To answer your question: I would like to know your location and length of growing season from LFD (Last Frost Date) to FFD(First Frost Date). For example mine are : April 15 and November 15, respectivly. So theoretically I have 7 months of "Frost Free" season. But that is not the whole story, because ONE month from each end is cold. So that leaves about 5 months (~=150 days) . Not too bad if you have plenty of sun and warm temperatures ( highs in 75F - 90F, Lows 58F -68F).

Back to Earlies:
In 2013 i planted Early Girl.(published DTM 55-60). But it took about 80 days. This year I planted Siletz, Bloody Butcher and Matina. They took about 70 -75 days. But by now they have slowed down considerably and my mid seasons are now producing along with long season (Legend, Siberian, Bush Steak, Cherokee Purple ..) . 90 % of the tomatoes in my garden are there for the first time. There are winners and losers.

So I think there is no single answer here. You have to experiment yourself once you make your picks.

Thanks seysonn. The weather here (central NJ, Z 6) is too cold to plant tomatoes outside until late May and it becomes too cold around the last week of September. So, upon thinking about this some more, I think it's unrealistic for me to expect a longer season for tomatoes. Thanks anyway.

This year, I started some early container varieties in February. I didn't want to wait until August to get ripe tomatoes.

When they were big enough, I potted them into 3 gallon sized containers and kept them on my deck (after hardening them off). If the weather was cool or rainy, I brought them inside.

I was rewarded with ripe tomatoes in mid-June!

The varieties were all red cherries and they were tasty. They were Jagodka, Russian Cherry and Pipo. Jagodka has finished, but the others are still going.......

Linda

This year I tried a few early tomatoes: Fourth Of July, Early Girl, Early Wonder, Stupice⦠Their DTM, around 50 days.

They were not early AT ALL.

Fourth of July - DTM 49 days - ripped at the END of⦠July, only few days before a big Rose tomato (21 oz.) - DTM⦠78 !!! days, and a medium size Mortgage Lifter -DTM... 85 !!! days.

The other âÂÂEARLYâÂÂsâ were even worse, Stupice being the worst. I picked up the first Stupice tomato...............September 1 !!!!!!!

Suggested reading: Late season tomatoes ripped BEFORE early season tomatoes.

What I have learned is that tomato plants are tough. They can live through temperatures as low as 38F(my experience). BUT, you cannot push them to give you ripe fruits when HI/LO s are under 75/48F. The growth and fruit setting will be very slow. That is why most of us cannot realize any of those published DTM numbers. Those numbers are for IDEAL growing(temperature) conditions. I personally should add 12-15 days to those numbers, to be a realist.

But then you can approach like Linda has done. Some people swear by WOW and hoop house. I think they also can make a difference if you have a long post LFD cool weather period, like we have here in our neck of the wood (PNW).

seysonn wrote:

> They can live through temperatures as low as 38F(my experience). BUT, you cannot push them to give you ripe fruits when HI/LO s are under 75/48F.

I donâÂÂt push them. I simply want to see what will happen. IâÂÂm already ok, with what I had until now, so letâÂÂs see what happens.

Regarding HI / LO, I think 70 / 60â F, could be ok. My tomatoes donâÂÂt like lows in the 50s. And when itâÂÂs 40s, they will feel cozy in⦠my basement. What⦠30s ?

> The growth and fruit setting will be very slow.

Agreed. VERY slow with nights in 40s, and even 50s.

Remember seysonn, in mid August, I told you that many of my late-season tomatoes had flowers, and you asked me to report what will happen ? [NOTE: Right now, Sunday October 5, I have many tomatoes that have⦠flowers. DonâÂÂt ask, I will report.]

Well, almost 2 months later they are now 10+ oz. If the weather cooperate they might grow to 20 oz - ok, 15 oz. - or they might ripe at 10 oz. I donâÂÂt know yet. I had a small 3 oz. RIPED Brandywine (!?)

> That is why most of us cannot realize any of those published DTM numbers. Those numbers are for IDEAL growing(temperature) conditions.

seysonn some of us were thinking about those IDEAL growing conditions. But DAMN, a Stupice plant - DTM 50 days - to give me the first tomato on September 1⦠thatâÂÂs totally unacceptable.

> I personally should add 12-15 days to those numbers, to be a realist.

