What did You do Right?

[ducks4you]

This post should probably be moved off a thread about finding the "right" path because the tomatoes went both ways. Late – the most of them are showing up at what could be the absolute end of the season. We have had frosts plenty of years by this date.

Dragging their feet, nonetheless, they are certainly larger than usual. The size just might be the result of using compost as a mulch. All of the recent years, I have grown potted cherry tomatoes in 100% homemade compost. Pots of 6 gallon capacity restrict plant growth and the same varieties, in the open garden 17 miles away, always did better.

I've never grown beefsteak tomatoes here at home and, if I ever mulched tomatoes, I don't remember it. Applying organic fertilizer mid-season is common practice.

Well, the tomatoes ripening are "full size" in 2024.

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This Gary O Sena is 1 1/4 pounds. I had to restore seed from Restoration Seed several years ago and they say that Gary O Sena can produce 20 ounce fruit. Bingo. However, it has never done that for me.
Here's a thread I put on TEG a dozen years ago and you can see the larger tomato in the first group is Gary O Sena. What I wrote was that it was 14 ounces. Well, some of them are 6 ounces larger in '24! LINK

Stephen

I had the SAME result this year, even THOUGH my tomato transplants didn't get into the ground until July and DH was convinced I wouldn't have Any tomatoes at all.
Locally, gardeners who followed all of the rules and got their tomatoes in the ground by early June had a dismal season due to up and down excessive heat and drought vs heavy rains.
Don't think we will Ever have another season like this one.
BUT, I want to encourage all of you out there to not give up if you can't get your tomatoes in the ground on time, bc there can be a short window of time to plant after the preferred calendar dates.
I, too had huge fruit like @digitS' .
Reminds me of bringing the "mean girls," the 3 week old kittens who lost their mother and were starving.
Both this year's tomatoes AND the kittens fit neatly in my hand.
I should also say that my Asparagus is looking lovely--6-7 ft fronds that I caged in, lest they fall over into the lawn--and I expect a very nice 2025 Spring asparagus harvest, payback for planting and patience.
I finally found the right bed for them, back of the 4 car garage, some 20 ft+ of space that wanted to sport weeds before this.
I should also say that I didn't purchase only male asparagus, therefore, when I go out this winter to prune my fruit trees I can gather asparagus seeds and think about where to plant them in 2025 as filler that Might grow more asparagus to eat!