I looked up a 30 year lows weather report on WA and I used to set them out under tunnels April 15 but the temp difference with April 1 was only 2-3 degrees, from around 32 to 29 F, so I have set them out as early as April 1. They have survived even with snow and frosts. I used to only put out cold-tolerant or early varieties but have experimented with long season varieties and it gives them enough of an early start to make it possible to grow them and get more ripe fruit. As for the 55* F, it hardly makes it above that all summer here. Without the tunnels you would have to wait until June, May is possible but is too cold to get much growth. Tunnels are also great for cucumbers and squash, they develope so much faster. The only problems I have had is that the tunnel dries out the soil underneath so I have to water even if it is raining, and I have forgotten to check often enough and keep them watered. This feature is great for our rainy springs as I use the tunnels to dry out the soil in beds so I can plant on a dry day even in rainy weather with storm after storm. So far this season I have 30-40 plants outside. I have to wait for them to reach the lights indoors so the fastest varieties to grow get set out first. And slugs like the plastic so I use snail bait around plants when I set them out. I have cut some tunnels and they still work, but the part between ribs hangs down to close off the end of the tunnel so you lose a little length. My first set that is still in use I worried about plants getting too hot so I cut vertical slits in the sides but my newer ones I just push the sides up on the ribs or remove them if there is a heat wave. I put them away during summer so they get less UV damage and they have lasted really well, way past my expectations. It's also possible to make your own tunnels using arcs of wire or pvc pipe and using clips to hold plastic sheeting on them. I think I've seen supplies in the Johnny's and Territorial catalogs.

Of that group, I've only grown Rosella and it was only okay. I grew it in the ground one year and in a container the next year, and it struggled in our heat and didn't produce many fruit. The ones it produced weren't bad, but they weren't anything special. The fruit were smaller in size than I expected, but it was a very hot, very dry year. I had high hopes for it and for other varieties from the Dwarf Project, but none of the ones I tried were really, um, good enough to knock any old favorites off our grow list. Your results could be entirely different because flavor is very subjective and each person's taste buds perceive flavor differently. Growing conditions vary so wildly here from one year to the next that I do try to give a new-to-us variety 2 or 3 years before I decide if it is worth keeping or not. In the third year I grew Rosella, it died abruptly before producing a fruit....and that probably was the last time I'll plant it. If a variety can't wow me in 1 out of 3 years, I'm moving on to try something else. And, I like the whole idea behind the Dwarf Project and I wanted to love the varieties I tried, but I couldn't.

These are all Early to Early-mid that I have grown in Calif, Sungold Hybrid - takes seeds a little more to get going but then watch out I am growing Big Sungold Select (OP) this year also Early can handle cooler spring weather Matina like Stupice 52 Lime Green Salad - Det 52 Stupice 52 Buckbee's New 50 Day 55 Crazy 55 Early to Mid can handle cooler spring weather Fireworks 60 Green Grape 60 Moskovich - semi det 60 Azoychka 65 Slava 65 Eva Purple Ball 68 Porters Dark Cherry 68 Alicante 70 Anna Russian 70 Black Prince 70 Ceylon 70 Jaune Flamme' 70 Pantano Romanesco 70 Tommy Toe 70 Dennis

I made a great living raising mainly Jet Stars in the 90's, and Supersteak for my big beefsteak. Pik Red was a reliable early. I did sell some of the Mountain series the last couple years in business, but I was very embarrassed and felt guilty about it, as I took pride in selling great tasting tomatoes. But nothing made them crack, so I had some for insurance. If I had continued, I would have grown the Sun series instead, which had some flavor, and ripened redder and larger. Selling heirlooms and/or OP's, I would recommend the following for high production and appearance: Manitoba - 11#/per plant of very early 4-6 oz. round reds,on a very compact determinate plant, but not much flavor though. Campbell 1327 - Early, solid, 6-9 oz., tasty, productive determinate red. Old Brooks - Very tasty,6 oz., deep red, excellent flavor like Rutgers, and very productive on indeterminate plants. Box Car Willie - Like Old Brooks except later and larger. Moskvich - great medium size beefsteak that ripens very early for its 8-12 oz. size, producing about 20#/plant on compact indeterminate vines, with great flavor the whole season. Winsall - first year for me, but yielded 23# of large Brandywine-type, dark pink fruit that were more uniform and tasted just as great as BW, also a big-vined potato leaf variety.