At least. I would add 20 days. Can you imagine adding 20 days to 100 days - the DTM for some Brandywines ? 120 days is a⦠loooooong time.

Well, one thing is for sure:

NEXT YEAR I WILL START EARLIER, MUCH, MUCH EARLIER !!!

I will plant less varieties, less plants, and I will also prune less. I didnâÂÂt make the list for next year yet, but out of the 35 varieties I planted this year, there are VERY FEW keepers. Brandywine is on the list no matter how long I have to wait. I never tasted any tomato better than Brandywine, so⦠Brandy Boy, Mortgage Lifter, German Johnson, and a few others will also be on the list.

I donâÂÂt know, but I read here in this forum, some people had bad experience with THAT variety, while others had excellent experience with THE SAME variety.

I think there are so many variables:

* where you buy the seeds,
* your soil,
* your watering / fertilizing schedule,
* your local temperature / humidity,
* your season length, and
* many other elements,

that contribute to a succesful year.

I like hoop houses. Unfortunatelly I have limited space. IMO, if you handle wisely a hoop house, you can get (very) good crop. You start earlier, you end later. One month - or more - WILL make a BIG difference.

Hoop houses donâÂÂt have to be expensive. A lot of creativity, a few bucks, and voilà!

Daniel, you wrote :

"Remember seysonn, in mid August, I told you that many of my late-season tomatoes had flowers, and you asked me to report what will happen ? [NOTE: Right now, Sunday October 5, I have many tomatoes that have⦠flowers. DonâÂÂt ask, I will report.] "
--------
Mid August ? then it was about 50 days ago?
I have read this tomato timeline, which stated that it take 52 days from bud (just ready to open) to ripe fruit (Talking medium size beef steak type). This had been of course early to mid season with favorable temperatures.
So your mid August blooms should have a good fighting chance to get ripe soon. I started pinching off any and all buds/flowers that I could find and reach, as of late August, with an exception of cherries.

Now the ways thing look, I will still end up with plenty of green maters when the fat lady sings.

@Barry: SORRY. Not intended to hi jack the thread. But I have already made some comment about the topic already.

No problem seysonn. The various comments are of interest to me anyway. My tomato plants have died out already as of the lower temps. of two weeks ago. Even with the death of the leaves and stems now and then a few little (Roma) tomatoes hang on until they turn red although they are softer than ideal. I wonder if those last ripeners are still okay to eat as I generally don't take them.

The last 'maters in a situation like yours BarryandMarcia, are usually lower in sugar content since the plant had a slower metabolism and usually less light too. Trust me, there is someone in this world who thinks the last tomatoes are the best ... because taste is so subjective.

Some people love the taste of Casu Marzu (turbo fermented sheep milk cheese with live larval hosts plus the microorganisms), Surströmming (purposefully bloated cans of anerobically fermenting fish inside the can, and rank, rotten goose eggs (a delicacy in China).

I am going for a fall season now. I started Early Girl (DTM 50 days on my package) on the same day as Super Sweet 100 cherry (DTM 70 days) and Cherokee Purple (DTM 80 days). The conditions and lighting were nearly identical. Both were transplanted the same day. Yesterday two of the three began flowering and it wasn't Early Girl.

My earliest "early" tomato variety to date, is Latah. I started seeds on June 2nd, and harvested the first ripe tomato on August 14th, 73 days from sowing. I'm not yet sold on the flavor, as it was variable. Early Wonder Pink is still my favorite for flavor, of 55 days or less (from transplant) tomatoes.

Do you have room for dwarf indeterminate plants?

Gary

I second Latah. Started seeds in mid-March, harvested first ripe tomatoes the first week of July. The plant iwas extremely productive (I've grown it in container):

Chicago area here, my first ripe tomatoes in ground I get by the end of June. We just got killed by the colds so I still have load of ripe and green tomatoes to process. Has had production coming over entire summer.
Few of my tomatoes are uber early varieties. But with WOW- wall of water and warming up soil by black landscape fabric I get my seedlings planted by the end of April.
Out of container tomatoes I really like Moravsky div, did great this year and kept going.
Tania has vast amount of tomato varieties listed, just check under early

Here is a link that might be useful: early tomatoes

We are in Buffalo and the season is quite short so we start the plants early under T5 grow lights in March. By the beginning or May they are usually about 2 ft tall and we put them out to the potting shed to harden. By the end on May they are about 3 ft and usually have flowers. We prepare the ground by tilling lots of compost and manure and plant the last weekend in May. We plant a mix of Roma's, Big Momma plums, early girls and Big Daddy tomatoes. The cherries come first, then the romas start producing mid July, then the early girls and then mid august the bigger varieties start. This give us tomatoes for most of the summer. We also fertilize every 2 weeks with Miracle grow which seems to push things along as well. When you have shorter seasons you have to work harder on it ....

