A Big List of Short-Season Tomatoes That Grow In Cold Climates

Think you can't grow tomatoes because you have a short season or live in a cold climate?

Good news: It's entirely possible to grow tomatoes (even indeterminate types) and pick your first ripe fruit in as little as 40 days! The secret is knowing what kind of tomato will thrive in your garden.

Here are 83 short-season tomato varieties that won't make you wait around all summer AND don't mind a bit of chilly weather.

The best short-season tomatoes for cool climates

Here’s a trick for choosing tomatoes that’ll do well in cool summers: Look in the names or descriptions for those that indicate Siberia, Russia, or other cold locations.

What you ultimately want is a short-season tomato that ripens in 70 days or less. Smaller varieties (like cherry or salad tomatoes) and determinate varieties (bushy plants that set all their fruits in a concentrated period of time) also have a better chance of ripening before frost.

The most important thing to remember is that the time to ripen (also known as days to maturity or days to harvest) is expressed as number of days after transplanting outdoors.

So even though Black Prince should ripen in 70 days (give or take a few), it could take up to 84 days or even longer, depending on day length and weather in your area.

Your best bet is to err on the side of being “too early” if you’re trying to beat the clock on harvesting before frost.

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