Winter Sown Tomatoes

I'm looking for information about winter sowing tomatoes in zone 4 and colder. Are there any early varieties that can be recommended? Any tips about the best time to sow?I was thinking maybe not until March in my zone.

Trudi does a lot of tomatoes and addresses the subject on her site.

Karen

http://www.wintersown.org/wseo1/Tomatoes.html

I've already looked there and it doesn't quite give me what I'm looking for. Thanks anyway.

Pat:

These websites might be of help to you. I would look for seeds that might have come from Russia, Northern Germany, Siberia, Sweden, Switzerland, you know, places where the growing season is short and the temperatures are cold. I would concentrate on early growing & some mid-season varieties. It will be trial & error to find the ones that grow best in your area & that are your favorites (taste wise), but that's half the fun!

http://www.extension.umn.edu/info-u/plants/BG474.html
http://www.gardenmedicinals.com/pages/tomatoes.html#early
http://www.extension.umn.edu/info-u/plants/BG473.html

Tomato seeds:

http://www.heirloomseeds.com/tomatoes.htm
http://www.tomatogrowers.com/early.htm

Hope this helps!

This message was edited Nov 20, 2006 1:23 PM

Yes, you can WS toms in your area but do select seeds of short-season varieties. Russian and Eastern heirlooms would be excellent choices. You can also try varieties that suggest cold climate success, like Sub-Arctic Plenty.

Poojer, the tomato seeds that you send with the free seeds from you web site, those can be winter sown right?

Connie

Yes. They can be. Since I first tried it, I only start toms by WSing them. It works like a charm.

It's important to choose toms that will do well in your area--obviously, if you live in a region with a short growing season, a 100 day tom may not work out for you. However, there are dozens and dozens of short-seaon toms that will.

Tomato Growers Supply: http://www.tomatogrowers.com/ has a nice online catalogue where you can view toms by season-length.

With all my Seeds for SASE offers I always include a packet of mixed toms--these include varieties that are short to long season in a variety of shapes, colors and sizes. If you just grow that mix, a good many will produce ripe toms for you in a short growing season region.

In the Tomato SASE: http://www.wintersown.org/wseo1/Tomato_SASE.html
you will get the mix as well as six named varieties--of them there will be included some early types, usually from Eastern Europe or Russia. I grew a lot of those last year and was quite delighted by their early sprouting and vigorous growth.

Thanks Trudi,
Your always there to help us beginners. :o)

Wishing you and yours and Happy Holiday Season,

Connie

Just a note: Siberia is part of Russia.

That's correct Enya. The Soviet break-up seems to have broken up our memroy of the old USSR and when people speak of Russian tomatoes, they may be referring to toms from any of the original states in that union.

T

Thanks enya_34. It does get rather confusing with the names of all the countries that use to be part of the old USSR. Yes, Siberia is part of Russia.