I have grown it several times and like it not because it is the best tasting, it isn't. What it is for me is a workhouse tomato that's "keeps on tickin" when it gets hot here. When it seems done I cut it back and it starts up again. The tomatoes are small but good tasting, not too sweet. I have never bothered to count how early it is.

Thanks lina,.. sounds good to me. Aside from being early, productivity is also an important factor.
I will grow one or two plants this year.

I got a picture from internet.

I see about a dozen tomatoes in that bunch. That is good. I'll take it .

Seysonn

Agree with Linda about the taste - nothing much - and I don't like its tendency toward blotchy ripening. But it does tolerate the heat well and keeps on chugging away. My records don't show it ever ready @49 days, more like 60-65 for me. So it is one of those "only if you have the space for it" varieties for me.

Dave

you know that it is 49 days from transplant size which is 6-8 weeks
so it really is 91-day not counting 3-10 days for seeds germination

I grow a couple of these every year under wall of water to start. I get the first tomatoes of the season, not much size, not alot of taste, but better than anything conventional in the grocery store! They produce all the way till frost.

Thanks for the comments.
Tomato's maturity is similar to its cousin potato. There are some as early as 85-90 days and some take over 120 day from planting. So really, should add about 35-40 days to DTM numbers if your frame of reference is sowing.

Yeah. I am not particularly shooting for real good flavor on FOJ. I can take it with a dash of salt on it. Plus it was good to know that it is a good producer. I can always find a use for it in cooking, sauce, etc.

Seysonn

@seysonn... I don't think you can go wrong with it, I planted a about 7-8 about two years ago for myself and friends and family and they all seem to enjoy them very much. I loved them too, I got my seeds from a third party so not sure if it was true but they came up in early july sometime maybe around the 10th or so (at least about 5-7 tomatoes being ripe from my memory) but they kept producing.

Last year I did "Early Girl" that I bought at a hardware store and can pretty much say that they were similar in taste and size. This year I bought Summer Girl from Burpee direct out of curiosity this year but was really thinking about going with the 4th again and if I see a plant at a hardware store I will pick one up again but my bulk is the Summer Girl for this year along with messing with Jerzy Boy. I guess what i am trying to say is that I would like to have a few back up plants like the 4th just incase because they were reliable and great tasting.

Well , thanks folks for your comments. Even for the sake of the ole glory and the independence festivity I am growing it.. I have also other early ones, like Siletz ( second season). . So I am shooting for a harvest on The Fourth, to celebrate. That will be so much pleasure to me.

Seysonn

I grew both 4th of July and Bloody Butcher. Both were very similar in tomato shape, size, and production. Bloody Butcher ripened about a week before 4th of July.

Taste wise, BB blows 4th of July away. Since the two were so similar, I decided to drop 4th of July this year and just grow BB.

I am doing a first year grow out on 4th of July as well. I will find out how it handles hot, and humid weather. From what I have gathered from those that grow around here. I have gathered that 4th of July was more early than Early Girl. Also they tend to handle the heat a little better.

Looks like I get to find out.

Nate who is two weeks from LFD with a great looking extended forecast. Hoping it holds up.

Oh and on a Side note I have Box Care Willie going as well.

Nate, .. Did you plant out ?
About FoJ : I am in cooler PNW, you are in hot South Texas. Lets keep track and see where and how it does better. Maybe others can make use of this experiment.

Seysonn

Ok, Our LFD is about 10 days away and the lows in 10 days forecast is 43F ++.
So Here I go. First of April the spring training shall begin.

Seysonn

I planted out last week for tomatoes. Peppers will follow once they are hardened off all the way.

Nate,
I am hardening off some of my maters, including FOJ. I am hoping that it will stand true to its name and get some ripe tomato around The Fourth. Lets say I plant them on April 15 : Forget 49 days ; take 65 days : Arrive at July 1st. I am also betting on Siletz, same way.

Seysonn

An Observation:

My FOJ seedlings seem to be slower growing than most other.
Anybody has had that observation ?
Is there possibly a Det strain of it ?

Seysonn

I have ten 4th plants in ground and am counting on picking long before July 4th. When I planted outside be May 20 in past years I could pick a few by July 4.

