OK - So I'm in this contest..Any Ideas?

franknmiss · May 23, 2017

Our county has a tomato contest every year.
This is my third year to participate.
How it works:
The County Extension Agent selects a tomato to be grown.
The local orphanage starts them in their greenhouse.
At the kickoff meeting we pay an entry fee and get two plants to grow.
We are given a two week window to bring in our best tomato to be weighed in
The heaviest tomato wins.
The Rules are: Don't Cheat!

This year we are growing Rocky Top, a determinate hybrid market type tomato.
75 DTM.
This is usually not a large tomato and being a determinate has thrown me on how to handle it.
So far:
I planted my two plants on April 20th.
The weigh in is between July 1st and July 15th.
As of today, one plant in a sunnier spot is 3 feet tall and the other 2 ft tall.
Both are covered with blooms.
Being a different kind of contest tomato, any ideas on what to do to grow a big one?
I'm open to any ideas -I usually don't grow hybrid determinate plants.
I've placed first and second in the past - I'll give the prize money to the orphanage.
I want my picture in the paper

Frank

Gardeneer · May 23, 2017

I have not done this but I have heard that you limit the number of tomatoes ( one ? or two ? per truss). Supposedly all the energy coming to that truss will go into the ones you keep.
Moore food/energy , bigger tomatoes.

Cole_Robbie · May 23, 2017

I agree to prune off almost all the blooms or small fruit. A fused blossom will give you your heaviest fruit, because they are multiple fruits stuck together. I'd make sure the plant was never water-stressed, and use a high potassium fertilizer, like 4-18-38.

AlittleSalt · May 23, 2017

The advise already given is what people do to grow the biggest tomatoes.

May 24, 2017

My biggest tomatoes were grown next to a sidewalk by our house (perhaps they like growing roots under the sidewalk or something). Some of my most productive tomatoes were also grown next to the sidewalk. It should be noted that sidewalks may contain heavy metals, though (due to fly ash); if true, I'm not sure why my plants seemed to like it so much.

May 24, 2017

If you want them to be heavy, more water may help. In addition to the benefits of potassium, copper can help fruits absorb water (I don't know if they end up heavier, but it seems like they may).

Excess nitrogen can lead to smaller, but more numerous, fruits, according to a sudy I found.

I think some people say they prune their plants (not just flowers) a certain way to get bigger and/or more fruits, but how they do it may depend on what kind of tomato. I'm not sure that their methods would help for determinates.

I don't know about weight, but I've found that tomatoes often shrink some after ripening more than a bit.

You might try putting images of plants with enormous tomatoes next to your plant.

I've found that plants often seem to look more like the plants next to them (even different species) than is generally the case. It could be coincidence, or natural selection, though (which may not help you here). I mean, if catnip coincidentally looks like a strawberry plant (in the middle of a bunch of strawberry plants), then you're less likely to notice that it's catnip and pull it up, and it may survive long enough to produce seeds for another generation of potentially strawberry-like catnip.

Worth1 · May 24, 2017

If I were the judge I would disqualify any fused bloom tomatoes.
Worth

Spike2 · May 24, 2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by Worth1

If I were the judge I would disqualify any fused bloom tomatoes.
Worth

How would you tell? Would they look different or something?

StrongPlant · May 24, 2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spike2

How would you tell? Would they look different or something?

Oh yeah.They're ugly,swollen,huge and have extremely thick petals ussualy with a large number of sepals.They're offten catfaced,too.Boy I can't wait for some of mine to ripen so I can post them in the ugly tomatoes thread.

Worth1 · May 24, 2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spike2

How would you tell? Would they look different or something?

Two types twin blooms and ugly fused blooms that have all kinds of green crap growing out of the center.
The former I might allow on a good bribe but the fused bloom no.
The twin bloom tomato looks like a fat canoe and is edible nothing wrong with it at all.

Just like a twin squash.
Worth

My Foot Smells · May 25, 2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by Worth1

If I were the judge I would disqualify any fused bloom tomatoes.
Worth

concur. I never understood why ppl try to brag about "biggest" tomato with fused fruit.

Sounds like this contest could come down to 1/10 oz. interesting replies.

Good Luck !!

Cole_Robbie · May 25, 2017

It would be funny if someone grafted the plants they were given.

franknmiss · May 25, 2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

It would be funny if someone grafted the plants they were given.

Ha! Actually I thought about doing that since I followed the grafting thread this spring and grafted some with RST-04-106-T, but didn't think I would have enough time to get to the weigh in.
Wouldn't consider that cheating - Right?

