Early Girl Tomato Care Vines grow to 6 feet (1.8 m.) tall. You’ll need sturdy supports, either tomato stakes or cages, to hold them because each can produce heavy yields.
How tall does an Early Girl tomato get?
3 feet tall
The Bush Early Girl Tomato typically reaches 3 feet tall and 3 feet wide. Spacing requirements between each plant is 24 – 36 inches. After planting, it takes approximately 54 days to reach maturity.
What is the best way to grow Early Girl tomatoes?
Start indoors in early spring over bottom heat. When seedlings germinate, remove from the heat and grow under bright lights. Grow seedlings on for 6-8 weeks at around 10°C (50°F). Early season tomatoes can be planted out once night time temperatures are reliably above 7°C (45°F) – or later.
How long does it take an Early Girl tomato to mature?
about fifty days
The plant matures quicker than other tomato varieties, growing to full size and producing tennis ball-sized bright red tomatoes in about fifty days.
Do Early Girl tomatoes need pruning?
Pruning Early Girl Tomatoes
Pruning encourages healthy growth, stimulates fruit production, and prevents disease and rot. Trim away the bottom branches 6 to 8 inches up the plant to promote airflow and to prevent disease. Remove suckers to help the plant focus energy on the main branch and its fruit.
How many tomatoes will an Early Girl produce?
300 tomatoes
Early Girl bears lots of fruit for early harvest, but because the vines are indeterminate, they continue producing through summer. In our Alabama test garden, where conditions are ideal and the growing season is long, we harvest an average of 300 tomatoes from each Early Girl plant!
Why are my Early Girl tomatoes so small?
The most common cause for small tomatoes is stressed plants. When plants are experiencing stressing circumstances, such as extreme drought or heat, insect infestation, or disease, they oftentimes stop sending their energy into flower or fruit production.
Do Early Girl tomatoes grow in clusters?
Large clusters of 5 oz. fruits are borne extremely early, continues longer than most varieties. Globe to slightly flattened shape. Bright red and meaty with a lot of flavor and aroma.
Is Early Girl a good tomato?
Early girl is reliable and prolific. The ripe fruit is extremely standard for a tomato, about the size and shape of a tennis ball and weighing 4 to 8 ounces (110 to 230 g). The tomatoes have a bright color and good flavor.
How often should you water Early Girl tomatoes?
These tomatoes need at least one inch (2.5 cm) of water per week and prefer six hours or more of direct sun each day.
- Spacing: 24-36in (60-90cm)
- Exposure: Full Sun – 6+ hours direct sun.
- Fruit weight: 6-8oz (170-226g)
- Days to harvest: 63.
- Growth: Determinate.
Do Early Girl tomatoes produce all season?
Early Girl tomato plants are indeterminate tomatoes (not determinate/bush). The plants produce long vines that grow longer throughout the growing season. The plants keep producing tomatoes all season until the vines are killed by frost.
Should you pinch off early tomato flowers?
Early/mid-season
Remove flowers until plants are 12 to 18 inches tall, so plants can direct more energy to the roots. Remove all leafy suckers beneath the first fruit cluster so they won’t slow the development of the fruit.
Should I pinch off early tomato blooms?
Pluck off all blossoms and any fruit for at least a month after transplanting, until the plant is at least two feet tall so it’s forced to direct its energies toward establishing a strong root system.
Why are my Early Girl tomatoes not turning red?
The optimum temperature for ripening tomatoes is 70 to 75F. When temperatures exceed 85 to 90 F, the ripening process slows significantly or even stops. At these temperatures, lycopene and carotene, pigments responsible for giving the fruit their typical orange to red appearance cannot be produced.
Can I save seeds from Early Girl tomatoes?
Hybrids such as Early Girl tomatoes are the result of cross breeding two plants to achieve a particular result. You can’t save the seed and harvest the same type of tomato when it is a hybrid. You have to use hand pollinated seeds to grow them, which means a new purchase of seeds every year.
Is Miracle Grow good for tomatoes?
Miracle-Gro® Water Soluble Tomato Plant Food instantly feeds to grow bigger, more bountiful tomatoes and vegetables compared to unfed plants. Use our plant food with the Miracle-Gro® Garden Feeder or any watering can, and feed every 1-2 weeks. Safe for all plants when used as directed.
Can you overwater tomatoes in pots?
Too Much Water
Watering your tomato plants properly is the key to tomato success. Too much water and the plants drown—too little could cause blossom end rot, when the tomatoes turn black on the bottoms. Inconsistent watering can also cause blossom end rot, split tomatoes, and stressed plants.
Can you grow Early Girl tomatoes in a hanging basket?
Try this determinate variety in window boxes or hanging baskets, too. ‘Bush Early Girl’: This classic slicing-type tomato produces generous yields of flavorful, 3- to 4-inch red fruits on 3-foot-tall plants. It ripens quickly, too, making it a great choice if you just can’t wait to start the summer harvest.
How many years in a row can you plant tomatoes in the same spot?
The conventional wisdom on this subject is that you should not plant any crop in the same spot more than once every three years and, better yet, once every four years.
What can I do with a lot of Early Girl tomatoes?
Early Girl tomatoes are considered ‘slicing’ tomatoes, and make great additions to sandwiches, bagels and quartered on salads. The sweet flavor makes for a wonderful soup or sauce, though preparations that require minimal cooking are more ideal for highlighting the early-season tomato’s flavor.
What are the signs of over watering tomato plants?
Overwatered plants may have wilted or yellowed stems and leaves, or the leaves might develop bumps and blisters or fall off entirely if plants continue to get too much water. Another way to tell overwatered plants from underwatered ones, once the case is severe enough, is to check the roots.