a full shovel length between plants so they don't touch and can keep aired out (dry).

Tomatos say full sun but thats a joke in even Ohio let alone TX or other hot places.

Organic material is your friend. I grew up hauling leaves, cleaning out chicken coops, cow barns, under rabbit hutches and working it in that clay. Heck, even weeds and grass that grow up after laying fallow got turned in. Today I'm big believer in soil tests, lime and gypsum for clay.

On tomatoes, start early. Get some set out as early and big as you can even if it means gambling and losing a few to frost. Because once the heat sets in they all go into a slump. Don't over prune you're going to need the leaf cover shade but definitely clear out the lower half suckers to avoid the blights. Speaking of blights airflow and mulches like pine straw or plastic are how you avoid that. Also fungicide sprays in wet years can really help, I like Maneb. Don't crowd them so air can move around them. Don't water late in the day and try to keep the foliage dry. Soaker hoses are the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Selection of cultivars is important if growing in southern heat. Lots of great tomatoes just don't do heat. But many have been developed just for the heat. One of the best I've grown is Atkinson, and Bradley is almost as good. Both medium sized round slicers. Homestead and most any of the Florida market varieties are good as well. Florida Pink is a good beefsteak type. When buying starts I'll try most anything Bonnie offers as they are an Alabama company and supply the southern states.

I've tried dozens over the years and some just don't do heat well. I love Pink Brandywine but it struggles to bear. Cherokee Purple does better but the best of the "heirlooms" for me has been Mortgage Lifter. For yellows I've had good success with KBX/Kelloggs Breakfast and Georgia Streak. Two of the toughest plants and the last two standing and still producing come frost have been Opalka, a polish paste tomato, and Matt's Wild Cherry, caution Matt's came become a weed it's that tough. Opalka will always have blossom end rot on it's first flush of fruit no matter what but shrugs it off and pumps out good fruit the rest of the season.

… I put good dirt in tires here Drifter

Put some burlap over them for shade.

Thanks gives me some options. Am ready for some BLT's

Go to raised beds until you get that lateritic red soil properly treated. You will need lots and lots of compost, humus and organic matter along with extra nutrients. You are dealing with a heavy red clay soil that is compacted as well as very low nutrients and poor water movement in those packed soils and little air to help loosen the soil.

Bryce

Dig a million dollar hole for a $4 tomato plant. The thing that’s helped me most (even though I’m not in the heavy red clay area) is like warrior said, organic matter. Mulching helps mine tremendously with heat. We mulch with paper feed bags and then wood chips on top

Try a couple in buckets with good drain holes. I also use Vigiro. It is a fertilizer for tomatoes .I have good luck with that. One other thing I used was a teaspoon of Epson Salt at the base of the plant. I am ready for a mater samich myself

The ones that puzzle me is my south Georgia friends and Floridians. Just how do you grow anything other than peanuts in sand? Some of the sand they got down there won't even hold a furrow.

I gave up when mine started turning brown and dying every year. Cheaper just to pick them up at the farmer's market. Never claimed to be a sod buster anyway.

Soil test, soil test, soil test!!!

Learn your growth zone and plant accordingly. Strat your tomatoes 6-8 weeks prior to the first safe plant date.

The number you want to look at two gauge how loose the soil is at the time is the CEC value. Cation exchange capacity. It's a value showing how loose the soil is and how available the mineral ions are to the plant.

Adding good compost (beware), leaves, grass clippings, quality mulch (NO WALNUT) will help over time. Main thing to remember is this is gonna take time, years. Adding each fall and working it in heavy will help tremendously. Maple leaves are your gold standard.

Look for tomatoes of the "PLUS" variety. These tomatoes have the most disease resistance. I don't like growing heirlooms as they have zero disease resistance. I grow yellow boy plus, red snapper, purple boy, shelby(roma), pink delicious and celebrity plus.

If you will take the time, an underground drip tape system is very easy to put in and will provide your plants with the water and nutrition they need at the root underground with no run off. Mulch, hay or grass clippings around each plant will help with fungus prevention and moisture retention.

Get your pH right (6.0-6.5) and use calcium nitrate as your fertilizer. Proper calcium levels help prevent bottom rot. I have 14 years worth of mistakes I can tell you about. The things I am sharing now are varieties and methods that I have learned are best for growing in the south.

Roma seems to do best for us. We do keep them all mulched. I am sure the PH is high as Azalea doing great as do our blue berries are taking off this year. My additives sources are Lowe's or wally world As no rock quarry to be found for at least 100 miles. the crops here are sweet tater and cotton.

You would be right. Most of the south is acidic, particularly the red clay part. You've got to get well into the black belt on top of the Selma chalk to find sweet soil. The only other would be the limestone glades of the Tennesse Valley. Mine was 5.5 before I dropped half a ton of lime on it.

If you got a local feed and grain you got a local source of lime. Just about all I've dealt with either have a spreader truck or know who does. Problem though is you have to buy a truckload or more. I couldn't use that much and couldn't get a truck in my small garden so I humped it all in by hand.

BTW, the one upside of clay is that lime and fertilizer holds longer than in sand.

My wife runs the garden here, and she puts a cloth sunshade over the plants once they start bearing tomatoes. Without it, we don't get anything worth eating.

Joe