Post Office Spoonful Growout Thread

[Nan_PA_6b]

A group of us have been growing out this delightful currant tomato, and our growout results have been posted in the Trade forum so far.

I'm starting this thread in General Discussion because it has gotten more interesting of late. For anyone who wants to read all the previous stuff, it's here:

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=43675

I'll try to post some of the recent highlights here, if I can get it to work.

Nan

[Nan_PA_6b]

Originally Posted by heirloomtomaguy

It finally happened in what seemed like forever for it to finally ripen. When i get home from work tomorrow it will be prime for the pickin'! Woohoo!

[Nan_PA_6b]

Originally Posted by heirloomtomaguy

I finally tasted them! I would say the taste was a touch more on the acid side but with a really good overall flavor. They were the first couple of the season so i expect them to get even better the further along the plant gets. The size was definitely larger than Spoon. I would compare it size wise to my Daughters Super Sweet 100 tomatoes maybe a touch smaller. I planted out April 11th and had ripe fruit June 5th.....55 days.

[Nan_PA_6b]

Originally Posted by Spartanburg123

OK, my first fruit is blushing! So my DTM is about 66 days, growing in a 10 gallon pot. Woo Hoo!

[Nan_PA_6b]

Originally Posted by Spartanburg123

My friend Mike is also growing P.O.S. from seedlings that I gave him. This plant has completely taken over his fence, and he says that he has fruit numbering in the thousands!! I should have used my fence too!!

[Nan_PA_6b]

Originally Posted by KarenO

I moved mine because it is too big already for its cage, growing as wide as tall I shall grow it against my iron fence and screen out the neighbour across the ally. Holy wow it's only June. Lol should be outrageous by September.
If you are looking for a big plant this might be it
KarenO

[Nan_PA_6b]

Originally Posted by Nan_PA_6b

This is all so great to hear! Thousands of fruit! And Karen, so funny screening out the neighbors!

Luckily, the stuff I seeded next to Post Office Spoonful didn't come up, so it has some space to sprawl. Still waiting on the first ripe one...



Nan

[Nan_PA_6b]

Originally Posted by Spartanburg123

Nan- exactly- an unintended value proposition, but this variety might be the ideal one for naked gardening in bustling cities!!!

[Spartanburg123]

Glad you put this thread here! Here is a pic of some little greenies waiting to ripen...

[Spartanburg123]

My friend Mike is growing ONE plant of P.O.S., and to give you an idea of the size of this, he is actually standing behind this plant with his arms fully extended! The plant has taken over his rebar fence. It is a very prolific viner and loves to crawl on things- it really is ideal for fence coverage.

Great plant, Nan!!

[imp]

Well, I think I may be seeing his one hand, but he plant has him now. Bye, Mike, sorry it ate you up!!

[Nan_PA_6b]

Wow, Darin, that's one plant!?! We're gonna have to send a search party in after Mike...

Nan

[Nan_PA_6b]

Originally Posted by Tealeaves

So sorry Nan for the lack of updates. I've been meaning to post again for a while. The 3 plants I have are still going strong. I transplanted the largest one into a 7 gallon bag and I now have my first tiny fruit cluster! I'm super excited!! My plants are not developing at such a rapid rate compared to other seasoned users here, and I think my inexperience with gardening is the contributing factor. Albeit at a slower pace, I'm happy to say the plants are very healthy and doing well.

I have a newbie question, should I be treating these currants like normal tomatoes and pruning off suckers below the first flowers (this is my first time growing currant tomatoes as well)? Or will that somehow affect the fruit production capacity in the future? I already did that with my first plant and it is looking a bit spindly now. I'm hoping that will change in time. Thank you once again for allowing me to participate in the excitement!

I also saw Spartan's picture of his friend's tomato that is engulfing his fence. I'm wondering now if maybe I should transplant one of the other two plants in the front to let it roam free. The thing is we have terrible native clay here, and I'd probably have to do quite a bit of amending to make it suitable for the plant.

/e: I'll try to take some pictures this weekend, so you don't have to deal with my wall of text posts.

[Spartanburg123]

Tealeaves- looking back on it, I now wish I had put it along a fence and just let it sprawl! Don't worry about suckers, just let it rip! This plant starts with a squeal and ends with a roar!

[Nan_PA_6b]

Thanks for touching base, Tea. My plant is no monster, either. It's about 5' tall. Hey, we can't all be Mike!

Yours are in containers, and it's good to know that container-grown Post Office Spoonful can stay a reasonable size. You're giving us data on how this variety performs in containers, and that's valuable.

It's possible this variety doesn't like to be pruned. Mine has made all kinds of branches, but I never prune or de-sucker anything, so I can't tell you.

Anyone else out there try to prune a Post Office Spoonful plant? Or any currant? How's that working for you?

Congratulations on setting fruit!

Nan