Twelve Tomato plants, five dates to remember

The first ten days shape the plan

Suppose you want five Spring harvest rounds from twelve Tomato plants, but are deciding whether to sow on Spring 1 or wait. First account for the ten-day initial wait. With daily watering and no growth modifiers, a Spring 1 start reaches its first harvest on Spring 11. The four-day repeat interval cannot bring that first date forward.

The tradeoff is between an earlier first harvest and flexibility in the planting date. If you need a date before Spring 11, this start misses that target regardless of bed size. If five rounds are your goal, compare the complete Spring 1, 2 and 3 sequences before deciding how long to wait.

Build the rhythm one interval at a time

From Spring 11, add four days for each repeat: 15, 19, 23 and 27. That gives five harvest rounds within Spring. A further four-day step reaches 31, beyond the day-28 end of this window. The result ends at 27 because the next interval does not fit, not because the planner has simulated the fate of the plants afterward.

Read these as five visits to the same twelve-plant bed. The quantity tells you how many plants you started with; the round count tells you how many scheduled harvest occasions fit. Multiplying the two does not establish a produce yield. Item quantities and quality are outside the calculation.

• Plant: Spring 1.
• First harvest: Spring 11.
• Return on: Spring 15, 19, 23 and 27.

One day can remove an entire round

Now try Spring 2: the sequence becomes 12, 16, 20, 24 and 28, still five rounds. Spring 3 gives 13, 17, 21 and 25; its next date would be 29. The change from five rounds to four happens at a boundary, even though the planting day moved by only one day.

If five rounds are the requirement, choose Spring 1 or 2 among these starts; choose Spring 1 if you also want the earlier first date. Accept Spring 3 only if four rounds meet your goal. Each sequence assumes harvesting on maturity. Reassess after a late harvest rather than assuming every later appointment stays exact.