July 31, 2017 | #166 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Ontario
Posts: 3,894
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Thanks Karen. I will check out the epidermis! We ate the ripest one for lunch today and it was still quite firm (tasty though). I'll keep the other and see what colour it ends up
Linda |
July 31, 2017 | #167 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Sunol, CA
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July 31, 2017 | #168 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Southeastern Pennsylvania
Posts: 1,069
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Quote:
In the northeast, if you plant out right near your last frost date, there are often very few pollinators active when your first tomatoes set, and those that are active prefer the cornucopia of nectar-bearing spring flowers to something like a tomato blossom. I planted out pretty late this year--a whopping 6 weeks after my average LFD, and my first trusses on my plants are ENORMOUS. The tomatoes are very large but not because of fused blooms--normal fruit are just really big--and there are a lot of them on the truss. Usually, first trusses have fewer tomatoes in my garden, although some of those first ones can be larger due to more fused blooms earlier on. I think a lot of this is due to the fact that pollinator populations were very high when the plants started blooming. |
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July 31, 2017 | #169 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Southeastern Pennsylvania
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Quote:
I was noticing poor fruit set on bagged blossoms as well (last year, 100% of the eggplant blooms I bagged failed to set fruit, and the tomatoes produced smaller, fewer fruit from bagged blooms), but this year, I've started using a tuning fork to vibrate blossoms. I've seen so much pollinator activity this year that I honestly think it might be redundant for my unbagged blooms, but I've been noticing that the bagged blooms are all setting and growing fruit well, which is different than in the past. |
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July 31, 2017 | #170 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Ontario
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I didn't notice all the crazy bumble bees visiting my tomato flowers when my tomato plants first began to bloom so I'm hoping that my first fruits will be self-pollinated.
Gorbelly has a good point! The bumbles were busy in my flower beds earlier, and didn't seem to notice the tomato flowers. Linda |
December 24, 2017 | #171 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Sunol, CA
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I am noticing that in the past few years Maglia Rosa has developed quite a following. We have fallen back in love with the variety (we naively fell out of love for a few years when we were focused too narrowly on only creating indeterminate varieties)
For those of you potentially interested in cherry tomatoes that have a similar "bush" habit as Maglia Rosa (and similar high, and early, productivity): We are in the final stages of developing pink, red and yellow/green striped cherry tomatoes that are semi-determinate, productive, early and tasty (like Maglia Rosa). However, they are all round, not elongated. Not surprisingly, we used Maglia Rosa to develop them. At least 1 or 2 should be ready to go next fall, after one last round of trialing this coming summer. |
December 24, 2017 | #172 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Germany
Posts: 1,351
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Good luck on your project! I can put 24 hanging baskets on my 2 tomato gallows and Maglia Rosa always has its place there, but I'm also looking for something new-to-me. Det. or semi-det. varieties also like the gallows, if the tomatoes are not too big. So I'm looking forward to your results next year!
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December 26, 2017 | #173 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Indiana
Posts: 1,124
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@clara
Perhaps I am misunderstanding your post, but are you growing Maglia Rosa in a hanging basket? If so, how large is the basket? Thanks. Last edited by Greatgardens; December 26, 2017 at 01:43 AM. |
February 7, 2018 | #174 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: New England
Posts: 661
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MR is on my to-grow list for 2018!
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February 8, 2018 | #175 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Nanaimo , BC
Posts: 961
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This is the year to try this one !
__________________
So Many Tomatoes ...So Little Time ! |
February 9, 2018 | #176 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2015
Location: wisconsin
Posts: 536
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i tried them last year in my RGGS and did'nt care for them at any stage of ripness, might have been the constant supply of water , or just my taste preferances. don't know. nice managable plant with lots of fruit though. ---tom
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February 11, 2018 | #177 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Virginia Bch, VA (7b)
Posts: 1,337
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I grew one in an earthbox. Poor plant had an aphid infestation. I tried neem and even bought
ladybugs. Helped, but never got rid of the aphids. Going to give it another shot this year. |
February 11, 2018 | #178 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Ontario
Posts: 3,894
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Roper, did you use a lot of fertilizer? I discovered when I grew some brassicas in containers and gave them lots of fert. it seemed to attract aphids .
I would definitely give Maglia Rosa a second chance. It's one of my favs and does well in containers. Linda |
February 11, 2018 | #179 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Virginia Bch, VA (7b)
Posts: 1,337
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In earth boxes you have to use a measured amount of fertilizer. My other plants were okay. Not sure if I will put it in an earth box this year, probably not, but I will be growing it again.
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February 13, 2018 | #180 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Illinois, zone 6
Posts: 8,407
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I just planted my first seed of the year, MR included. I have a lot of 9" mum pots left over from last fall. I am thinking they would grow well to maturity in containers that size.
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