The main problem is that the soil is not warm enough in the am and there may be damping off. I hear it is a joke in the nursery business that the early buyers will be back to buy more.

Personally my soil is way too wet and cold and I doubt the wall of water would help.

Penny

I resisted. Saw the tomatoes last weekend and made myself walk away. But as I walked away I thought about putting them in the garage near the east facing window!

Last year I bought 3 plants from Walmart and put milk containers around them, but they still froze.

This year will just wait until frost danger is gone.

I use wall o' waters to plant my tomatoes early (usually in february as soon as I see them in the stores) and never have had a problem. I usually get my first early girl in June. I just clear the mulch from the ground and loosen the soil in early february so the soil is in better condition drainage-wise when the time comes to plant. Sue

I was just thinking about tomatoes last night. I was at Home Depot yesterday and saw that there are tomato transplants for sale already. I decided I will sow my tom seeds in about 2 weeks.
My beets and leeks have been sown and are up already.
And my potatoes, which I planted before that week of freezing weather, are starting to show. I planted those too early, but lucked out that the rains came after the freezing weather. Being in the cold dry ground was just like being in a refrigerator. Cold wet ground might've been another story. Sometimes you get lucky!

Habitat Gardener,

I grew "Black from Tula" last year ... I only got about seven fruits from the plant, due, I think, to various poor growing conditions.

But boy oh boy ... those tomatoes were good! I ate them sliced, on whole wheat toast with a little salt and pepper on top ... pure ambrosia!

Ashok, I too remember Black from Tula as one of the best tomatoes I've ever tasted, but the last time I grew them, the squirrels got most of them. That, and Pink Caspian, had bites in them while green. The next year I grew more cherry tomatoes, so that even if the squirrels did eat some tomatoes, I wouldn't notice and there would be enough for all. Last year, they left my heirlooms alone! So now I'm emboldened to try the irresistible BfT and PC again.

Penny, I've wondered who buys all those early seedlings. Does everyone else have a greenhouse? The place where I found mine, OSH, always has tomatoes in February, and they have a free replacement policy, so last year when the first two seedlings died in the cold, I got free replacements (so they are, in a small way, subsidizing my experiments in winter tomato culture). Of course that did mean another visit to OSH (more temptation), but surely if lots of people brought them back, they'd stop selling them so early? Or maybe the plants are so cheap ($1.29) that most people don't bother to bring them back? Still, I'd think selling plants that are bound to die would be bad for repeat business. And OSH does not sell walls-o-water.

I had 1 'Celebrity' tomato plant that I didn't take out last fall, and this week I saw that it has new green fruit on it already. The winter didn't do any damage at all. It looks like August. And I haven't watered it since last September!

I agree, Black from Tula was a winner last year. We found a way to get all our veggies started early. Home Depot sells a terrific 5'x 5'x 6' popup greenhouse delivered for only $99.00. It's big enough to start all your seeds, winter over those tender (expensive!) plants that defy our growing zone and to extend our already long growing season for vegetables. When the weather warms up, the whole thing collapses into a small cloth bag that is provided. This this is a dream and goes up in about 20 minutes. It withstood some nasty wind and hail with no problem. We've already got good starts of beans, squash, peppers, okra, spinach, fennel, basil and more. When the plants get larger and stronger, you can open doors on both sides and zip the attached wind cloth closed and give the babies just the right amount of air circulation. Hardening off can be nice and gradual, keeping the doors open longer and longer until the plants are ready to put into the garden.

WoW! I've learned so much about tomatoes just by reading these postings! We planted early last year (various varieties because we couldn't decied on which ones we wanted!) only to be dissapointed in the quantity and quality. I guess we have alot to learn! Can anyone tell me why some of our tomatos grew out odd- a brownish dry spot on the bottom that seamed to eat up the tomato before we even got a chance to pick it ripe? And what are the tastiest and most popular varieties that are out right now? Thanks!!
~J.

Go to tomato forum on this website. Much info there. Check FAQ there.

You had Blossom End Rot (BER).

What you find tasty is up to you. These days, nurseries and big boxes carry a dazzling selection. We're spoiled for choice to be honest.

I, like hoovb, have a tomato plant from last year that is still around - even with the frost we had here. It's one of the cherry tomatoes that have become almost weeds in my garden (NOT complaining :-). Lots of flowers but no fruit quite yet.

well i wouldn't worry about having planted too early. I planted out my seedlings in my berkeley garden last week and we are having some awesome weather this week. yay! They're doing great.