Starting Heirlooms Earlier

Jimbo · January 30, 2006

Hello Folks,

This is my first post on this forum, and I'm already looking forward to the exchange of ideas. I was born and raised in Virginia, but I have now lived in West Texas for 20 years or more. I am an avid gardener, especially tomatoes. I have had some success with growing heirlooms. Brandywine Red, for example, did very well in my garden. I have had less success with some of the others, especially late setting ones such as Brandywine and Akers West Virginia. Hybrids have floursished in my garden, but some of the larger heirlooms have not. Our last expected frost date here is March 25. In the past, I have set out my plants on or shortly after this date. As it turns out, I could have set out those plants out a couple of weeks earlier. This is due to the mild weather that we sometimes have towards the last half of March. This year I plan to set out my heirloom choices a couple of weeks earlier, say around March 10. Perhaps by starting these plants at that time, they will have a longer period to set their fruit BEFORE the hot weather sets in. Does this make sense? Do some of you increase your heirloom production by setting out your plants early?
Thanks in advance for any comments.

January 30, 2006	#1
Jimbo Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 2	Starting Heirlooms Earlier Hello Folks, This is my first post on this forum, and I'm already looking forward to the exchange of ideas. I was born and raised in Virginia, but I have now lived in West Texas for 20 years or more. I am an avid gardener, especially tomatoes. I have had some success with growing heirlooms. Brandywine Red, for example, did very well in my garden. I have had less success with some of the others, especially late setting ones such as Brandywine and Akers West Virginia. Hybrids have floursished in my garden, but some of the larger heirlooms have not. Our last expected frost date here is March 25. In the past, I have set out my plants on or shortly after this date. As it turns out, I could have set out those plants out a couple of weeks earlier. This is due to the mild weather that we sometimes have towards the last half of March. This year I plan to set out my heirloom choices a couple of weeks earlier, say around March 10. Perhaps by starting these plants at that time, they will have a longer period to set their fruit BEFORE the hot weather sets in. Does this make sense? Do some of you increase your heirloom production by setting out your plants early? Thanks in advance for any comments. __________________ JimC, Zone 7, West Texas