Which early tomato?

Jan 29, 2006 7 Replies

I've never grown any of the so-called "early" tomatoes, but my current garden would be a good place for one of them. I'm in zone 5, upstate NY. I'm interested in recommended varieties from anyone who's had consistently good results from certain varieties.


Out here in the wilds of Washington State, zone 6, the earliest I can coax a tomato to ripen is around July 8 each year. Stupice and Oregon Spring are the best early performers for me. Tomato Grower's Supply has a really good selection of early tomatoes.

Regards, Bill

Johnny's is right up there with Territorial in the information department, however. For reasonalbly priced seed along with great service, it's hard to beat Pinetree!

Regards, Bill

I've tried plenty of others but have to go with Early Girl. They produce early and late in the season (I'm in 5 too) and are good tasting.

I agree that Johnnys is also good. I just planted Beaver lodge tomato seed from Territorial. It is very vigorus and saw light after only 5 days. It is the newest tomato from Territorial. So far so good. JEM

I grew Stupice for a while. It is very early and has an excellent flavor. But I replaced it with Burpee's 4th of July. In a head-to-head taste comparison, 4th of July was just about the equal of Stupice. (Some tasters couldn't tel them apart.) Both varieties startare equally early. Where 4th of July has the advantage, though, in productivity all summer long. Stupice tended to fade off for me. Plus Stupice has a tendency to ripen unevenly (green shoulders) which 4th of July doesn't have.

Thank you all for your recommendations. I'll probably end up trying 3 varieties and seeing which one tastes best to me. The trend toward low acid tomatoes is sort of weird. What's the point of growing a tomato if it hasn't got some of that tartness?

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