I tell everyone that wants to plant tomatoes early that I'll challenge them. Plant a tomato the first of April and I'll plant one the first of May. Look at them in mid-June and they'll be identical in size and more than likely mine will be healthier and will likely produce fruit ahead of yours.

The only way you can truly get a jump start is if you somehow warm the soil...very costly for most operations.

Wait until Mother's Day to plant tomato and peppers!

I'm in zone 6 and I admit I did start some seedlings, however I'm fairly new to this. Last year was my first year attempting tomatoes and I didn't even worry about when or what I was doing. I guess luck was on my side, as things seemed to do ok.

When you say 'plant tomatoes early' do you mean getting them in the ground? I started seedlings yesterday. Seemed to be a pretty good time from what I've read considering they will be ready to transplant in about 5-8 weeks. That should put me out transplanting around May.

Sound good, or did I start my seedlings a lil too early?

Todd

I started my tomato seedlings in cell packs and now have little sprouts in almost all the cells. I keep them outside during the day and bring them in if the temps dip below 36. They seem to be doing well so far and will probably take until May 1st to transplant out to the garden anyway. I just wanted to make sure I had hearty little tomato babies to put out there rather than risk it with direct seeding. I probably did this a bit early but everything seems to be doing great so far.

That all depends what zone you are in. It was 95 degrees here yesterday :)

I planted my first tomato seeds on January 20 and started a new batch every week since then. I planted the first batch of transplants into my garden about two and a half weeks ago and the second batch a week ago. All 19 plants in the garden now have flowers on them, and Stupice actually has two tomatoes about half an inch in diameter on it already. I was in a rush to plant the first batch because heavy rain was predicted, and my clay soil turns into a sticky mess when it rains but I did get them in, working in the rain for the last few plants. We got about a week and a half of cold rainy weather, with lows at night in the low 40s, and highs during the day in the low 60s at best. That unusually cool weather did take a toll on my plants, they were pretty well beat up and some of the leaves turned yellow. My Neves Azorian reds and JDs CTex seemed to get hit the worst.
But yesterday we finally got a hot day, hit 98.7 degrees according to my thermometer, and that seams to have revived the plants. In fact I rototilled my compost pile containing a bunch of squashes into the soil several weeks ago and the one hot day has me seeing volunteer squash plants coming up all over my yard.
But next year I am going to start my first tomato and pepper plants the last three days of January or maybe first week of February instead of January 20 like I did this year.
The plants were getting to big, some were 14 inches tall.

The are all types of technological advancements that permit each of us to plant tomatoes well before the last frost date. As soon as it stops snowing this afternoon I plan to plant a few hundred in one high tunnel. Last year I was picking fruit by mid-May. This year I will not reach that goal but then this has been a cool spring in the NE. It is more of a concern to me when night temps drop into the teens.

Keep in mind that after the Spring equinox we have plenty of sunlight. Polinators are not needed for tomatoes; a blower or electric toothbrush work just fine. The only thing lacking is heat and most often that is only needed for 1/3rd of the 24 hour day. Much of the daylight hours I'm trying to keep plants cool.

So get on board with the times. Driving thru Lancaster County, PA a few weeks ago I noticed a greenhouse or two at almost every farm along a 20 mile stretch. With tomatoes these structures usually pay for themselves in a few years and you never need to worry about tomato cages again.

Huntoften, I'd take that challenge any day of the week, but there are too many variables. But if we were neighbors, and I plant mine (Stupice) outside on May 1, using a WOW for protection, and you plant the same sized plant outside a month later. I will definitely have a tomato before you. You'd be setting yours outside on June 1st, and by that time I would be only 4 weeks from my first ripe tomato. I don't know how you would get a ripe tomato after 4 weeks from setting out. I need to extend our growing season by a few weeks. I'm not willing to wait until late July for a tomato :-)

I generally plant bigger plants sometime around April 15th, weather permitting. I typically start getting tomatoes starting around July 4th - and no, not just cherries.

For my zone, April 15th is considered to be about 2-3 weeks too early by most, but most in my area don't get tomatoes until about 2-3 weeks later... I don't know, works for me. Of course everybody else's zone is different.

The only downside to planting early is that you will need to be prepared to protect the plants and you will need to check weather reports every day / night and have a plan ready. It can be draining, but I don't eat store bought tomatoes, so 2-3 weeks earlier means 2-3 weeks less wait before I can enjoy fresh tomatoes again.

I've seen people in my area plant as late is mid-may, one guy didn't even start to see tomatoes until almost August and, by then, temps got too high to set very much fruit... And in my zone September pretty much marks the end of the season. If I had a longer growing season, by maybe a month or so, I'd probably wait a little longer, but not by much.

It should be noted that I've tried earlier planting with things like eggplant, peppers and melons, just for the hell of it, and they do not respond the same way tomatoes do for me.

If I plant any of those crops earlier they just stagnate until the temperatures stay consistently warm. For some reason, even though tomatoes thrive in warmer temperatures they handle lower temperatures much better than any of my other "warm weather" vegetables. Just an observation.

Let me rephrase my question since it looks like noone understood it. If I want my very first blossoms to actually be fertilized and grow into nice tomatoes is it better to wait for warmer weather to put my plants in the garden. June 1 is the last frost date here but the nights do not get warm enough to set tomatoes until very late June or early July. Instead of putting my plants out on June 1 would I be better off waiting until the middle or end of June or possibly the first of July to put the plants in the garden if I want the first blossoms to set?

In my experience, different tomatoes set fruit differently. Temperature is only one factor. Humidity is another. My Stupice doesn't drop blossoms and sometimes will set a fruit on the first blossom, even if I set it out early. Some of my beefsteaks drop alot of blossoms regardless, and will only set fruit when they are good and ready, so to speak. I still think that extending my growing season a few weeks is a good move for me, for all my tomatoes.