Jackson’s frost-free window runs roughly 230 to 260 days most years, which is longer than the “short-season variety” advice you’ll find aimed at gardeners further north ever accounts for. That advice assumes a race against frost. Here, almost any catalog tomato has time to mature if it goes in the ground on schedule — the real question is how much cushion you want, and how much heat and humidity the plant sits through getting there.
What this comes down to in Mississippi
With NOAA’s 1991-2020 normals putting Jackson’s frost-free window at roughly 230 to 260 days depending on the year, almost every catalog tomato has time to mature here if it’s transplanted on schedule. The real question isn’t whether a variety will ripen, it’s how much cushion you want before frost and how much of the state’s heat and humidity the plant has to sit through along the way. A short-season cherry tomato gives you fruit by early June and months of picking after that, while an 80-plus day heirloom won’t set its first ripe fruit until late June, still with a wide margin before Jackson’s fall freeze. If you haven’t worked out bed prep and spacing yet, the guide to growing tomatoes in Mississippi covers that ground. This page sticks to which varieties actually fit the calendar.
Sakura
Sakura reaches its first ripe fruit around 55 days from transplant, the fastest cherry tomato on this list. Catalog figures put first ripe fruit in late May for a mid-March to early-April transplant, leaving roughly 161 days of margin before Jackson’s fall freeze window opens. It carries intermediate resistance to nematodes and high resistance to Tomato Mosaic Virus and Fusarium wilt races 1 and 2, useful in a bed that’s grown tomatoes before.
Sun Gold
Sun Gold matures in about 57 days from transplant, putting first ripe fruit in early June and around 159 days of margin before fall frost. It’s an indeterminate vine that keeps producing sweet, thin-skinned fruit through summer, and it carries high resistance to Tobacco Mosaic Virus and Fusarium wilt race 1. It’s a snacking tomato, not one you’ll can, but it’s usually the first ripe fruit of the season for gardeners who grow it.
Jasper
Jasper also runs about 60 days from transplant to first ripe fruit in early June, with about 156 days of margin before frost. Its high resistance to Late Blight is the standout trait, useful in the wetter, more humid parts of the state where foliar disease pressure builds fast once the rains and heat arrive together.
Juliet
Juliet matures at roughly 60 days from transplant as well, producing small grape-shaped fruit in early June. It holds intermediate resistance to both Early Blight and Late Blight, and the fruit’s thicker skin holds up better than a round cherry tomato’s if you’re slow to pick.
Amalfi
Amalfi needs about 68 days from transplant, ripening in mid June with roughly 148 days of margin before frost. It’s a determinate paste tomato on a compact, bushy plant, bred with intermediate resistance to Late Blight and Early Blight along with nematodes, which suits it to a smaller bed or a container where a sprawling indeterminate vine wouldn’t fit.
Cherokee Purple
Cherokee Purple takes about 72 days from transplant, ripening mid June with roughly 144 days of margin before Jackson’s fall freeze. It has no listed disease resistance, so it leans harder on good airflow and crop rotation than the hybrids on this list, but the flavor is the reason gardeners keep growing it anyway.
Big Beef Plus
Big Beef Plus also matures around 72 days from transplant, producing large red beefsteak fruit by mid June. It carries intermediate resistance to nematodes and high resistance to Gray Leaf Spot and Tomato Mosaic Virus, a useful combination in a state where humidity keeps foliar disease pressure high most summers.
Tiren
Tiren runs about 75 days from transplant to first ripe fruit in mid June, with roughly 141 days of margin before frost. It’s bred with high resistance to Verticillium wilt, Tomato Mosaic Virus and Fusarium wilt race 1, a strong disease package for a slicing tomato of this size.
San Marzano II
San Marzano II needs about 78 days from transplant, ripening late June with roughly 138 days of margin before fall frost. It’s the classic long, narrow paste tomato for sauce and canning, and the extra length of the Mississippi season gives it plenty of room even with a late start.
Amish Paste
Amish Paste is the longest-season variety on this list at about 85 days from transplant, with first ripe fruit in late June and still around 131 days of margin before Jackson’s fall freeze. It has no listed disease resistance package, so it benefits most from the crop rotation and spacing habits covered in the main growing guide.
| Variety | Days from transplant | Plant type | Key resistance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sakura | 55 | Indeterminate | Fusarium 1, 2; Tomato Mosaic Virus |
| Sun Gold | 57 | Indeterminate | Tobacco Mosaic Virus; Fusarium 1 |
| Jasper | 60 | Indeterminate | Late Blight (high) |
| Juliet | 60 | Indeterminate | Early and Late Blight (intermediate) |
| Amalfi | 68 | Determinate | Nematodes, Early/Late Blight (intermediate) |
| Cherokee Purple | 72 | Indeterminate | None listed |
| Big Beef Plus | 72 | Indeterminate | Gray Leaf Spot; Tomato Mosaic Virus |
| Tiren | 75 | Indeterminate | Verticillium; Fusarium 1 |
| San Marzano II | 78 | Indeterminate | None listed |
| Amish Paste | 85 | Indeterminate | None listed |
Working it out for your own garden
The method matters more than any single date, because it still works if you move counties or hit an odd year. Start from NOAA’s 1991-2020 frost normals for Jackson: last spring freeze March 6 to March 22, first fall freeze November 7 to November 22. Add a cultivar’s days-to-maturity to your transplant date, and you get a range for first ripe fruit, not a single day, because your transplant window is itself a range.