This post was edited by DBA1954 on Fri, Oct 10, 14 at 13:01

A tip I've heard from someone in a short growing season area, is to dig your holes a day or more in advance, and spread out the dug soil. It'll go back into the hole warmer than digging the day of planting.

Gary

I have found the weather in any particular year to be a big factor in getting early tomatoes or not. I planted Early Girl for years, and it was almost always one of the first to ripen for me. But depending on the year, that might be mid July or Early August. In zone 6 I am doing really well to have early tomatoes by July 12-15th. In a bad year, the first week of August, and in my worst year, not until mid August. I find pots ripen earlier. I assume that is because the soils warms faster and stays warmer. If we get a cold spring when temps warm up late, or even temps that get too hot too fast, growth is slow or fruit set is delayed. So even though you plant an "early" variety, you can still have an overall late harvest. I look more at whether a variety gives me ripe fruit before my mid and late season varieties or not, rather than counting DTM. My DTMs can be much different next year compared to this year for the same varieties.

A tip I've heard from someone in a short growing season area, is to dig your holes a day or more in advance, and spread out the dug soil. It'll go back into the hole warmer than digging the day of planting.

Gary
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That was a good tip, Gary; I would also cover the pile and hole with clear plastic.

Another tip (mine) : I would water with lukewarm water after plant out.

Gary, seysonn, excellent tips.

Please post them in What are your Top 5/10 advice for a newbie ? thread.

Me thinks: Initially, when the plant is in growth stage, I think warm soil can help the root system to uptake the nutrients better. Then when the weather warms up the sexual/productive system can get into the action. Most tomatoes won't set fruits in early cool spring anyway. So you set the stage by growing a robust foliage.
So here is what I will do:
-- Cover bed with black plastic about a month in advance.
-- Use warm soil and water at plant out.
-- Keep black plastic and use things like WOW, WOA, mini hoop, until nigh temperatures get above 50F. Tomato plant (IMO) doe not mind cool head but likes warm feet :-)

seysonn, I think you do container gardening also? I'm looking at how to prepare containers earlier. I saw your bubble wrap on another thread. Is that a good option given my northeastern climate? You seemed to have had good results from your experiment this year but we do have a different climate so I'm wondering how to adapt, plus I mainly container garden.
thx, Sharon

Hi Sharon,
Out of about 30 plants I had 4 in pots. But those were the ones I planted out not so early. They have done pretty well and are going at this moment.

I used my 5-1-1 potting mix, fortified with slow release fertilizer with Calcium and continued supplementing by water soluble fert at about 1/3 strength once a week.

About Bubble wrap:
I make cages ( about 10" dia) from rabbit fence wire ( 24" tall) and wrap it with bubble rap. THE BIGGER TH BUBBLES, THE BETTER.
It works similar to WOW , in the way that it work like a green house (solar heat trap ), protects from wind chill effect (air bubbles work as insulator), reduce cooling rate at night. (especially if you cover the top). It is easy to make and inexpensive and versatile.

WOW is claimed to store heat in the water, in the pockets and supposedly release it at night. But as a mechanical engineer, specialized in heat/mass transfer I do not think that is significant. To me it is the greenhouse effect, heating the soil. insulating and wind protection features that are useful. If any heat was stored in the water, most of it will be lost from the outer exposure in a very short time. In a way, the water pockets prevent most of solar heat reaching the soil.!! I rather heat the soil than water. I am not saying that it is useless but I believe its benefits have been over blown. JMO.

Hi seysonn, my concern with using WOW's was filling it with water and not collapsing in on the plant. I'm thinking that the bubble wrap could work with the grow bags. I'm thinking of starting more mid-May because anything earlier here could be way too risky. It seems like an easy and viable option to get a bit of a head start, assuming my transplants are hardened off and sturdy. Something to think about.