The very large tomato thread

[PureHarvest]

I would eat anything I grew.
I didn't stay in a holiday inn express, so I could be wrong, but I don't thing bumping up nitrate into the plant would mean an increase into the fruit.
Even if I pushed more nitrate on my giants, I'd still eat every bite.
I'll check the chart on Haifa-group about the elemental components of the fruit.

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[PureHarvest]

So if the fruit is 29% N and that's at, say, 1500 ppm total feed solution, bumping it to 1700 would not be that drastic of a increase, given that is total elements ppm, not just N.

[AKmark]

I think bumping N too much is detrimental to yield. What we do is give plants the right mixture, in the right amounts, to reach the genetic potential of the variety.
How do we know what that is? Leaf samples is a great start, they will dry your leaves and you get a report back that shows your elements on a bar chart from poor to overuse. It does not get more accurate than this.
I don't over feed my plants, not even to grow a giant. You also need to look at nutrient antagonism, that is another issue that manifests itself when plants are over fed. With that said, seek perfection, not overload, your yield will be max for any particular variety, IF your environment is also perfect. 78 day 64 at night.
With that also said, perfection makes the best tasting tomatoes.

[Worth1]

You can cure meat with celery juice so in reality what does it matter.

Worth

[Gardeneer]

Originally Posted by AKmark

I think bumping N too much is detrimental to yield. What we do is give plants the right mixture, in the right amounts, to reach the genetic potential of the variety.
How do we know what that is? Leaf samples is a great start, they will dry your leaves and you get a report back that shows your elements on a bar chart from poor to overuse. It does not get more accurate than this.
I don't over feed my plants, not even to grow a giant. You also need to look at nutrient antagonism, that is another issue that manifests itself when plants are over fed. With that said, seek perfection, not overload, your yield will be max for any particular variety, IF your environment is also perfect. 78 day 64 at night.
With that also said, perfection makes the best tasting tomatoes.

That maybe true when you are growing hydoponically. But for the rest of growing in the garden there is noway to control the nutrients. A soil test once a year can be helpful to see the big picture but not during the growing season.
I think one has to learn to read the plants' lips. If ever in doubt just feed the something like MG 24-8-16
JMO
Gardeneer

[AKmark]

A leaf sample will still tell you where you are in excess or lacking, it does not matter what it is grown in.

[Gerardo]

I'm starting to hit my big blooms with a Spidey toothbrush.

[AKmark]

My wife asked me why she had green on her toothbrush. "what"

[PureHarvest]

Absolutely on the leaf test.
We have a lab 20 minutes from me.
He is not offering leaf sampling for growers primarily like me. They do tons of in-soil crops including corn and tomatoes etc.
Doesn't replace an annual soil test but does give you a picture of "where am I right now".
Farmers take this and make adjustments to their crop based on what they see in the test matches with some symptoms they might see in the field.
We all want to believe we are leaf readers, and can to a degree, but NOBoDY can know what is going on in that unseen complex world underground regardless of above ground symptoms.
Leaf canopy looks like boron is lacking? Wrong, Potassium was low. N too low...nope, not enough zinc.
Those were examples from a farm where they saw symptoms above ground, guessed, but tissue sampled to be sure. Then found out what was really causing it, applied the material needed and got the response. These were guys I know that have been farming corn for 50 plus years. You can't always know the exact culprit. Sometimes you may be right and make an application that corrects it, or maybe you just got lucky. Sometimes your hunch was close but there was a secondary element that needed to be added to your first hunch. Tissue tests would tell you about your hunch and if your potential application made sense.
So there is a way to make an change in a soil grown crop in the middle of the season. Farmers around here can make the application based on a tissue test by airplane, through irrigation, or by spreading it on with a spread truck. They also do what's called a psnt (pre sidedress nitrogen test) to tell how much N is available in the soil when manure has been used. Based on that they decide how much, if any, N to put on that crop when it is about knee high.

[lubadub]

For Guinness acceptance there is a lot you need to go through including witnesses, certified scales and pictures with measuring tape in place. Picture needs to be with tomato on the certified scale. Dan MacCoy even did a video of the tomato being picked and weighed. You asked about how severely to prune. Dan had one main stem and that was all. It was cut off just above the tomato and zero suckers were allowed.

[AKmark]

In AK we just call State Weights and Measures, they certify all scales and will weigh our pick. I wonder if other states have the same system? I cannot just take a fruit to the store and weigh it, it will not be stamped/ certified.

[PureHarvest]

Yeah, our Dept. of Ag. has a weights and measures division. I know many people in that office and they would love the publicity, if I told them why I needed their help.

In fact, the news people are so desperate for an interesting new story around here, I could have a crew here in a few hours with a phone call and get all the video documentation I needed. They call me from time to time wanting to do some lame quick pieces about ag related stuff because they did some interviews with me years ago about local ag and gardening issues. The editor has to fill time and send the reporter out to get tape for that night. When they find someone willing to talk that can speak to a topic they want to cover, look out, your are on their list.
The bad is that they are robotic and don't listen to what you are telling them and your 5 minute interview ends up being a couple of 5 second snippits that night with some fill-in from the anchor.
The reporter definitely asks questions to cover what they want, even though you are telling them the real deal off the air before the camera is rolling.
Like the one year the reporter called me to talk about the ramifications of Russia dropping the US as a chicken supplier. They were desperate to get someone to talk about how that would effect the poultry industry here (#1 commodity here). I told them I raised birds on pasture on a small scale, so I really couldn't speak directly about that because I don't grow for the big guys who ship birds. Silence on the other end. Then she says, but can we come out and shoot some footage and ask you how this will affect the industry. I repeated my answer. She still didn't get it. She just had an assignment and a deadline and needed anybody to toss out an opinion that had anything to do with poultry.
Anyway, they look for the feelgood stuff that promotes the area in a positive way that also features an official agency.
Go figure on all of the above...

[PureHarvest]

Originally Posted by lubadub

For Guinness acceptance there is a lot you need to go through including witnesses, certified scales and pictures with measuring tape in place. Picture needs to be with tomato on the certified scale. Dan MacCoy even did a video of the tomato being picked and weighed. You asked about how severely to prune. Dan had one main stem and that was all. It was cut off just above the tomato and zero suckers were allowed.

This thing! Amazing that his record came from this plant. Not to mention the leaf roll! ANYTHING is possible!
My plant doesn't have 5 fused, but man it isn't much smaller!
I might just let the suckers grow a bit, then top them so I can get some more solar panels feeding the plant.

maccoy.jpg

[lubadub]

There is always the tendency to allow more plant. Growers have this strong feeling about the need for more leaves. To get the most you can I think you need to be absolutely brutal. The leaf roll is something that appears to be common in the Big Zac F5 and up and is not tied to anything such as variations in watering. It just happens. Dan MacCoy made the observation that his big plants had small tomatoes and his small plants had big ones. He then took pruning to an extreme and now has the world record. Everyone was laughing at his idea until he stepped up top the scales.

[PureHarvest]

I guess I was thinking of what I read about the previous record plant being tall an toppled over by a storm.
Good thoughts though. Perhaps I will go a chopping tomorrow...