My New Personal Best; 4.46 LB Big Zac

[PA_Julia]

Thank you everyone!!

@ DDsak- I let it fully ripen then I seed it. My runners up are 4.03 LB Mega Marv , a
4.01 LB Mega Marv followed by a 3.20 LB Mega Marv. I had seventeen plants devoted to giants only.

@ Dustdevil - That's without electrodes!! LOL!

@ Mr.Big46 - Yes I'm a bit saddened by the end of my season but have been already planning my 2014 giant season so that helps.

@ AK Mark - 2.97 LBS is a very impressive tomato my friend.

@ LDx4 - The Pennsylvania state record is held by Dr. Marvin Meisner who if I'm not mistaken is a member here.
He is who I consider the one with arguably the most knowledge concerning giant tomatoes.
He is also author of the book "" Growing Giant Tomatoes" which is the bible of giant tomato growing.

His PA record setting tomato was grown in the 2011 season and weighed 6.51 LBS.
It is always in the back of my mind as a goal to beat this record.
I will beat it in time.

@ Salsacharley - Your very welcome my friend.

[remy]

Excellent job!
Remy

[PA_Julia]

Thanks Remy!!

[Father'sDaughter]

Congratulations! How long before you find out the results of the competition? Hopefully they won't keep you waiting too long.

[PA_Julia]

Originally Posted by Father'sDaughter

Congratulations! How long before you find out the results of the competition? Hopefully they won't keep you waiting too long.

Hi!! Thank you very much!!

Well I'm up against my friend in Finland. She just grew the new European record for a tomato at 5.80 LBS as well as another woman in France who grew a 5.11 LB giant this season.
There are currently 3 other growers besides the two that I mentioned that have grown heavier than I have this season.

With that being said, my 4.46 LB giant will mostly likely place me in the top 25 out of approx 150 in the contest.
The contest will hit it's peak in entries by early October.

The biggest reward and the one that is most important is the fact that I have gained the respect of the established giant grower community and am accepted as one of them, that's priceless to me.

[AKmark]

I have never intentionally tried to grow a giant tomato, next year I am. What fun, I am totally intrigued Julia, again great job, I love the pics, etc.

[b54red]

Great job. I have never specifically tried to grow huge tomatoes. Do you limit the stems to one and then cull most of the fruit? I wonder if it is possible to grow truly giant tomatoes down here in our heat. Our springs are usually very short and then when the heat gets here there is really little chance of the fruit getting huge before the ripening starts. We had a longer spring than usual and so far a cooler summer and as a result I have had more large tomatoes this year than ever but I did no severe pruning to achieve this. Last year when I did my single stem experiment I did notice the fruit were larger than the others with multiple stems but I didn't cull any of the fruit or blossoms which might have given me larger fruits.

The tomatoes that gave me the largest fruits this year and in the past are Omar's Lebanese, Donskoi, Neves Azorean Red, Gildo Pietroboni, KBX, Virginia Sweet, and Brandywine Sudduth's. Did you use any of those varieties in your experiments?

Bill

[Barbee]

Way to grow it girl!

[PA_Julia]

Thanks you guys!!

@ AK Mark, Many giant vegetables including tomatoes are grown each season up your way.
You can do this!! Purchase this book; Growing Giant Tomatoes by Marv Meisner MD. It's the bible of giant tomato growing. http://www.amazon.com/Giant-Tomatoes.../dp/0975515314 Let me know if I can help you.

@ b54 red, I grow the plant to where the first fruit truss starts. If I have a good mega bloom/fused bloom I will allow it to pollinate. By this time the plant would be approx four feet in height. I then prune the plant to two stems only. The first stem with the fruit truss is allowed to grow to six feet prior to topping it. The second stem is terminated at approx four feet. No other tomatoes are allowed to set.

Barbee- Thank you lady!!

Julia,

Nice big tomato! I planted Giant Belgium this year almost as an after thought simply to see if it would produce some large tomatoes. I thought about trying Big Zack also, but I never seemed to find the time to order seed for Big Zack. My Giant Belgium did produce some fairly large tomatoes, but nothing comparable to yours. I guess you really have to be devoted to "growing for size" if you want really large tomatoes. The bonus from growing Giant Belgium was some unexpectedly good tasting tomatoes. Good luck next year.

Ted

[PA_Julia]

Originally Posted by tedln

Julia,

Nice big tomato! I planted Giant Belgium this year almost as an after thought simply to see if it would produce some large tomatoes. I thought about trying Big Zack also, but I never seemed to find the time to order seed for Big Zack. My Giant Belgium did produce some fairly large tomatoes, but nothing comparable to yours. I guess you really have to be devoted to "growing for size" if you want really large tomatoes. The bonus from growing Giant Belgium was some unexpectedly good tasting tomatoes. Good luck next year.

Ted

Hi Ted,

Growing for size as opposed to quantity is a key part of growing giants.
Many people here find what I'm about to tell you quite odd and funny but out of eighteen plants I had only three tomatoes that I actually grew to eat. They were grown on a few of the plants that produced my four pus pound tomatoes this past season.

