jrckellogg said:...
I would love to grow some tomatoes & I would have them planted already in AZ. I don't know what to plant when. Will it still freeze here? Will it hurt plants that I plant now?
If your ZIP code is 98290, the ATP garden planning calendar suggests:
"On average, your frost-free growing season starts Apr 25 and ends Oct 13, totaling 171 days."
http://garden.org/apps/calenda...
For some reason, when I type in "Dutch Hill WA", the garden Calemndar gives me Port Angles on the tip of the Olympic peninsula!
Also: "Do you want to grow tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants? Start these indoors around February 13. Then, around April 19 you should start watching the weather forecast and, as soon as no frost is forecast, go ahead and transplant those into the ground."
I hope your inland summer is warmer than my coastal summer! I always have cool nights (like low 60 & high 50s, maybe). Mid-season and late-season tomatoes can be tough to ripen fully before you get cold nights. Cherry tomatoes are a safer bet. There are many early tomatoes, and cool-climate tomatoes. *
I think when to set them out depends on how hard you're pushing their "days-to-maturity". I think those published numbers for DTM assume plenty of warmth.
* early tomatoes, and cool-climate tomatoes.
I found that Sungold cherry tomatoes ripened in plenty of time and stayed sweet longest into cool weather. Stupice ripened early, then lost all its sweetness after a few cold nights.
Here's my "short list" of varieties to try next:
Glacier
Oregon Spring
Beaverlodge
Matina
Bloody Butcher
Sophie's Choice
Northern Delight
Manitoba
Ildi
Sub Arctic Cherry
Sub Arctic Plenty
Azoychka
Morden Yellow
Here's my most complete list of early tomato varieties, sorted according to seed catalog descriptions:
ULTRA-EARLY & COLD-TOLERANT:
Glacier - ultra-early, cold-tolerant, SEMI-DET
Stupice - ultra-early, cold-tolerant, compact DET (I didn't like Stupice)
EXTRA-EARLY & COLD-TOLERANT:
Oregon Spring - extra-early, very cold-tolerant, "plant 4 wks before last frost & protect only when there's frost"
Manitoba - extra-early, cold-tolerant, 3'-4' DET, "Canadian for colder climates"
Matina - extra-early, INDET, "dependable even in cold/wet summers"
Sub-Artic Plenty - extra-early, "Canadian", DET Allegedly developed in the 1940's by the U.S. Military to provide fresh tomatoes to their troops in Greenland.
Northern Delight - ultra-early, "for the Far North", 2' DET
Beaverlodge series - ultra-early, compact DET, containers
Sophie's Choice: Heirloom from Edmonton, Canada, introduced by Carolyn Male in 1997.
Extra early, flavorful. 2' DET vines suited to containers. 6-12 ounce globes red-orange outside and deep red flesh.
Strong disease resistance. Not heat-tolerant or drought-tolerant. Best production in cooler climates.
EXTRA-EARLY:
Early Cascade - (hybrid but seems pretty true) - early, short-summer, PNW, "reliable: sets fruit in any climate"
Early Wonder - extra-early, 3'-4' SEMI-DET, med red globe
Early Wonder - extra-early, SEMI-INDET
Siletz - extra-early, reliable, DET,
Sungold F1 - extra-early, 4'-8' INDET, containers, sweet orange cherry with 'tropical' flavor
Ildi - extra-early, yellow grape pear, 8'-10' INDET
Gold Nugget - extra-early, 2-3' DET, bland yellow cherry
EARLY:
Yellow Plum - early, productive even in cold, 4'-6' INDET, yellow cherry
Bloody Butcher - early, cool climate, 4'-6'
Maskabec - early, 18"-36" DET, 4-6 oz. red globe
Golden Rave (hybrid) - early, gold Roma plum6'-8' INDET
Husky Cherry Red - early, semi-DET or dwarf INDET
Sub Artic Cherry - early, DET, pink, "developed in Alberta for short seasons"
Early Cascade - early, short summer, red-orange
LESS EARLY:
Marmande - semi-early, cool climate, med-large red beefsteak type, full flavor
Santa Cherry / Santa Sweets - mid-season, tolerates cool summers, 4'-8' INDET
Morden Yellow - mid-late, Canadian for colder climates, 2'-3' DET, med yellow globe
Early Girl (hybrid) - semi-early, med red globe, flavorful
