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Whilst my tomatoes were a great sucess this year they have tended to come all at once , with the greenhouse fruit ripening just before the outside ones.

This to me sems to defeat the purpose of growing in a greenhouse, that is to get an earlier crop.

After going to a 'Tomato Day' recently i became aware that  the time between planting and picking ripe fruits can vary from variety to variety and that some types can ripen a lot quicker than others naturaly. These could therefore be classed as 'Earlies' (like potatoes Early and Maincrop?).

Thing is are these so called earlies any good? Is it worth growing one to get earlier crops? can anyone reccomend a variety if it is?

Please dont suggest earlier sowing of a 'normal' vairety, I sow as early as i can in my cool/frost free greenhouse as it is (begining of march). Besides the light is never strong enough earlier anyway.

Any advice apreciated

the real seed catalogue have a selection of super early toms - i think a lot of them are from Russia where summers are very short:
http://www.vidaverde.co.uk/tomatoes.html

might be of some help,
chloe

I put this below yesterday to give more ideas.

http://www.seedfest.co.uk/seeds/tomatoes/cold/cold.html

Quote from: tim on September 26, 2005, 17:23:12
I put this below yesterday to give more ideas.

http://www.seedfest.co.uk/seeds/tomatoes/cold/cold.html

very interesting. Thanks Tim

I did once come across one type that had a days to maturity of only 55 days! Unfortunatley it was a bush type

Excellent site, Tim!! I visited, I looked,  I ordered.....  ::)  ;D

Don't blame me!!

LOL!! No thank you, Tim!! Mind you, I've ordered so many different toms and chillies, think I'll need another PT... ::)

I grew some "First in the Field" this year. Unfortunately due to my incompetence they are only just ripening now. oops. Supposed to be ripe early summer. Oh well, seeds left for next year! The plant is supposed to be a bush, but it was grown rather tall for a bush.

Once you have identified the variety you want to grow, try starting them off much earlier, as long as you have plenty of light. The commercial growers start them in December around here, they sow just before Christmas and when they come back from Christmas break, do the pricking out etc. You need heat to germinate (windowsill ok) but after they have germinated, they do ok as long as it doesn't get below about 8 degrees. You will get sturdy, earlier plants like this. But I can't emphasise the light enough. They really do need light.

Wish I was commercial, jenny!

Trouble is - one is governed by the frosts. Even in a cold 'house.

The earliest I dare put them out is mid-April. That means sowing mid-March. And even then I can lose several plants with frost. And if only touched by frost, they can take so long to recover that one has wasted ones time. Normally I sow late March because I really don't want to lose one plant after all the tlc in its upbringing!

Interesting - your thoughts on 8C. After germination, we give ours bottom heat at15C. So I would be better off leaving them cold?

And can you get the things to do their first truss before putting out? I never can. They are 6-8" by that time, with no truss.

I've not had the benefit of using a heated glasshouse, and like you, don't plant mine out until later, but do put them outside by day, but by a wall. They go purplish with the stress of the cold, but seem to do really well when it warms up. I often sow end Jan/early Feb. When everyone here was posting and saying theirs were still green, mine were already turning red. Mind you, there does seem to be an especially good microclimate here, the only problem in summer is drying winds.
And, no, I rarely get a truss on before I plant out! If they do, I actually take them off if they appear early.

Might risk a few next year - & tell them jenny says!!

PS We get frosts into, at worst, July! No damage in the cold 'house, but the plants sulk a lot!

Quote from: Garden Cadet on September 26, 2005, 15:57:42
Whilst my tomatoes were a great sucess this year they have tended to come all at once , with the greenhouse fruit ripening just before the outside ones.

This to me sems to defeat the purpose of growing in a greenhouse, that is to get an earlier crop.

Assuming that the weather remained warm for you this year it has occured to me that a problem you may have run into is one of phenotype. If you grew tomato cvs. generally regarded as outdoor inside then the extra heat will have had a delaying effect upon their growth, and may even stop it temporarily when really hot, so that the two regimes did coincide in cropping. In general tomatoes grow best around 18C with growth tailing off down to 6-8C or beyond 30C. There is some variation between varieties depending upon their phenotype.  Tomatoes of a phenotype adapted to outdoor culture in a typical British summer are probably more sensitive to heat those used in Southern France, for example. What you may wish to try in your greenhouse are cvs. adapted for greenhouse culture or outdoor cultivation in warmer climates, such as mine, or Southern Europe. These will not necessarily be small fruited types.

Food for thought - as always!

interesting info there. thanks.

I have tried earlier sowing in the past and it has not really proved worthwhile, the resulting plants became drawn and etiolated due to lack of general light at that time of year. Could try artificial lighting, but there is another reason for not tryingit next year. this being a family holiday in early feb, leaving greenhouse unattended for a week. Can risk leaving sensitive plants unattended for that long, so sowing will have to wait until i return.

I was interested to read the bit about growing on in cool temperatures once large enough to cope. I in fact did something similar this year. i germinated the seed indoors then once potted up they were acclimatised and moved out to the cool greenhouse. There they gre steadily in the lower temperatures, producing nice stocky plants. The problems began once things got a bit warmer and the plants took off and were a bit leggy by the time came to plant out. Earlier planting out was not an option due to some cold nights in May.

Indoor varieties? Well all but 2 of my greenhouse plants were 'Shirley' type, which i beleive is an indoor variety! It also grows well outside so maybe it isnt a true indoor type. Its worth looking into though.