A variety that finishes early
Take Sun Gold at 57 days from transplant. Setting it out anywhere from mid March to early April puts first ripe fruit in early June. Counting forward from early June to Jackson’s fall freeze window of November 7 to November 22 leaves about 159 days of growing time left on the vine, far more than the plant needs to keep fruiting through summer.
A late replant that doesn’t leave much room
Now run the same math on a second, mid-summer planting instead of a spring one. Amish Paste needs 85 days from transplant. Counting backward 85 days from Jackson’s fall freeze window puts the latest safe transplant date for a fall crop somewhere in mid to late August, and any later than that risks the fruit still being green when frost arrives. That’s the kind of arithmetic worth doing before you commit a long-season variety to a second planting, rather than after.
For a fuller walk through spring transplant dates by variety, see Tomato Planting Dates in Mississippi: Counting Back From Your Frost Window.
What changes across the state
Jackson’s frost dates are a starting point, not a state-wide promise. USDA’s Plant Hardiness Zone Map places Mississippi across zones 7b to 9a, and that spread alone tells you the growing season isn’t the same length everywhere. The Gulf Coast counties in the southern part of the state generally see a longer frost-free stretch than the hill country farther north, since large bodies of water moderate temperature swings in both directions, warmer in winter and slower to heat up in spring.
Elevation works the other way. The hillier northeast corner of the state sits higher than the Delta or the coastal plain, and cold air pools in low spots and lingers longer on clear, still nights, which can push a local frost date later in spring and earlier in fall than a nearby town at lower elevation would see. None of this changes the arithmetic in the section above, it just shifts where on the range your county actually falls.
Because the FACTS behind this page come from one reference station, treat Jackson’s numbers as the middle of the state’s range rather than the edge. A gardener near the coast can often push a long-season heirloom like Amish Paste or San Marzano II with less worry about the fall freeze, while a gardener in the northern hills should lean toward the shorter end of this list and watch the extended forecast closely in early fall.
The mistakes this state punishes
The most common one is transplanting into soil that’s still cold underneath after a few warm, sunny days on top. Tomatoes stall in cold soil even if the air feels warm enough, and a stalled transplant loses days it never gets back, which matters most for a long-season variety with less margin to spare. Wait until the soil itself has warmed, not just the afternoon air.
The second is picking a variety for the picture on the seed packet instead of the calendar. An 85-day heirloom like Amish Paste has plenty of room in a normal spring planting here, but the same variety pushed into a July or August replant for a fall crop can run out of season fast, as the arithmetic above shows. Match the variety to the planting date you’re actually using, not just the one printed on the packet.
The third is ignoring pest pressure until it’s already cost you fruit. Several pests specific to this state arrive on a fairly predictable schedule each season, and missing that window means treating damage instead of preventing it. The details on Which Ones Actually Show Up Here, and when, are covered in Tomato Pests in Mississippi: Which Ones Actually Show Up Here.
Checking this against your county
Everything on this page is calculated from Jackson’s frost data, and Jackson is one city in a state that runs from the Gulf Coast to the Tennessee line. Before you commit to a planting date or a variety list, check your own county’s extension office and the state’s tomato guidance through Mississippi State University Extension, which can tell you how your local conditions differ from the reference figures used here.
Common questions
Can I still grow Cherokee Purple if I’m in north Mississippi?
Yes, at 72 days from transplant it has roughly 144 days of margin before Jackson’s fall freeze window, and even with a shorter season farther north there’s usually enough room. Just don’t delay the spring transplant waiting for a warm stretch, since that’s the days you can’t get back.
Which of these varieties is best for canning?
San Marzano II and Amish Paste are both bred as paste tomatoes for sauce and canning, with dense flesh and fewer seeds than a slicing variety. Amalfi is also a paste type but on a shorter, determinate plant, useful if you want a canning tomato without a sprawling vine.
Do I need to pick disease-resistant varieties in Mississippi specifically?
Resistance codes on the seed packet apply everywhere, they aren’t specific to this state, but Mississippi’s humidity does make foliar diseases like Early and Late Blight more common than in drier climates. Varieties like Jasper, Juliet and Amalfi carry resistance to those specifically, which is worth weighing if your beds have had blight problems before.
Is it too late to plant tomatoes if I missed the early spring window?
Not necessarily, since the season here runs long enough that a shorter-day variety like Sakura or Sun Gold can still be set out later and finish well before fall frost. Check the transplant math for your specific variety against your county’s frost dates rather than assuming you’ve missed the whole season.