Variable fruit shape

[duajones]

From what I have seen in my garden and reading through many posts, it appears that variable shape in a variety is pretty common. The one that has been the most variable for me is Cherokee Purple. The first two years growing it were in containers and even though production was very low, almost all of the fruit was beefsteak shaped. Last year, first time in the ground with the variety and almost all of the fruit were standard shaped and maybe even smallish for the variety. This year, 2 different plants and 1 is predominantly beefsteak shape and the other standard.
I havent had any yet this season but taste has been pretty consistent in all of my previous grow outs. Is the variable caused by the parent plants? Just Curious

[carolyn137]

I'm not sure what you mean by standard shaped as opposed to beefsteak shaped. Do you mean a globe shape or an oblate( flattened) globe?

[barkeater]

Most of the variability can be attributed to cold temps during pollination. That's also what causes catfacing.

[duajones]

I used standard and beefsteak to describe fruit shape as I have seen at Dave's Garden. For example, Cherokee Purple is described as being beefsteak shaped, Jet Star as standard and Monomakh's Hat as Heart. Both of these CP plants have been exposed to the exact same temps during pollination, yet one is predominantly beefsteak and the other standard.

[barkeater]

So, you are saying that all the tomatoes you are talking about had open flowers and pollinated at the exact same time?

[Worth1]

I keep telling myself I'm NOT going to go out and count set fruit but I couldn't help my self.

So far I have counted around 40 tomatoes on one Cherokee Purple plant and it is still growing and putting out blossoms.

All of the blossoms that are being produced are setting fruit with no end in site.
If all of the blossoms set fruit as they should in the next day or so I should have close to 70 tomatoes on one plant, no joke.
I have no idea how many it will produce during the season.

They are all of the normal fruit shape as described in the pictures.

This is one plant that will go on my list to grow every year as it did good for me last year also.


Worth

[duajones]

Originally Posted by barkeater

So, you are saying that all the tomatoes you are talking about had open flowers and pollinated at the exact same time?

No sir, I see what you mean from your previous post more clearly now.

Worth, 40 plus fruit? And to think I was proud of my 28 or so

[barkeater]

duajones, actually I was too quick to reply. Flowers don't have to be open to be damaged by cold temps. I remember a couple times where every farmer in the county had catfaced early tomatoes. Once it was the first truss. The other it was the 3rd truss, right at the peak of the season, the first week of August.

So, one cold night can damage flowers open or unopened and a bit immature, in the same truss.

[duajones]

Originally Posted by barkeater

duajones, actually I was too quick to reply. Flowers don't have to be open to be damaged by cold temps. I remember a couple times where every farmer in the county had catfaced early tomatoes. Once it was the first truss. The other it was the 3rd truss, right at the peak of the season, the first week of August.

So, one cold night can damage flowers open or unopened and a bit immature, in the same truss.

Interesting, but I still dont understand how I can have almost all beefsteak shaped fruit on one and standard or normal on the other, same variety. And as I mentioned, it has differed from year to year with the same variety. Not that it matters, but I have also noticed a difference in fruit size along with shape. I tend to get larger fruit from the beefsteak shape than the regular, but more fruit overall from the standard. Again, from the same variety, but not really much difference in taste.

[barkeater]

The only consistency I see, is from reading your original post beefsteak shape is with CP in pots, and regular is in the ground. Are the pots put out sooner than those planted inground? Or maybe, with more soil temp fluctuation for the pots, maybe that is causing the irregularity in fruit shape?

Or, since pots are more prone to drying out unlike soil, maybe the moisture fluctuation causes it.

So many variables, so little mind! ;-)

[dice]

I noticed a lot of widening (swelling) in multiple different
cultivars when it was raining. Plants where most of the fruit
were regular shaped (oblate sphere, but with a higher
thickness to width ratio than a beefsteak) would produce
a more beefsteak shaped fruit when it was raining a lot
(Peron does this for me, for example).

While your plants may have received the same rain and
watering and be in basically the same soil, the soil around
the one producing beefsteaks may just be holding water
a little better than the other one, or not draining as fast
underneath the cultivated topsoil (so that the bottom roots
always have more water available than the other one).

Just a guess. (Could be a genetic quirk, too.)

[duajones]

That makes some sense as the one producing the beefsteak is in soil that is retaining water better, the other is in soil that may be infected by RKN.