I only allow one tomato to grow to maturity and cull everything else, that way the plants energy is focused on that one tomato.

My tally for this past season were three tomatoes that were over 4.00 pounds with my personal best of 4.46 included along with a 3.22 pound example.

My friend Dale in Salt Lake City is a fellow giant grower and runs his own seed company. http://www.gianttomatoseeds.com/giant_tomatoes.html

He will be adding more seed selection after this season is finished being processed.

He has many more selections other than just giants as well.

Lastly, if you are intrigued enough by giants to devote a few plants to such then I must recommend Dr. Marv Meisner's book "" Growing Giant Tomatoes "" as the bible of this aspect of tomato growing.

You can purchase it here; http://www.amazon.com/Giant-Tomatoes.../dp/0975515314

I followed what was in this book to the letter this past season and I accomplished my personal best of 4.46 pounds from what you have seen earlier in this thread.

The contest I was in through the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth for the heaviest tomato was open internationally and currently out of 228 official entries I hold 28th place in the world.
Not too bad for my first serious season of growing giants.
The reason for me placing decently in the rankings is due primarly to Marv Meisner's book along with good seed and being really fussy and devoted to my plants.

There ya go Ted, many will say it's nuts to put in that kind of work for a handful of tomatoes but that's the difference between growing for quantity and growing for weight competition.

Care to join me in this Ted?

[gardenfrog]

Where did you get your Big Zac seeds (Totally Tomatoes?)?

Just FYI, you'll save quite a bit on the book, "Growing Giant Tomatoes", by purchasing the ebook version (Kindle etc.).

Julia,

Since the key to giant tomatoes seems to be the appearance of fused blossoms, is it accidental or is it a random trait of some varieties? Can it be induced? I can only remember a few times in many years when a fused blossom appeared on my plants.

I seem to remember seeing photos of the 7 lb. tomato which supposedly is the "worlds largest" tomato. If my memory is correct, it was a normally shaped tomato which apparently did not result from a fused blossom. I could easily be wrong.

Ted

[PA_Julia]

Originally Posted by tedln

Julia,

Since the key to giant tomatoes seems to be the appearance of fused blossoms, is it accidental or is it a random trait of some varieties? Can it be induced? I can only remember a few times in many years when a fused blossom appeared on my plants.

I seem to remember seeing photos of the 7 lb. tomato which supposedly is the "worlds largest" tomato. If my memory is correct, it was a normally shaped tomato which apparently did not result from a fused blossom. I could easily be wrong.

Ted

The record for the largest tomato was set in 1986 by Gordan Graham from Edmond Oklahoma. It was a 7 LB 12 OZ Delicious strain.

Sadly in the giant growing community naming of personal best tomatoes has lacked the strain that the tomato has originated from.T he Delicious strain that Graham started with was tracked in the beginning but due to this lack of proper record keeping we just don't know where that strain is now. Gordans record setter was from a fused blossom and not the resin cast model Miracle Grow provided him with to take along to appearances he made in behalf of the Miracle Grow comapny.

Minnie Zaccaria of NJ created the Big Zac hybrid strain from a cross that has been kept secret.

Minnie is a revered giant grower that has set many records and is a historic figure in giant tomato growing.

Minnie desired a strain that would consistently create fused blossoms for the sole purpose of growing giant tomatoes.

Fused blossoms cannot be solely induced but you can increase the percentage of fused blossoms occuring by using a very high percentage of potassium like what's found in Miracle Grow's Bloom Booster nursery formula 10-52-10 which can be found for sale in higher quality plant centers and nurseries as opposed to the lower potassium variety that bears the same name "" bloom Booster"" found at home centers like Lowes and Home Depot.

Growing for weight competition using organic methods alone is not adequate for inducing higher weights.

A regime of both organic and synthetic fertilizer along with a soil PH of 6.0 to 6.8 is ideal.

I hope this helps you Ted.

[PA_Julia]

Originally Posted by gardenfrog

Where did you get your Big Zac seeds (Totally Tomatoes?)?

Just FYI, you'll save quite a bit on the book, "Growing Giant Tomatoes", by purchasing the ebook version (Kindle etc.).

My initial purchase of Big Zac seeds came from Reimer in 2012.

From that I grew my 2 LB 8.6 OZ personal best without educating myself on giant tomato growing.

From that saved seed I grew my 4.46 LB personal Best. Of course my growing methods were completely different this past season than what they were in 2012.

Concerning purchasing the e-book version of Dr. Meisners book.

That's OK for those that just read the book without making notes in the margins and highlighting with a yellow highlighter.

This past season I also had the book half way in the dirt as I was refreshing my memory on pruning methods while at the same time actually pruning.

My copy of the book looks like it went through the ringer because it has gone through the ringer.

Electronic media just doesn't provide what's necessary in order to actually use the book as an ongoing guide while out in the garden where you should be in the first place.