One nice aspect of this variety is that they produce both early and late, meaning that they keep producing. They are INDT but I have them planted in tunnel along end row b/c they tend to not grow as tall as many other INDT varieties.

Thanks , Barrie
That is a nice plant with flowers already. You should have ripe tomatoes in 35-40 days.
Today I am going to plant one of mine. . With our generally cool PNW weather one should add 15 days to DTMs

Seysonn

For The Record :
I planted out one of FOJs today. I give it 65 days:
--21 days in April
--31 days in may
--13 days in June
----------
TOTAL = 65 days (on June 14th.
I have also planted few SILETZ, DTM=55

So I am betting to have some red ones on or before The Fourth. That is 85 days from today.

Seysonn

Mine is getting bigger with the warmer than average weather we have been having. It has also set its first fruit. I planted about 3 or so weeks ago. I started the seed in either late Jan. or early Feb. It is near to two feet tall, and getting more bushy. The first two weeks there was no noticeable top growth at all. I think it was setting roots to support the top growth. It started flowering last week. Two days ago I saw the tiny fruits set.

Time to bump this one back up. Mine has grown a lot since the last time I posted. No ripe fruits just yet. I am waiting to see something blushing.

I am going to have to use my phone to add the picture to this when I edit it in a little while. While I can post pics from my phone. I hate adding text from it. It is like trying to type with a calculator watch for me.

Another pic.

Very nice, nate. You are very close to harvest some.

Like I said before , my FOJ plants are the smallest of 25 varieties in the garden. Lately I have seen them moving a little. So it will be a while here.
Of course, we have been having rather cool temperatures lately. For example, today's high will be 62F and tonight 40F.

Sey

I planted 4th of July last year. It was more 4th of... August.

It produced late, little and not tasty. No way I plant it this year again.

I have been very disappointed with the performance of my FOJ. they havd been the weakest of all 30 varieties in my garden.
The other day I just pull one out and trashed it and planted something else in its place. But I have the second one growing .
So I dont think that it will give me ripe fruit in 49 days (as adverised) , not even in 59 days, maybe 69 days. . I rather grow beef steaks. My Big Beef planted on 4/17 ( later than FOJ) already setting fruits. It is going to defeat FOJ by a big stretch.

Sey

I stopped growing early varieties altogether. They were not early for me and not worth the flavor. The last time I tried, Cherokee Purple beat Early Girl by more than a month and MUCH tastier. Not to mention production. Not worth the real estate.

Sey, do
you remember the Late season tomatoes ripped BEFORE early season tomatoes thread ?

The first one is now blushing. Color break at last. I am awaiting color break on Steak Sandwich next. Bush Goliath is loaded so it should give a few soon as well.

1.76 oz. 4th of July. (Almost 4th of August, actually.)

NOT happy with the taste, size, productivity, and DTM .

Well i was debating on what to plant in some un-used corners of two
plots, i guess it won't be Fourth of July. I now have over a dozen
slightly overgrown FOJ starts that i'll try to give away.

I'll
probably throw some leftover purple-pink hearts into those spots
instead, they should be a bit better for canning blends. Or come to
think of it, i have a couple of extra Joe's Portuguese , maybe i'll just go with both.

Thank you for the heads up on FOJ all.

Steve

Sey, how are your 4ths doing? I've gotten over 30 tomatoes harvested from mine so far. Those and 4 Brandy Boys are the only tomatoes that have ripened so far. Without the 4ths, I wouldn't have eaten a tomato yet this season. The other 6 varieties are sitting there fat, happy, and green. Lazy brats.

Have you tried one yet? For me, the skins are a little thicker than I like, but still a decent tomato. Tasted better tomatoes, but flavor wasn't bad by any means.

Carrie, my FOJ, doing gurrreat, though has not been early. But it is one of the prolific producers in my garden. Some fruits are just about to blush. The plant is just pumping cluster after cluster, each with 6-8 tomatoes. With so much production, I would forgive it even if it did not taste good for fresh eating. I can always can and use them in cooking.

So FOJ is going to be one of my KEEPERS along with Big Beef, Black From Tula....Azoychka.

Sey