So, I have come to the conclusion that I want a very early tomato but not a cherry tomato in my garden. I need to be able to beat the heat in the summer to get some early fruit. Earliest I have is the Bloody butcher it is a 55 day fruit. I did find out they are very hard to get sprouted. Small fruit but this year not much of it. The other early mater is the 4th of July that has pretty much died with 6 tomatoes on it that did not mature.
Any suggestions?
-
Smallgardener
- Senior Member
- Posts: 172
- Joined: Mon Jul 02, 2012 1:18 pm
- Location: SW Kansas
-
applestar
- Mod
- Posts: 30550
- Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
Earliest two varieties for me that I've grown to like are Moskvich and Yellow Bell. This year, I'm adding Black Krim to that list.
Moskvich is red round salad tomato (larger than cherry, smaller than sandwich), Yellow Bell is a salad-sized, pear-shaped yellow blushing to orange tomato that is good in salads as well as sauce. Black Krim is a larger sandwich tomato.
All three have started to produce (meaning I'm harvesting ripe fruits) last week and I started my seeds Last week of Feb-first week of March and planted them out at mid-end of April. Obviously, your timing may be different, but I thought this will give you an idea of their growth rate.
Oh, I know you said you don't want cherry tomatoes, but I tried growing Matt's Wild Cherry this year -- marble sized red round fruits -- and they were the very first tomatoes to start producing. Sweet and flavorful, I love them as snack tomatoes.
Moskvich is red round salad tomato (larger than cherry, smaller than sandwich), Yellow Bell is a salad-sized, pear-shaped yellow blushing to orange tomato that is good in salads as well as sauce. Black Krim is a larger sandwich tomato.
All three have started to produce (meaning I'm harvesting ripe fruits) last week and I started my seeds Last week of Feb-first week of March and planted them out at mid-end of April. Obviously, your timing may be different, but I thought this will give you an idea of their growth rate.
Oh, I know you said you don't want cherry tomatoes, but I tried growing Matt's Wild Cherry this year -- marble sized red round fruits -- and they were the very first tomatoes to start producing. Sweet and flavorful, I love them as snack tomatoes.
Last edited by applestar on Tue Jul 10, 2012 6:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
-
rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 25279
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
I always like to grow a fast-maturing tomato, just to be the first person on the block with ripe tomatoes! 
For several years it was Early Girl, the classic quick hybrid. But Early Girls are small, not cherry tomatoes, but ony about 5 oz and I didn't think they were very flavorful. So I switched to Ultimate Opener. It is as fast, but larger and more flavorful.
For several years it was Early Girl, the classic quick hybrid. But Early Girls are small, not cherry tomatoes, but ony about 5 oz and I didn't think they were very flavorful. So I switched to Ultimate Opener. It is as fast, but larger and more flavorful.-
gixxerific
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 5889
- Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 5:42 pm
- Location: Wentzville, MO (Just West oF St. Louis) Zone 5B
Sandul Moldovan was my first ripe fruit without BER, that being said BER can speed up the ripening process, the plant wants to make seed before it turns to mush.
First Cherry by far was Sweet Beverly. It is mutli-floral so there are a ton of cherry's on it. They were producing 2-3 weeks before the black cherry, chocolate cherry and snow white, another cherry.
I didn't keep to great of records of the first. But there is my 2 cents.
First Cherry by far was Sweet Beverly. It is mutli-floral so there are a ton of cherry's on it. They were producing 2-3 weeks before the black cherry, chocolate cherry and snow white, another cherry.
I didn't keep to great of records of the first. But there is my 2 cents.