For Early Tomatoes, Try This

Plant your tomato in a row covered with clear plastic so that sunlight warms the soil under the plastic.

Make your own protection by simply cutting the bottom out of a plastic gallon milk jug and placing it over the plant until the weather warms.

Want to bite into your first homegrown tomato soon? Here are three easy ways to speed the harvest. Normally, tomatoes are planted at least two weeks after the last frost, but with steps 2 and 3, you can cheat the calendar. If you live where the weather is already warm, step 1 is all you need.

1. Choose an early-maturing variety. Try Early Girl (50 days), Bush Early Girl (50 days), Better Bush (68 days), Celebrity (65 days), Carnival (70 days), or Big Beef (73 days).
2. Plant early and protect from cold. You can mail-order commercial items such as Wall-O-Water or row covers to provide cold protection for tomato plants set out early; however, you can make your own protection by simply cutting the bottom out of a plastic gallon milk jug and placing it over the plant until the weather warms. Be sure to remove the top for ventilation. Place a stake by the plant and slip the jug over the stake to keep it from blowing off.
3. Plant early and warm the soil. Plant your tomato in a row covered with clear plastic so that sunlight warms the soil under the plastic. Later you can cover the plastic with straw mulch to block sunlight, keeping the soil from getting too hot. Cut planting holes in the plastic and set the transplant through them. Be sure the soil is well watered. Drip irrigation or a soaker comes in very handy here to be sure that water gets to roots under the plastic.
4. Spray plants with Blossom Set spray. This optional hormone spray will cause fruit to set earlier. You may find it at a garden center, or you may need to order it from a mail-order source.