🌱 Origin & Story
42 Days is believed to have originated in Mexico, where short-season growing and intense heat likely selected for speed over size. The variety has been passed among seed savers for decades and remains available through specialty sellers like MI Gardener and Thresh Seed.
The name is literal. Under good conditions, you can go from transplant to red, ripe fruit in about six weeks. No other tomato we've grown comes close. In a climate like Tulsa's, that speed means you're eating homegrown tomatoes while your neighbors' Big Beefs are still setting their first flowers.
The fruits are small — roughly an ounce each — bright red, round, and prolific. What it lacks in size it makes up for in sheer volume and the satisfaction of picking ripe tomatoes before Memorial Day.
🍴 Flavor & Fruit
Small round cherry-type fruits, approximately 1 oz, bright red and thin-skinned. They come in clusters, and they come fast. The flavor is straightforward tomato — sweet, a little tart, nothing complicated. It's not trying to win a taste test against Cherokee Purple. It's trying to be the first ripe tomato on your counter, and at that, nothing beats it.
Great for snacking, salads, kids' lunchboxes, and the pure psychological victory of harvesting tomatoes in late May.
🌿 From Our Garden
We started growing 42 Days because we wanted something ripe before the real heat hit. It delivered. There's something genuinely exciting about picking red tomatoes while you're still planting pepper starts — it sets the tone for the whole season.
📅 Your Oklahoma Season
Plant after mid-April, or May 1 for extra caution. Tulsa's average last frost is early April, so mid-April transplants are safe in most years. With a 42-day maturity, expect your first ripe fruit by late May or early June — well ahead of almost everything else in the garden.
This plant will produce through the summer heat and keep going until first frost, which averages early November in Tulsa. Expect some blossom drop when daytime temperatures hit 85–90°F and nighttime stays above 72°F — that's normal for any tomato. It gets severe above 100°F. The small fruit size helps 42 Days recover faster than larger varieties once temperatures ease.
💧 Care for Optimal Health
Water deeply twice a week at the base, never overhead. Mulch 2–3 inches to buffer moisture and regulate soil temperature. Consistent moisture matters, though the small fruit is less prone to cracking than larger varieties.
Feed balanced through early growth, then shift to phosphorus/potassium-forward once flowering begins.
DIY mix: 2 tbsp fish emulsion + ½ tsp kelp per gallon, every 2–3 weeks.
Calcium at planting — crushed eggshells or gypsum — is good insurance, though blossom end rot is uncommon on fruit this small.
☀️ Oklahoma Heat
42 Days handles Tulsa summers well. The small fruit size means less sunscald risk, and the plant's compact habit keeps things manageable. During peak heat, deep morning watering before temperatures climb is your best tool. Shade cloth (30–40%) in the afternoon helps during the worst weeks but isn't strictly necessary for a plant this resilient.
🛡️ What to Watch For
No formal disease resistance ratings — this is an open-pollinated heirloom. But the speed works in its favor: you'll harvest significant fruit before late-season diseases peak.
Stay ahead of these:
• Early blight — lower leaves in late summer. Remove affected foliage at the stem, don't compost it. Copper fungicide preventively every 7–10 days after wet stretches — follow your product label for exact rates.
• Hornworms — check leaf undersides weekly, hand-pick or apply Bt (1 tsp/gallon, evening spray).
• Aphids — 2 tbsp neem oil + 2 tsp dish soap per gallon.
• Blossom drop — normal during peak heat. Don't panic. It comes back.
🍽️ In the Kitchen
Fresh: Straight off the vine, still warm. That's the move. Toss them in salads, pile them on toast, or just eat them standing in the garden.
Roasted: Halve a few cups' worth, toss with olive oil and salt, roast at 400°F until they blister. Concentrate that flavor.
For Preserving: You'll need volume, but 42 Days gives you volume. Dehydrate them for intense little tomato chips, or blister and freeze for winter pasta sauces.
🪴 Why Our Starts?
Six weeks of professional growing before they reach you — proper lighting, careful watering, hardening off. With a variety this fast, starting from a strong transplant matters even more. A weak start costs you the very thing 42 Days is built for: speed. These go in the ground ready to sprint.
