Growing tomatoes in the Fog Belt

I've been attempting to do what, at least according to most everyone who has lived here through all 4 'seasons', the impossible: grow tomatoes in the SF Fog Belt. I'll share my plan should it interest anyone.

(1) Buy early season tomatoes as seedlings. I've chosen 4 varieties (6 plants) that are supposedly bred for these conditions (long season but never warm) or have performed well in SF trials.

• San Francisco Fog is an older variety that was bred for the area (obviously) but has mixed results. I have 2 plants. Interestingly, they were the last to bloom (but it is a 70 day, Int variety) and have yet to set.
• Early Girl (Int, 60 days, 1 plant) is doing reasonably well - blooming, not setting. This is one that a lot of people know about.
  
• Juliet (Int, 60 days, 1 plant) same as Early Girl
• Stupice (Int, 55 days, Czech heirloom, 2 plants) is recommended by this woman Pam Peirce who has this great book Golden Gate Gardening. They are doing well - already have bloomed and set.
  

All of them are small or grape/cluster tomato sized. If one of the varieties performs particularly well, I'll start them from seed in like December next year. But for now, I need the head start of healthy plants for my mini trial.

(2) Place them in the sunniest part of the yard - full sun potential (read if there is no fog) for about 12 hours a day right now.

(3) Put them out in early April with protection. This isn't all that unusual for those who have late frosts, but I was covering them anyways (see next step) and the hope that if I had them setting before the fog set in during mid June, I might stand a chance of red tomatoes at some point.

(4) Protect them all season long. SF tomatoes, particularly in the 'fog belt' don't grow because

• (a) daytime temperatures, at their best in spring and fall, hover around 70 when tomatoes like 75-90;
• (b) night time temps rarely reach the requisite 55 degrees - it is normally in the high 40's - for ripening fruit and
• (c) the winds, the damn winds, just blow constantly.

I figure if I use a perforated film, I might get the 5-10 degree boost required in the day and night (or at least protect from the night winds) for the plants to both set and ripen while also staving off some of the extra moisture issues. I am using this stuff called gro-therm that is basically a light plastic that has hole punches in it to make sure things don't roast. I keep it on during all but the very nicest of days (about twice a week) when I open it up for the bees to pollinate.


So far, my plan seems to be working. Although I've put far too much money into what is likely to be a meager crop (6 hard to find seedlings + 6 large cages + plastic film = $$$), look at my results!