My Biggest Of The Season

[PA_Julia]

Originally Posted by kevn357

I'm growing big zac for the first time. I have barely pruned it and it has some monster fruit on it. I'm not educated on growing big tomatoes but letting that monster plant grow without pruning isn't hurting it grow huge fruit. There has to be 3 or 4 fruit in the 2-3 pound range.

My question is pruning vines as well as fruit really helping to grow a bigger tomato? It seems the larger the plant gets the larger all the fruit get in my limited experience of growing tomatoes.

kevin,

I too struggled with this so I planted two Big Zac plants this year.
One for growing competition size tomatoes and the other for growing multiple tomatoes.

My pruned plant is currently growing a very large fruit from a multiple fused bloom.

The other plant has about five tomatoes at various stages of growth.

The pruned plant has really concentrated it's energy derived from a solid single stem and is currently packing on the weight on the tomato.

I only allow one to grow on this plant. Other tomatoes would take much needed nutrients away from the one tomato.

Earlier in the year I allowed three tomatoes to grow from multiple fused blossoms starting within a week of each other.

The one tomato that shows a larger size gain within a months time is the one I keep.

The other two are removed.

I trust this helps you.

[PA_Julia]

Awsome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by deerhunter

got an oxheart just over 3.

[carolyn137]

I don't grow tomatoes for size, rather for primarily taste, but there have been a few OP's where I've gotten close to about 3# but it does depend on the season.

And yes, I've been pushing Red Barn as one to grow for both taste and size. It's one of the ones that Joe Bratka's father bred along with Box Car Willie, Great Divide, Mule Team, etc.

Others that I've gotten close to 3 # would include:

Tidwell German
Zogola
Large Pink Bulgarian
Cuostralee
Omar's Lebanese
Maria Amazilitei's Giant Red
Couilles de Taureau
Kukla's Portuguese Beefsteak
Provenzano

...... to name a few I remember right now

I've never gotten anything of great size from Delicious and don't think it's delicious anyway.So that one I'll leave with Gordon Graham, now deceased, who with his 7# 12 oz fruit still has the World Record.

And I mentioned elsewhere that someone brought me two fruits of Dester and I think they have a chance of giving some big ones as well and I loved the taste.

Big Zac F1? I've not grown it but through the years reading at several message sites I don't see folks getting really big ones, so I'll leave that one to Minnie Z.

I don't have my other data books near me right now but I know there have been others that have given me some big ones as well. Which I suppose also means that my brain can't retain info on LOTS of varieties I've grown without checking my data notebooks and also my SSE listings for varieties and the blurbs that went with them

Someone mentioned Gildo P, but that wasn't all that big for me either.

First, there has to be the genetic potential for big ones and then how someone grows them as to amendments, etc., and those who specifically grow for big ones take off almost all buds to force larger fruits, and finally, in general I've gotten the largest ones when the season has been very rainy.

[PA_Julia]

Hi Carolyn,

There are some growers over at Big Pumpkins.com that have grown some 5 LB plus tomatoes on Big Zac plant's this year and another on a Delicious at around 4.50 LB.

Not too bad.

My lineup next season will be;

Delicous, Big Zac, Church, Brutus Magnum, mega Marv (named after Marv Meisner ) and some others to be determined.

Thank you for listing yours Carolyn.

I'm also thinking about adding Omar's Lebanese.


Julia

[TightenUp]

julia

which of these do you enjoy eating most?

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by PA_Julia

Hi Carolyn,

There are some growers over at Big Pumpkins.com that have grown some 5 LB plus tomatoes on Big Zac plant's this year and another on a Delicious at around 4.50 LB.

Not too bad.

My lineup next season will be;

Delicous, Big Zac, Church, Brutus Magnum, mega Marv (named after Marv Meisner ) and some others to be determined.

Thank you for listing yours Carolyn.

I'm also thinking about adding Omar's Lebanese.


Julia

Julia, just noting again that I don't grow tomatoes for large size. My list was just noting the ones that I've grown that can get up to maybe 3# without doing anything special and have great taste in most seasons.

I've been posting at various and many message sites since 1982 and up until very recently no one made special efforts to grow large ones, essentially until Marv published his book. But yes, some before that and it was a man named Chicken Man, who had about 10 aliases who used to post here and there who was really into growing large ones and I still have in my faves somewhere all the e-mails he sent me, I didn't ask for them,with all of his records. He was banned from here and almost every other place and turned up posting in England last year although he's from NJ, as I remember, or nearby/

And you know already that Marv and I go back many years and yes I'm aware of the activities at the Pumpkin growers site, but those folks do use special techniques, whether it's working with megablooms, we used to just call them fused blossoms and I still do, or thinning fruits, or whatever.

So no, it doesn't surprise me that there are some who really want to grow large ones, whether for competition or just for fun and home use.

The ones I listed have very good taste as well as in some seasons growing large.

And I still say I don't find Delicious to be delicious, nor do many say that Big Zac F1 is delicious either from the many threads and posts from long ago and still now, and I think I would have have expected it would since one of the parents is an heirloom of Minnie Z's.

Years ago there was a man named Bob Ambrose who wrote a newsletter, he lives (ed) in NJ and in almost every issue he featured interviews and pictures about Minnie. But that newsletter folded years ago in the mid-90's as I recall. One of his columnists, Steve something or other, now has a position at the Geneva USDA station, has a Ph.D in plant something or other and his columns were also interesting.

What amuises me to no end are the pumpkin growers who sometimes hook up their fruits, b'c they are fruits, to what we'd call an IV.

Do you do that?
There are a lot of growers in W NYS who grow large pumpkins for competition and it wasn't too long ago that at the weigh off the person who won had the biggest one recorded to date, and not just in NYS. Don't ask me how many pounds, for I can remember Gordon Graham's 7 # 12 oz tomato but not the weights of pumpkins.

[PA_Julia]

Originally Posted by TightenUp

julia

which of these do you enjoy eating most?

Hi!

I guess I haven't given that any thought.
The tomatoes that I would grow for competition I would save those seeds as opposed to eating any of them.

My favorite Heirloom thus far is Paul Robeson. Delicious!!!

[lakelady]

Carolyn, I have no idea how you remember all those details, lol, thank goodness we have you around here!

Julia, are you in a contest for a giant tomato? I hope you win!!!

[zabby17]

Hey, Deerhunter, looks fab!

It doesn't look very oxheart-y in shape, though. Is it a fused blossom---two oxhearts conjoined, do you think? Or are oxhearts just not always very heart-shaped? (I'm new to growing them, but the ones I have are all more oblong with a pointy [ish] end.)

Z

[deerhunter]

its an oxheart alrite. for some reason it doesant have that heart shape. i do use seeds i saved from preveious years. maybe it cross polinated.

[PA_Julia]

Hi!!

No, just a virtual weigh off on Big pumpkins.com.
Thanks for the kind words Lake Lady!!


Julia





QUOTE=lakelady;300325]Carolyn, I have no idea how you remember all those details, lol, thank goodness we have you around here!

Julia, are you in a contest for a giant tomato? I hope you win!!![/QUOTE]