Very strange situation-reversed truss flower size/last year.

michael johnson · June 16, 2006

I have a very strange situation developing gradualy with this seasons plants against last seasons performance, and I cant quite as yet understand why, but maybe we shall see further development as the season rolls on !!.

The main difference is that all the varieties that I have that are supposed to have standard truss sizes-say 8-12 single truss toms, have developed multi-branching massive trusses with lots and lots of flowers-for example I have a couple of (Vorlon) plants that for the first truss , have developed a triple branching truss with 20 to 30 flowers on them, (Brandywine Sudduth) has done more or less the same, and I am pretty sure they are not supposed to do that, and its pretty much the same accross a wide list of varieties- Lucky me, as I am not complaining one single bit about it.-yet !!.

But -on the other hand, a top variety of mine that performed 100 % last season (Jasper ) which almost broke the holding stakes with the weight of the tomatoes and massive spreading multiflora type trusses with 60 + flowers or more on each truss, has so far-reversed the situation this season and for the first truss has only produced a single truss with perhaps a dozen tomatoes on it, but further up the stem other flower trusses are developing and I cant quite see as yet if they are bigger and more branching than the first,but they dont seem to be as big so far-but we shall see, the funny thing is that all the seeds of this variety came out of the same pkt as the ones last season-that did so well.

But yet again- my few plants of Rose Quartz-Multiflora, have developed massive multiflora type trusses from the first truss upwards- as I expected they would.

All this strange season behaviour is leaving me a bit confused at the moment, but \I will probably work it out as the season goes on.

The only thing that I have done to change anything this season/from last, is to dig into the top compost in february- some granulated seaweed meal, and something new that I am trying for the first time- powdered rock dust- that is supposed to contain all 77 trace elements and more, when I first applied it -I slipped up a bit, as I left it un-dug into the surface for a couple of days, and with the damp soil it set like concrete, but I quickly broke it up and dug it in eventualy, fairly expensive stuff- £18.00 for a 20lb bag, delivered from some place in scotland- the organic rock dust centre or something like that, from their photographic evidence it was wonderfull stuff and produced show quality vegetables from barren empty soil. well worth a visit on the net.

So far results have been very impressive with fine healthy plants with very healthy leaves of good dark green colour, but very confusing on truss size reversal in some varieties,

.

tanagerzoo · June 16, 2006

Hi Michael,
How's Jasper? I have seeds for the variety, but it didn't make the cut this year. It is tentatively planned for 2007.

Thanks,
Christine

Fert1 · June 16, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by michael johnson

...The main difference is that all the varieties that I have that are supposed to have standard truss sizes-say 8-12 single truss toms, have developed multi-branching massive trusses with lots and lots of flowers-for example I have a couple of (Vorlon) plants that for the first truss , have developed a triple branching truss with 20 to 30 flowers on them...

Yes, I am seeing the exact same thing. Some of my cherry tomato trusses are huge, like 3 different trusses merged into one. My Azoychka also has a couple of flower clusters like that, (25 blooms on one of them), and my Cherokee Purple has a few that look like several flower clusters merged together. Cherokee Purple has been a good tasting tomato for me, but not a huge producer. I'm hoping to get a little better production this year, since this one has so many blooms. Must be the funky weather or something.

Vince · June 16, 2006

I have noticed giant multi-branched trusses on my Brandywine plants. Unfortunately most of the blossums just dropped off because of high heat. I think I saw one or two new fruit today among several giant nearly naked trusses. This is the first time I have grown Brandywine so I don't know if this is typical. All of the other varieties look like they have normal looking trusses.

Vince

domoarimato · June 17, 2006

Michael, just out of curiosity, did you grow any currant types in your 'mater patch last year? If so and you are growing from your own saved seedstock, this could be a plausible explanation. One plant of l. pinellifolium can corrupt a whole bunch of seedstock. Just curious...-Bri

michael johnson · June 17, 2006

No- I didnt grow any currenty type tomatoes amongst the others, but most of the tomato seed I have sown this year are from different scources around the world which have had no previous contact with any of my previous years plants, some of which I am growing for the first time.

Christine- Jasper is normaly a wonderfull plant to grow, with massive spreading trusses of flowers simular to rose quartz multiflora, but grows a bit differently like a normal indeterminate plant- to eight foot tall , or more.

I first grew it last season when it was first advertised in the UK catalogues, as did a lot of other uk people too, and it was very impressive , almost to the exclusion of all others-at the end of the season, it was pumping them out like mad, we could hardly keep pace with its production rate, I was eating about 10 to 15 of them at two to three meals a day, until I got to the stage where I could hardly look another tomato in the face, and it was still beating me.

This years crop is slightly different-even though the seeds are from the original pkt of seeds that I grew the first plants from, only in the fact that the first truss on the stem is a semi single truss instead of a spreading multi-branching type,But- since writing my post yesterday I have been out in the garden with a large magnifying glass and examined the very tips of the plants of Jasper, and I can just see the new flower buds forming up the stem on new trusses there are about three new trusses forming about an inch apart up the stem tip, and they look to have a lot more flowers and branching capabilities than the first truss did, so it looks like it will perform the same as last year after all and wont let me down,

I think the reason the first truss on this particular variety was only a bit smaller this year because of reduced light levels in the early part of the year, as I sowed the seed a month earlier in feb, rather than the second week in march like I usualy do.

