Bob,
I don't have too much to say about the lights, I use 40W fl type. But regarding planting early, have you tried Wall-O-Waters?
I've planted when snow was falling and was eating ripe tomatoes in early to mid July.

There are other season extension strategies but keep in mind that many of these later season indeterminate varieties start out with vigorous plant growth, some more than the early fruiting varieties. Simply starting them earlier inside may give you results that you can't deal with.

One of the easiest practices to warm the soil and speed growth is to lay black plastic on the soil where you intend to plant a few days prior to intended planting date.

Also, for many years I would just fit a clear garbage bag over the cylindrical tomato cages,seal along the ground with soil and cut a few slits in the top to let hot air out.

A method somewhat like the Wall-o-Water idea is to invert the tomato cage, insert the bottom of a larger clear plastic bag onto the ground spikes of the inverted cage, then set it over a plant, double the bag to the ground and back to the top, dump ~5 gal. of water into the bag fold (holds it against the ground and also buffers temperature swings), and then loosely tie the bag opening on top again. You will need to watch these, usually opening the bag tops each mid-morning and closing late in each day. If you already have tomato cages the cost is about 25 cents for a clear 55 gal drum liner per plant.

You could also setup a temporary Low tunnel or some makeshift support to allow you to protect your early transplanted plants on cool nights. For a few years I used windows, set over the plant row in "A"-frame style. With a 4'window pair I would stradle two tomato plants in a row, then skip two, continuing down the whole row. On cool nights I covered everything with a sheet of plastic. But what I noticed was that the plants under the glass grew faster and produced like clockwork two weeks earlier, even though the sides were open as the windows joined on top to form the "A"-frame.

I'm relating all these as a progressive learning experience that led me to high tunnels, the technology that you don't want to experience. I'll just say that this is the first year that I didn't grow any tomatoes outside and I don't regret it. My tomato harvest season extends from early June til late November(some supplemental heat required). In zone 3 you might expect a month less at each end. Why not give it a try if you are serious about growing tomatoes?

Bob -
You might get some interesting information from Michael Andersson (www.tomatsidan.se). He is in Sweden and sells some very interesting tomato seed varieties on the internet. He may have some advice on growing tomatoes in short season areas.
Lou

daddylonglegs,

I've thought about wall-of-waters, but we actually can get frost right up until the first week of June. By that time a late season tomato plant would probably need to have outgrown a wall-of-water in order to deliver ripe tomatoes by mid-late July, don't you think. Maybe not. Certainly worth further conideration. I maybe need a 3 ft high wall-o-water : )

bmoser,

Your saying the high tunnel is the way to go? I have looked at them. I even identified a fairly inexpensive 20x36x12H tunnel @ only about $1500. ouch !

I may end up with that solution, but I don't know much about greenhouse/high tunnel growing. How do the tomatoes taste? What other unforseen problems am I not prepared for? How do I deal with ventilation during July and August? How do I easily reach up twelve feet high to install or remove the cover as needed? Maybe I'm too old for a high tunnel : )

How much heat insulation can a high tunnel provide? Caqn I successfully use it in April-May when overnight lows might hit 10-20 degrees(above zero - it's not THAT cold up here in April-May)? What is your experience?

I AM planning to build some sturdy wooden 6-foot high trelisses this winter to place over each plant when I plant them next year. I suppose this could work similar to your 4' windows to support an early season row cover. What sort of temperature protection might I expect from using a row cover in April (probably not) or May? I've never tried this because tomatoes planted outside in 40-degree soil temperatures don't usually grow much anyway til things warm up (about June 7 here), so it sort of defeats itself. But I am growing in pots, so my soil temps will be higher and I may consider setting them out much earlier if I knew I could protect them from frost.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks for all comments.

Bob
wi-northernlight

Bob
wi-northernlight

Check out this:
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/strucs/msg0416124122376.html

dcarch

Wi-northernlight, this past year I set up a cheap greenhouse on my deck-weatherguard, 8x8 40 bucks on e-bay. I started my seeds under 40w bulbs in mid March, put them in the greenhouse the end of April and had beafsteak tomatoes the middle/end of June.The plants were very large when I put them in the garden so I just dug large holes,no transplant shock.Many of them had flowers and fruit when I put them out. This was an experiment for me this year,but I will continue doing it, amazing results. I also used a 1500w milkhouse type radiant heater to go on at about 48 degrees and put a thick quilt on the deck to retain some heat. The electric cost me about 10.00 more per month. It can be done without spending a fortune.