I am surprised that in your climate tomatoes would be difficult. My guess is that you may need varieties that are specific to your climate. The little nursery should be better than any big box store that sells the same varieties nationally. Ask the nursery for advice.
It's hot and humid quite early in the year. Between the humidity, general heat, and the lack of a day/night temperature difference (after July 1 it's about 90degresF and 90% humidity until October), I can get huge green plants, but the pollen is much pickier about doing its thing. I've been trying for years to find heirlooms that work well here, and struck out nearly every time. Transplants from Laurel's Heirlooms, specifically chosen as "good in long hot summers"... that year I got maybe one tomato. Period.
Have got a Golden Pineapple (I think?), a Cherokee Purple, three Sungold, a tomatillo, and three red Brandywine from the wee quirky nursery.... Will pop by another nursery this weekend and maybe grab a few more. I avoid all the typical hybrids... tho I may stuff an Early Girl in just for the sake of getting SOMETHING to produce, dammit. "Creole" tomatoes are boring, bland, and refer to anything grown in Louisiana soil, so could really be anything, tho I think there's a proprietary Creole LSU hybrid something.... Whatever the case, I've never been impressed, nor have I found them to perform better (granted I've not spent much time/space/attention on them since I decided I didn't much care for the flavor).
I think my biggest problem is bugs, slugs, and rats. I've got the goods to manage the first two of those problems. Not sure what to do about the rats, other than move (there's a bar/restaurant two doors down from me; their dumpsters are ~100' away from my garden). Maybe soil? I used pine straw to mulch for a couple years, which exacerbated my slug/snail problem. Have never had the soil tested, but I dump 10 bags of compost into my 100sf every year... surely it's alright? Meant to send off a soil sample, but never think to do it well before transplant time. Do those kits on Amazon work? I trust the pH tests, but the others...??
