Striving For Earlier Tomatoes

joseph · February 12, 2015

This year I am attempting to get tomatoes to the farmer's market earlier in the season.

My strategy is to plant them under cloches, surrounded by bottles of water, under a floating row cover, in an unheated greenhouse, at a location that is 600 feet lower in elevation than my garden. I figure that each layer adds a bit of frost protection and hopefully contributes to earliness. Planting in the lower elevation garden adds warmth, and it has about a 3 week earlier frost-free date.

I planted my most productive super-early variety Ot'Jagodka, which is a highly determinate saladette tomato.

They are covered with cloches, and surrounded by bottles of water.

Two layers of floating row cover are draped over the bottles.

This morning before dawn I checked the temperature inside the cloche next to the tomatoes. It was 48 F. The overnight low was 32 F. So this arrangement added 16 degrees more warmth to the plants.

February 12, 2015	#1
joseph Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: Cache Valley, N/E of The Great Salt Lake Posts: 1,244	Striving For Earlier Tomatoes This year I am attempting to get tomatoes to the farmer's market earlier in the season. My strategy is to plant them under cloches, surrounded by bottles of water, under a floating row cover, in an unheated greenhouse, at a location that is 600 feet lower in elevation than my garden. I figure that each layer adds a bit of frost protection and hopefully contributes to earliness. Planting in the lower elevation garden adds warmth, and it has about a 3 week earlier frost-free date. I planted my most productive super-early variety Ot'Jagodka, which is a highly determinate saladette tomato. They are covered with cloches, and surrounded by bottles of water. Two layers of floating row cover are draped over the bottles. This morning before dawn I checked the temperature inside the cloche next to the tomatoes. It was 48 F. The overnight low was 32 F. So this arrangement added 16 degrees more warmth to the plants.