New approach - who can put tomatoes in by May 15?

Do you have a year round growing season? Or do you have a rainy season where nothing will grow?

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Sorry that you are in such a cold climate. Ours will go in the ground within the next 4 weeks.

I live in South Carolina and I put tomato seeds in cups to start them inside two days ago. They will probably go in the ground late March. I will start another round in several weeks. We should be getting tomatoes all season. I guess it just depends on where you live. Sorry you don't live further South.

Usually put them out Mid April. Due to actually getting snow and the cooler temps this year, I'm going to wait a week, until the third week in April.

Emily in NC

In S. Idaho (right next to NE Nevada), I put tomato plants in right after Mother's Day. Sometimes during the first two weeks when frost is in the forcast the plants need to be covered overnight with 5 gal. buckets. We have frost again by mid Oct. but the plants can be protected at night with blankets and we can usually harvest good tomatoes until Nov.

I would love to be able to set tomatoes out early, but then again, worrying about whether or not they'll survive is way too much stress and having to fool with protecting them (and then unprotecting them during the day) is way too much work! Especially during a time of year when there's so much to do anyway!

So although our last average frost date is May 15, we plant ours out at the end of May and beginning of June, and the plants do just fine and we always get more tomatoes than we can use. They may not be extra early, but I haven't had to sweat over their survival, either.

I hate to hurt your feelings, but the earliest I have had RIPE TOMATOES is May 13th. I usually have them ripe NLT June 10. My tomatoes will go in the ground in approx 2-3 weeks, earlier if I get some of the wall-o-water hot caps.

We're in western North Carolina, in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains. Our last frost date is around March 31. Moved here from New Hampshire for exactly that reason... a longer growing season. This year has not been great, but other years we've had a very long spring and fall with shorter summers and winters. I love it here... wish we had moved 10 years sooner.
Now, I don't usually plant my 'maters as early as March 31. I know they like the ground to be a bit warmer. But, lots of people put cut plastic gallon milk containers over them. I'm not sure if it rushes that first ripe one or if they just grow slowly until the soil gets really warm.

I have the same approach.

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I can usually get my garden in by Memorial day but the last 2 years I had to cover everything because of late frosts or freezes. Crazy weather. All in all though our garden still does usually well. Last year I think was a bad year for tomatoes for alot of people, especially around here. Alot of folks got late blight.

Last year we had a June freeze. killed our plants (which we hastily replanted) and worse, killed the buds on the fruit trees.

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I've heard so much talk about using Wall-o-Water cloches that I've taken the plunge and bought nine on amazon. I also ordered three different types of "cold hardy" tomatoes- Glacier, Sub-Arctic and Siberian that are better than most at handling cold weather. Supposedly the Siberian variety can set fruit at 38oF. I'm going to plant a few of each variety and see which works best for us. We're hoping to set out our tomatoes in mid to late April.

We get less sun during November/December as well as more water so things grow slower but they still grow. During late summer there is more sun but more heat and less water so things slow down then, too. We pretty much always have something out in the garden growing. Unfortunately this also means the weeds grow year round. Sigh! No rest for the wicked, I guess.

We market garden and on here i told people how we do it on another thread but here goes.As early as the ground can be worked you can plant tomatoes with method.You take fence wire and make a circle about thirty inches in diameter,take clear plastic and wrap around it secure with duct tape around it. Plant tomatoe and put a jug of water next to it then put cage around it and mound drit up the bottom to make sure no air blows in.When it is 40 or colder cover the top loosly with plastic above 40 leave off. Remove half when temp reaches night time temp of 50 remove all the way when temp at night reaches 60.

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If you are still mowing the grass then the garden needs to be bigger

Where are you?

I'm still harvesting tomatoes and peppers from the plants I planted last spring - we didn't have much of a winter this year! (in San Diego county)

Normally, I can put out tomatoes as early as mid-Feb. and harvest until Nov. or Dec. The growing season here was one of the main attractions for me. Of course, now I still want to "push my zone" and grow tropical things that are only marginal here. It's hard to accept gardening limits, isn't it?

End of March or first week in April down here in Jawjah. They usually bear until heavy frost. Seeds are already started under my indoor light. As soon as the rest of my seeds arrive (squashes, okra, cucumbers, etc.) they will be started also. I will start a second batch of all types of seeds about a week before I transplant to have replacement plants for any that don't make it. I hate having an empty spot where a bunch of fat juicy Brandywine tomatoes should be growing.

Found a site that suggests using 6 2 liter bottles full of water around each tomato plant. Going to have to try that.

there's plenty of other stuff you can extend your seasons on, but you will have to use greenhousey techniques. Eliot COleman's book would be good, especially because you're in NY.

Tomatos are hard because they like it warm, plain and simple. You can put the wall o water around them--that will protect them from frost, but until the soil warms up and dries out liek they like, they will just sit there(and you'll worry about them). For us in the shorted growing season there is no point in letting the plant sit in cold wet ground(then you get to worry about rot too). Either get it growing in a big pot(dirt that is not soggy, and can be kept warmer) and transplant, or just wait to sest them out when the soil warms up/dries out. There is no advantage in growth to set them out early and keep them from freezing when the soil is wet and cold. the plants will just sit there. The ones you put out later in warm soil will catch up quick, especially because there is extra longer sun at that time of the year too(I have a book for my area with experiements etc that back all this up).

I've experimented too and the ones I am patient and wait to set out at the right time just explode and are healthy and sturdy. The ones I plant early just bog and seem to grow spindly when they do grow. So what's the point in worrying over cold tomatos

If you want to extend your growing season, it's easier to set up your boxes cold frames etc during the summer, so the soil can warm up and dry out and then you preserve that dryness balance through winter. If you start in the spring and plant in the sog then you just fight soggyness isssues.

I am June 1st for tomatoes too.

PS I also set my tomatoes deep up to the top leaves

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That appears to be counter to what has been known and practiced for many, many years. In early days it was with done with cloches. Then hot caps became the standard for protecting early tender plants. WOWs are merely an advancement on a system which has long proved to be beneficial, especially in colder climes.

Martin