[GraciesGran]

Good morning one and all.

Can anyone recommend a way to get early fruiting tomatoes?  I've got a greenhouse to keep them warm but are any varieties better than others?  It's for youngest granddaughter.

[Enfield Glen]

I find the best way is with Basket/Tumbling varieties as the do not need to grow to big before fruiting. I keep them in the greenhouse until the chance of frost has based then the go out in a sunny position in the garden.

[Subversive_plot]

I'm trying a variety called "42-day" that is supposed to be a very early tomato, and somewhat cold tolerant. It is a determinate cherry tomato.

I'm also trying "Goliath Bush" which also should produce early slicing tomatoes on a plant 2 to 3 ft tall, suitable for containers.

We'll see how they do. I'm going for determinate plants advertised as very early to early.

[mumofstig]

You could sow a cherry, basket variety like Gartenperl (aka Garden Pearl) now and keep them indoors on a sunny windowsill for as long as you can. When they get too big to stay there, usually during April, I put them out in the greenhouse during the day, and bring them back indoors overnight.
Here, it still gets too cold in April to leave them in the greenhouse, unless you can rig up some plastic tenting over them. Without that I've had the leaves turn blue and they don't recover from that....
Good luck!
I must remember to sow mine soon.....

[GraciesGran]

Thank you.

Tumblers on windowsills it is!

[Ivor Backache]

There  are varieties specially produced for the colder climates, and they do this by shortening the growing time to about 6 weeks after planting. I grow these outside and they do well~ Sub artic plenty, stupice, red alert (bush type) Perhaps not the best on taste but still better than supermarkets.

[Potty Plotty Lotty]

I'm all for early tomatoes and my recommendations are the following:

Galina
Stupice (as already mentioned)
Latah

Red alert has been recommended as well but I haven't tried this.

Interestingly honeycomb was my first to ripen last year though (in a PT start of July from a mid Feb sowing with Galina not far behind)

[Joe Hicks]

I'm all for early tomatoes and my recommendations are the following:

Galina
Stupice (as already mentioned)
Latah

Red alert has been recommended as well but I haven't tried this.

Interestingly honeycomb was my first to ripen last year though (in a PT start of July from a mid Feb sowing with Galina not far behind)

Any advice/experience on when you've sown Latah and Galina and when you've transferred them for best early-fruiting results (obviously it depends on the luck of the weather though)? I grew Latah last year and it was very good, but I didn't push it very early. I've bought Galina also this year and plan to push them both to see how early I can get away with. I have a greenhouse. I am in North Yorkshire though so I probably lose a week or two compared to you (I see you're in Nottingham).

[Potty Plotty Lotty]

Any advice/experience on when you've sown Latah and Galina and when you've transferred them for best early-fruiting results (obviously it depends on the luck of the weather though)? I grew Latah last year and it was very good, but I didn't push it very early. I've bought Galina also this year and plan to push them both to see how early I can get away with. I have a greenhouse. I am in North Yorkshire though so I probably lose a week or two compared to you (I see you're in Nottingham).

I start Galina in mid-Feb. You need somewhere warm to germinate them and light enough area to grow them on. My windowsills aren't bright for this early so I use growlights with foil to reflect the light until the light levels increase and they can go onto the windowsills. When I've grown them outside (in pots) they normally don't go out properly until mid-end May depending on the weather. With the polytunnel I managed to get them out early May but I keep an eye on the forecast. 

I've not managed to push Latah this early. I tried once or twice but it wasn't happy. Might try again this year.

I normally grow about 4 plants early due to the space they take up and the remainder (10-15) I sow early April.


Modified to clarify quote

[Subversive_plot]

With all my tomatoes this year, I am trying to get an early start (easier for me in the climate here, though the temperatures can be unpredictable).  The seeds I've started are already young seedlings, getting first true leaves.  All are in three flats, in small pots, except for two (nameless) yellow grape tomatoes I started last fall, which are larger plants in larger pots.

They grow indoors when it is too cold outdoors, no greenhouse or polytunnel available to me.  I move them outdoors daily when the weather is warm enough. After some reading, I've judged that above 10 C is the lowest safe temperature for moving them outdoors in the daytime, they have responded well.  I've read that some can take it as low as 5 C, but I think I would only try that with cold-tolerant types.

I am hoping to have larger plants in pots by late March, moving plants on to 1 or 2 gallon nursery pots by mid April, and in the ground by late April or early May.