Gardeneer · May 25, 2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by franknmiss

Ha! Actually I thought about doing that since I followed the grafting thread this spring and grafted some with RST-04-106-T, but didn't think I would have enough time to get to the weigh in.
Wouldn't consider that cheating - Right?

It could. Because you are supposed ti grow what you are given.

Grafting, however, does not necessarily produces big tomatoes. It makes a disease resisting. vigorous pant that might fruit more tomatoes (bigger root system, bigger plant ). Also grafting does not affect the genetics of the scion.

Gardeneer · May 24, 2017

Lot of varieties never grow fused or cat face tomatoes. But double fused happen quite often.
I know Brandy Boy does that. I already have few of them in my garden. If you look at the blossom end you will see a stretched blossom mark. Otherwise the fruit is normal with a boat like shape.

May 23, 2017	#1
franknmiss Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Columbus, MS Living on the Edge ( Of Zone 7b/8a that is..) Posts: 50	OK - So I'm in this contest..Any Ideas? Our county has a tomato contest every year. This is my third year to participate. How it works: The County Extension Agent selects a tomato to be grown. The local orphanage starts them in their greenhouse. At the kickoff meeting we pay an entry fee and get two plants to grow. We are given a two week window to bring in our best tomato to be weighed in The heaviest tomato wins. The Rules are: Don't Cheat! This year we are growing Rocky Top, a determinate hybrid market type tomato. 75 DTM. This is usually not a large tomato and being a determinate has thrown me on how to handle it. So far: I planted my two plants on April 20th. The weigh in is between July 1st and July 15th. As of today, one plant in a sunnier spot is 3 feet tall and the other 2 ft tall. Both are covered with blooms. Being a different kind of contest tomato, any ideas on what to do to grow a big one? I'm open to any ideas -I usually don't grow hybrid determinate plants. I've placed first and second in the past - I'll give the prize money to the orphanage. I want my picture in the paper Frank

May 23, 2017	#2
Gardeneer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: NC - zone 8a - heat zone 7 Posts: 4,916	I have not done this but I have heard that you limit the number of tomatoes ( one ? or two ? per truss). Supposedly all the energy coming to that truss will go into the ones you keep. Moore food/energy , bigger tomatoes. __________________ Gardeneer Happy Gardening !

May 24, 2017	#5
shule1 Guest Posts: n/a	My biggest tomatoes were grown next to a sidewalk by our house (perhaps they like growing roots under the sidewalk or something). Some of my most productive tomatoes were also grown next to the sidewalk. It should be noted that sidewalks may contain heavy metals, though (due to fly ash); if true, I'm not sure why my plants seemed to like it so much. Last edited by shule1; May 24, 2017 at 07:12 AM.

May 24, 2017	#6
shule1 Guest Posts: n/a	If you want them to be heavy, more water may help. In addition to the benefits of potassium, copper can help fruits absorb water (I don't know if they end up heavier, but it seems like they may). Excess nitrogen can lead to smaller, but more numerous, fruits, according to a sudy I found. I think some people say they prune their plants (not just flowers) a certain way to get bigger and/or more fruits, but how they do it may depend on what kind of tomato. I'm not sure that their methods would help for determinates. I don't know about weight, but I've found that tomatoes often shrink some after ripening more than a bit. You might try putting images of plants with enormous tomatoes next to your plant. I've found that plants often seem to look more like the plants next to them (even different species) than is generally the case. It could be coincidence, or natural selection, though (which may not help you here). I mean, if catnip coincidentally looks like a strawberry plant (in the middle of a bunch of strawberry plants), then you're less likely to notice that it's catnip and pull it up, and it may survive long enough to produce seeds for another generation of potentially strawberry-like catnip. Last edited by shule1; May 24, 2017 at 07:39 AM.

May 24, 2017	#15
Gardeneer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: NC - zone 8a - heat zone 7 Posts: 4,916	Lot of varieties never grow fused or cat face tomatoes. But double fused happen quite often. I know Brandy Boy does that. I already have few of them in my garden. If you look at the blossom end you will see a stretched blossom mark. Otherwise the fruit is normal with a boat like shape. __________________ Gardeneer Happy Gardening !

May 23, 2017	#3
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	I agree to prune off almost all the blooms or small fruit. A fused blossom will give you your heaviest fruit, because they are multiple fruits stuck together. I'd make sure the plant was never water-stressed, and use a high potassium fertilizer, like 4-18-38.

May 23, 2017	#4
AlittleSalt BANNED FOR LIFE Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 13,333	The advise already given is what people do to grow the biggest tomatoes.

May 24, 2017	#7
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	If I were the judge I would disqualify any fused bloom tomatoes. Worth

May 25, 2017	#12
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	It would be funny if someone grafted the plants they were given.