Early Boy Bush is a hybrid determinate tomato bred for speed and reliability, producing bright red, round fruit in just 50-59 days from transplant. These compact plants reach 18-36 inches tall, making them excellent for small gardens, containers, and tight spaces where full-size indeterminates won't fit. The 5-ounce fruits strike a balance of sweetness and acidity that feels refreshing rather than one-dimensional, and the plants thrive across hardiness zones 2-11, adapting to nearly every growing region in North America.

Photo © True Leaf Market
24
Full Sun
Moderate
2-11
36in H x ?in W
—
High
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Fifty to 59 days from transplant to ripe fruit sounds almost impossible until you grow Early Boy Bush yourself and realize the hype is justified. The compact determinate growth habit means these plants stay manageable without constant pruning, yet they still load with round, medium-sized tomatoes that taste genuinely good, not mealy or flat. The hybrid vigor gives you strong disease resistance across seven different threats, from Fusarium Wilt to Tobacco Mosaic Virus, so you spend your season harvesting instead of troubleshooting.
Early Boy Bush tomatoes work beautifully for fresh slicing, their balanced sweetness and acidity making them equally at home in a summer salad or eaten warm off the vine with a pinch of salt. The 5-ounce size is substantial enough for sandwich slices yet small enough to fit whole into a canning jar, so gardeners with limited space can preserve their harvest without committing to giant beefsteak varieties.
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Start seeds indoors 6-8 weeks before your last spring frost, sowing them 1/4 inch deep in warm soil around 70-75 degrees Fahrenheit. Keep the seed bed moist but not soggy, and provide bright light as soon as seedlings emerge. Transplants are ready to move outdoors once they have their first true leaves and nighttime temperatures consistently stay above 50 degrees.
Harden off seedlings over 7-10 days before planting out, gradually exposing them to outdoor conditions. Transplant into the garden once soil temperature reaches 60 degrees Fahrenheit and all frost danger has passed. Space plants 24 inches apart, setting them slightly deeper than they grew in pots to encourage a stronger root system.
Pick fruits once they achieve full bright red color, which typically signals peak ripeness and flavor. The 50-59 day timeline from transplant to first harvest gives you a reliable window; check plants regularly once you hit day 50, as the compact growth habit concentrates ripening into a shorter period than indeterminate varieties. Twist or cut tomatoes gently from the vine to avoid damaging branches.
Early Boy Bush is determinate, meaning it grows to a fixed height and sets all its fruit within a concentrated window, so extensive pruning is unnecessary. Remove only lower leaves once plants are established to improve air circulation around the base and reduce disease pressure, especially important in humid climates.
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