Tomato Mega Blooms

[Uncle Dunkel]

In your opion what causes mega blooms or some may call them fused blooms?

I would like for my giants to develop more.

Tim

[Stvrob]

I don't know, but I usually see them on the first truss of the season. For some reason this year, none of them set fruit.

[b54red]

I have a mega bloom unlike any I have ever had this year on one of my plants. The fruit cluster only sent out one flower. It didn't even have any stems on it for other flowers, just one single stem with one big bloom on it. The cluster above it is normal.
It does seem that the larger fruited varieties seem to have more of these big mega blooms.

Bill

[Tracydr]

When I've had them, it's usually been when we have chilly nights. Some varieties do it a lot more than others.

[carolyn137]

For me they usually are the first blossoms on PL varieties, mostly, and I take them off ASAP.

Carolyn

[lavanta]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

For me they usually are the first blossoms on PL varieties, mostly, and I take them off ASAP.

Carolyn

Why do you take them off?

I have them on my heirlooms but not on dwarfs.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by lavanta

Why do you take them off?

I have them on my heirlooms but not on dwarfs.

First, I've known them as fused blossoms for many decades, and that describes exactly what has happened. The term megabloom is recent terminology and refers just to a large bloom.

I take them off the plant for two reasons.

First, I know from experience that from fused blossoms I'm going get large ugly shaped fruit, often with catfacing and zippering. And I also know that subsequent normal blossoms will not give me those same contorted shapes. I don't want energy from the plant going into abnormal fruits so I take off the fused blossoms.

Second, they are useless for saving seeds since if several single blossoms are cross pollinated, all those cross pollinated seeds will be in one fruit. Thus a higher probability of getting X pollinated seeds than with a single blossom. And pollinators are attracted to large showy blossoms, such as fused blossoms more than they are single blossoms. Pollinators are not after nectar, tomato blossoms don't have nectar, rather, they are after the pollen as a protein source/

So that's why I take them off ASAP.

Carolyn

[2nd Foundation]

Great information, Carolyn!

[Tracydr]

Originally Posted by lavanta

Why do you take them off?

I have them on my heirlooms but not on dwarfs.

Interesting. The dwarf varieties that I have raised had lots of mega blooms.

[ddsack]

I leave them on, and happily eat any early tomatoes. It's easy to cut out any catfacing. Not perfect round slices, but taste is the same. Removing those blossoms would delay my first tomatoes by a couple of weeks, and I can't wait! My season is too short to waste first set fruit. I see them on the new large fruited dwarfs as well.

[Uncle Dunkel]

They don't bother me. Matter of fact growing for size I want more of them. I have several going now on some Big Zac and Delicious. It will take a special mega bloom to break the world record.

[b54red]

I like nice large tomatoes but not those misshapen, segmented hard to slice ones. I don't mind an occasional freak but don't want to encourage them.

Carolyn how do you know if a large bloom is going to be one of those freaky toms or if it is just a larger than normal bloom? I see some where the bloom is obviously contains separate blooms together in one cluster and assume these are the ones you are talking about.

Bill

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by b54red

I like nice large tomatoes but not those misshapen, segmented hard to slice ones. I don't mind an occasional freak but don't want to encourage them.

Carolyn how do you know if a large bloom is going to be one of those freaky toms or if it is just a larger than normal bloom? I see some where the bloom is obviously contains separate blooms together in one cluster and assume these are the ones you are talking about.

Bill

Bill, for me it's easy to tell a single blossom from a fused blossom and it should be for you as well. Just look closely at the huge blossom and with your fingers you can even seperate and count the number of singles in a fused blossom.

Carolyn

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Uncle Dunkel

They don't bother me. Matter of fact growing for size I want more of them. I have several going now on some Big Zac and Delicious. It will take a special mega bloom to break the world record.

I can understand why you want more of them b'c you grow for competition size ones, but I never have done that, at least intentionally.

And I've never understood why fruits from fused blossoms are allowed in competitions. It seems to me that only fruits from single blossoms should be included.

But then who in the competition arena is going to fess up to fruits from fused blossoms vs single blossoms.

I must ask Marv the same question whenI see him around the next time.

Carolyn

[Stvrob]

what I hate is when some of the sepals are curled back into the petals, then when the fruit forms it becomes horribly misshapen. Last year there was an ugliest tomato contest here, maybe we should do that again?