Its a realy wonderfull variety to grow and well worth the effort, if you like being completly stuffed to the gills with very tasty scrumptious moorish salad size tomatoes, almost everybody I know personaly in the UK that has grown it has said the same thing about it as a variety. the only thing you will need as an extra- to go with it is a large woodsmans axe- in order to fell it like a tree at the end of the season, as its that vigorous - a real jack and the beanstalk type of plant.

stew008 · June 17, 2006

Volcanic rockdust is supposed to work miracles for the soil, re-mineralising it, next year I'm going to try using it too, my soil is poor and my toms this year are looking a bit poorly.

Fert1 · June 17, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by michael johnson

No- I didnt grow any currenty type tomatoes amongst the others, but most of the tomato seed I have sown this year are from different scources around the world which have had no previous contact with any of my previous years plants, some of which I am growing for the first time.

Same here, and since it looks like we don't even live in the same country, I can't help but wonder what's up with it. I posted an earlier thread asking if that sort of thing was normal in Azoychka, then I noticed some of my other plants doing the same thing. What has your weather been like this year?

michael johnson · June 18, 2006

whatever the reason- it looks as though folks- some of us are going to get a bumper huge crop this year (lucky us

) but- only if when noticed- you go all out to pollinate these huge trusses by giving them a helping hand ie - shaking, tapping with a stick. electronic sonic toothbrush treatment - ( absolutly the best way ), etc.

The volcanic rock dust treatment seems to be absolutly marvelous so far.

June 16, 2006	#1
michael johnson Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: UK. Posts: 960	Very strange situation-reversed truss flower size/last year. I have a very strange situation developing gradualy with this seasons plants against last seasons performance, and I cant quite as yet understand why, but maybe we shall see further development as the season rolls on !!. The main difference is that all the varieties that I have that are supposed to have standard truss sizes-say 8-12 single truss toms, have developed multi-branching massive trusses with lots and lots of flowers-for example I have a couple of (Vorlon) plants that for the first truss , have developed a triple branching truss with 20 to 30 flowers on them, (Brandywine Sudduth) has done more or less the same, and I am pretty sure they are not supposed to do that, and its pretty much the same accross a wide list of varieties- Lucky me, as I am not complaining one single bit about it.-yet !!. But -on the other hand, a top variety of mine that performed 100 % last season (Jasper ) which almost broke the holding stakes with the weight of the tomatoes and massive spreading multiflora type trusses with 60 + flowers or more on each truss, has so far-reversed the situation this season and for the first truss has only produced a single truss with perhaps a dozen tomatoes on it, but further up the stem other flower trusses are developing and I cant quite see as yet if they are bigger and more branching than the first,but they dont seem to be as big so far-but we shall see, the funny thing is that all the seeds of this variety came out of the same pkt as the ones last season-that did so well. But yet again- my few plants of Rose Quartz-Multiflora, have developed massive multiflora type trusses from the first truss upwards- as I expected they would. All this strange season behaviour is leaving me a bit confused at the moment, but \I will probably work it out as the season goes on. The only thing that I have done to change anything this season/from last, is to dig into the top compost in february- some granulated seaweed meal, and something new that I am trying for the first time- powdered rock dust- that is supposed to contain all 77 trace elements and more, when I first applied it -I slipped up a bit, as I left it un-dug into the surface for a couple of days, and with the damp soil it set like concrete, but I quickly broke it up and dug it in eventualy, fairly expensive stuff- £18.00 for a 20lb bag, delivered from some place in scotland- the organic rock dust centre or something like that, from their photographic evidence it was wonderfull stuff and produced show quality vegetables from barren empty soil. well worth a visit on the net. So far results have been very impressive with fine healthy plants with very healthy leaves of good dark green colour, but very confusing on truss size reversal in some varieties, .

June 16, 2006	#4
Vince Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Riverside, CA Posts: 942	I have noticed giant multi-branched trusses on my Brandywine plants. Unfortunately most of the blossums just dropped off because of high heat. I think I saw one or two new fruit today among several giant nearly naked trusses. This is the first time I have grown Brandywine so I don't know if this is typical. All of the other varieties look like they have normal looking trusses. Vince __________________ Vince

June 16, 2006	#2
tanagerzoo Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Zone 7 Delaware Posts: 67	Hi Michael, How's Jasper? I have seeds for the variety, but it didn't make the cut this year. It is tentatively planned for 2007. Thanks, Christine

June 17, 2006	#5
domoarimato Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 29	Michael, just out of curiosity, did you grow any currant types in your 'mater patch last year? If so and you are growing from your own saved seedstock, this could be a plausible explanation. One plant of l. pinellifolium can corrupt a whole bunch of seedstock. Just curious...-Bri

June 17, 2006	#7
stew008 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Scotland Posts: 7	Volcanic rockdust is supposed to work miracles for the soil, re-mineralising it, next year I'm going to try using it too, my soil is poor and my toms this year are looking a bit poorly.

June 18, 2006	#9
michael johnson Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: UK. Posts: 960	whatever the reason- it looks as though folks- some of us are going to get a bumper huge crop this year (lucky us ) but- only if when noticed- you go all out to pollinate these huge trusses by giving them a helping hand ie - shaking, tapping with a stick. electronic sonic toothbrush treatment - ( absolutly the best way ), etc. The volcanic rock dust treatment seems to be absolutly marvelous so far.