Sure!! Especially if you have determinate type tom's. I find my indeterminate plants can get really HUGE by August. I put my plants out very late this year and they are already 4' and no doubt will be topping thier 5' cages by August. By starting a second planting of my indeterminates in late May I can have fresh new plants rather than trying to coax older plants to continue being productive. Just be careful of where you plant the new plants. Be sure to plan ahead of time where you are going to plant your fist plants and then the second set. Make sure you plant the fist plants in such a way that they will not act as shade to the second set. Once you know the East/West sun patten be sure to plant the first set of plants on the West side. This way the new plants can be set out and not be shaded by the larger ones. This might be a "no kidding" thing, but if you don't take these things into account in the very beginning it can really mess you up when it comes to do the second planting. Take it from a guy who has already been there and done that.

Also, stagger the planting of your determinate plants every couple of weeks. That way you will always have a fresh supply of tom's comming to the table and not one giant harvest. Here in Thousand Oaks, I have had nice ripe tomatos at the end of October. Even though the fall daytime temps stay nice and warm the nighttime temps can drop to the point that the plants will not set fruit. When temps begin to fall too low I pick my best few plants at the end of the season and wrap plastic around them in the evening to help hold in some heat and to keep the chill off. I have even put a flood light inside the wrapped cage at night to help keep the temp up if I feel like I really want to keep the harvest going longer. I don't use grow lights because I want the plant to have the needed rest time it normally gets at night. Every year is different though. I have had years where many of my plants stayed productive till the end of October, while other years a single cold spell snapped the life out of my plants in early October. There are simply no guarantees.

There is no point to starting new plants in the fall as the temps are just too low (even here) during winter. It may not snow, but SoCal, at some point, usually gets down to the 30's in Dec and Jan (at least where I am). One frost and the plants are toast. But we can generally set our plants out in the garden earlier than most of the country. I usually have a couple of plants in the ground by late March. Since the ground never freezes and we only get about 12" of rainfall a year, I can always find a weekend, or two, to go out and work the plot in Dec or Jan so that it will be ready in March. Prepping the soil in Dec or Jan lets the new compost to continue to mellow so that by March/early April things are just great. Althought there was a problem of too much overcast this year. It did not seem to get sunny all day until the middle of June. That means the plants grew nicely, but flower production was delayed. That is why some people question putting out plants that early. Well, I put a couple out that early because, if it works, I'll have nice ripe fruit in June. Even so, by putting the plants out earlier the plant has gone through the shock of being transplanted so that when conditions are rite they will be ready. The temps seemed a lot cooler this year than normal (what happened to all the talk about global warming - ya right!!). I usually have nice ripe fruit by the middle of June, just not this year.

If you have a variety you really like, in mid to late May take a couple of the suckers from your healthiest plants, trim all the leaves off and plant it neck deep -to the point that only about two inches of plant is above the potting soil (the longer the sucker the better). The new plant will develop roots all along the length of the sucker that is below the surface. Before you know it you will have nice new plants for the garden. Sure is a lot faster than starting again from seed. Remember, because this is a plant and not a seed you need to keep it in sunlight from the start, and don't let the soil dry out. Also, while a seed has its own store of energy the sucker does not. So, unless your potting soil mix has fertilizer in it (many do), you will need to be sure to either add complst to the mix or fertilize occasionally.

Just remember that the garden plot needs to be replennished at some point. New organic matter needs to be worked into the soil, it needs to rest a while, not to mention I need a break from the garden myself. For me this happens from Dec to Mar. We in SoCal can push the soil too far if we ar not aware of just how much it is being used.

Ragtimegal,

I want to clarify two things.

First. Your question asked about starting new plants in the fall. I answered the question but in a round about manner. Sorry for not getting right to the point. No. Fall is not a time to start new plants. For the reasons I mention in P3.

Second. When I said to strip all the leaves off of the sucker I did not mean to take off the very tip foliage as well. It is absolutely vital that you not do this. The few leaves at the very top of the sucker MUST be left above the soil for this to work. This is the new growth and if you pinch it off you will not get any new growth.

Tom

Thanks, Tom! That was very helpful. If I were to start new from seed, I was thinking that I should do that in the next few weeks to set out in the fall...I wasn't very clear about that, but still- that is way later than you mention. But my first plants didn't go out until May 1st. I had planned on April 15th, but got delayed. (Also, I'm up at 2K feet.)

I am container growing, for the most part, so I would be starting with new containers and potting mix. It sounds like I should be starting seed now if I want different varieties, or root the suckers as you recommended above. I may try a combination of the two, just to see the differences in how they produce.

But, you answered my question about starting new. I wasn't sure how long to expect a plant to produce before tiring out, and I would definitely like to keep a harvest going, so I will start planning my fall strategy now.

Happy 4th of July!!! :o)