Giant tomato diary

[journey11]

I never thought much about the fruit's position on the vine. Interesting how that affects the growth. The rain has been crazy here lately. We've had a little here and there, just enough to be a pain in the butt for DH's plans to mow the grass...but not enough to effectively water the garden. You must have gotten a better downpour the other day than we did. I'm just hoping it will all clear out in time for a nice 4th of July.

Delicious is one of my favorites. I like them for canning, but mostly for tomato sandwiches!

 

[bj taylor]

i'm kinda a cowardly gardener. I tend to stick with what works. what works here is celebrity. don't tell my vines, but i'm not a huge celebrity fan. they have thick skins (I don't like tomato skins), and they tend to go mealy. BUT they are my producers above anything else. it's a case of 'you can't argue with success'. I think I have matured enough as a tomato grower that i'm ready to branch out to other varieties next year. I know I've become a grown up tomato grower because today I actually cut stems that were in the way, or growing where I couldn't assess the plant very well. i'm so proud of me. I think I've graduated into a true tomato grower. :rose

 

[MontyJ]

We have been getting poured on constantly Journey. If I were a rice farmer, we would have a bumper crop. Vine position can play a large role in fruit size. Consider, if a fruit is growing on a secondary, it can only draw from nutrients that the secondary vine draws. A fruit grown on the main, can draw from the flow heading to the entire plant above it. Same with pumpkins. A secondary will usually never grow a fruit as large as the main vine will. It has its downside though. The main vine fruit is more likely to split than the secondary is for the same reason. That's why a sink is important. It's much better if the sink is on the same vine though, which mine wasn't.

Bj, I prune all of my tomatoes. The competition plants are pruned heavily. I remove all suckers and leave only the main vine and any fruiting vines that form. This variety will sometimes produce what looks like a flowering stem, but will turn into a vine after the initial blossom. I cut those vines off right after the flowers, but it is still technically a secondary and will continue to produce suckers. My canners are pruned to produce about 3 mains. All other suckers are removed below the first fruit set. I then remove all suckers from the three mains. I may let a few go later if the fruit needs more shading. Pruning this way does reduce yield slightly, but produces larger, healthier fruit. It also reduces disease pressure by providing better air flow through the plant and lets more sunlight into the plant.

If the weather will cooperate, I'll take some more detailed pictures of my pruning technique so you can see what I'm talking about.

 

[Jared77]

If the weather will cooperate, I'll take some more detailed pictures of my pruning technique so you can see what I'm talking about.

Hoping the weather cooperates. I'm very curious....

 

[Collector]

Things seem to be progressing great. Can't wait to see them Set fruit, will you pull all the maters off until there is only one left to grow?

 

[MontyJ]

I'll usually leave 2-3 fruit on the plant and remove everything else once I'm happy with a set. The extra fruit help cushion against large influxes of water from heavy rain. It still won't quit raining.