Be the First to Harvest a Red Ripe Tomato this Season

Be the first on your block to harvest a red ripe tomato.

Grow early ripening varieties like Early Girl, Fourth of July, or Tidy Treats  that produce fruit earlier than most tomato varieties.

Further shorten the time to harvest by warming the soil and air. You’ll be able to plant as much as a month earlier than normal. And thanks to the early start and warmer conditions your plants will start flowering and fruiting sooner. 

Floating row covers and cloches like the Pop-Up Tomato Accelerator or Wall-o-Water work like mini greenhouses in the garden. Or make your own from a plastic milk jug. Just remove the bottom and set it over small transplants.  Or wrap tomato cages with clear plastic for larger plants.

Stake tomatoes to further speed up the harvest. It’s a bit more work, but you’ll have fewer disease problems and the earliest harvest on the block. 

A bit more information: When staking tomatoes, place the stake in the ground at planting. As the plants begin to grow, prune off all side branches, often called suckers, that form between the stem and leaf. Loosely tie the remaining one or two stems to the stake. Continue throughout the season.

Tags

floating-row-cover vegetables-herbs-fruits tomatoes

Related

Audio

Soil Temperature Influences When to Plant

Audio

Growing Tomatoes Indoors

Audio

Saving Leftover Seeds for Next Season

Audio

Saving Heirloom Tomato Seeds

Audio

Heat Related Tomato Disorders; Yellow Shoulders and White Cores

Audio

Green Tomatoes

Audio

Garden Fresh Recipe: Ratatouille

Audio

Speed Ripening of Tomatoes, Pumpkins, Squash and Melons

Audio

No Tomatoes? Check the Weather

Article

2025 Energy Park Gardens

• ← Previous
• 1 (current)
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• …
• 11
• Next →