Determinate Tomato Questions - Zone 6

[Blue Cohosh]

I'm a zone 6 gardener looking for ways to maximize yield in my 50 sq ft garden. To date I have only grown indeterminate vines and appreciate their long steady production until first frost (generally by mid-October here in Connecticut).

However I've become increasingly interested in cold season gardening as another method of increasing my garden's production and wonder if any Northern gardeners here have had success with determinate tomato plants in succession planting - pulling the vines after the 'flush' of tomatoes and following up with cold weather crops that can be harvested after frost.

So my specific questions are:

1. How long is the typical fruiting season for a determinate tomato? A month? 2 months?

2. Are there any varieties in particular I should plant if I want an early and abundant producing plant (regardless of fruit type) that I can then pull out to accommodate fall vegetable planting in early to mid-August?

3. Any recommendations for a determinate paste tomato?

[TZ -OH6]

Hopefully someone has first hand experience trying this and can prove me wrong, but I don't think your idea is going to work. I ran out to look at my determinates to see how they were progressing and the terminal trusses have yet to open flowers even though the first fruits are starting to ripen. So doing the math, a 70 day variety (determinate paste) it is about 50 days to develop and ripen a fruit, and add on top of that more than 50 days to get the bulk of the fruit ripened (75+65 = 140 days). With protected early planting (say May 1st) that gets the bulk of the tomatoes (maybe over half) in by the end of August, which is too late to plant things like Brussels sprouts, IMO. With some of the short season meaty non-pastes like Early Girl you might get the bulk of the fruit in by the end of July.

Another strategy might be to put in tomatoes after early crops like early potatoes, garlic, onions, lettuce. The tomatoes can be grown in containers (6 inch or so) off to the side and put in when already in flower. You can protect the plants from the first frosts, and keep the green ones to ripen indoors. Warm temps would decrease the development time, but hot temps would reduce fruit set.

[Blue Cohosh]

Hopefully someone has first hand experience trying this and can prove me wrong, but I don't think your idea is going to work. I ran out to look at my determinates to see how they were progressing and the terminal trusses have yet to open flowers even though the first fruits are starting to ripen. So doing the math, a 70 day variety (determinate paste) it is about 50 days to develop and ripen a fruit, and add on top of that more than 50 days to get the bulk of the fruit ripened (75+65 = 140 days). With protected early planting (say May 1st) that gets the bulk of the tomatoes (maybe over half) in by the end of August, which is too late to plant things like Brussels sprouts, IMO. With some of the short season meaty non-pastes like Early Girl you might get the bulk of the fruit in by the end of July.

Another strategy might be to put in tomatoes after early crops like early potatoes, garlic, onions, lettuce. The tomatoes can be grown in containers (6 inch or so) off to the side and put in when already in flower. You can protect the plants from the first frosts, and keep the green ones to ripen indoors. Warm temps would decrease the development time, but hot temps would reduce fruit set.

Thanks for your insight, TZ. It sounds like the fruiting season of a determinate tomato at 50 days is longer than I expected. If I try this next season, I'll try Early Girl. Are there any other meaty non-pastes that you'd recommend for canning?

[pizzarrhea]

I know you're looking for determinates but Fourth Of July Hybrid is actually 49 days until maturity and it's indeterminate.
Thought of growing it this year but my garden was full by the time I considered. -.-

[TZ -OH6]

I can't be much help. I don't can or grow for early production, and I stay away from round red hybrids.

You should be able to find something here that fits the bill

https://www.tomatogrowers.com/early.htm

I have grown the Grushkova, and the flavor is really nice for fresh eating if you like a sweet Brandywine type flavor, and it is meaty but it is a small plant and not especially early. BTW,The info on New Big Dwarf is wrong, it should be about 80 days, and it is not determinate (I've grown that one too).

Here is a comment I found about New Yorker

Carolyn Male: "It was developed for NE growers and I still recommend it to folks for canning, more so than a fresh eating tomato."

A little later are canning standbys like Marglobe and the Heinz varieties
https://www.tomatogrowers.com/midseason2.htm