Hi There Has anyone attempted to grow San Marzano's from seed in Vancouver? When did you start the seeds and where? Indoor or outdoor? How long did it take for them to germinate? Also, I have been trying to find a good resource for growing these on the web and there does not seem to be a lot out there? Does anyone have a resource they can recommend? Thanks D
Tomato plants need tropical heat to grow. Some people here grow them under cover most or all of the time. They definitely need indoor conditions to get started, planting the seeds outdoors is not liable to result in good yields before the growing season ends. Even when setting out transplants started indoors short-season varieties must be used to get much production during our cool summers.
I grow fifty tomato plants every year [4 varieties-2 Italian] in a cold greenhouse. I start the plants inside in mid March and transplant into the greenhouse sometime after the first of May depending on temperatures. I always have a great crop.
I tried growing San Marzano tomatoes in South Surrey 3 years in a row. Every year, I started the seeds indoors in early March and transplanted them outdoors in late May. The plants looked as strong and as healthy as all of the other varieties of tomatoes I grew the same way. However, the San Marzano tomato plants ended up with a very low yield (only 5-6 tomatoes per plant). I think they just needed a hotter location (my tomato patch is in the middle of an open lawn, unsheltered from the wind). Good luck!
San Marzano variety sounds like they need warmth and sun specifically, or they are not so great http://www.hawthornfarm.ca/tomatoes.html#sanmarzano