The very large tomato thread

[Gerardo]

So if I get this straight you:

(1) push the plants initially for solid vegetative growth and to increase the likelihood of the initial fused bloom event, then once that starts to form and is defined, you

(2) clip everyone else off except for the stem with the precious orb. Then you

(3) missouri any new growth that pops up

(4) all the while on as much of a Canseco-Bonds diet as they can tolerate.

Gonna give it a shot with Hoy. Container volume stays the same I imagine?

[AKmark]

My theory is to make a big bushy plant that needs a big well formed rootball, then we instantly divert all of the support energy into a single topped stem with one tomato on it. Hoy sounds great, I have been leering over list that Kath left for us

Ricky your just being nice for now, but I wonder how a little competition will mold your benevolence. lol This should be a lot of fun.

[Cole_Robbie]

Could you force blossoms to fuse by rubber-banding them together? Does that work?

[AKmark]

You would have to end up with a single stem somehow. I like Terhune up here because it throws a lot of fused blooms, one last year was 4 fused together.
I am sure others like BZ may actually be better, but I was surprised, at any rate. I was going to cross the two anyway early in the season this coming spring, that way I will get a chance to try them in 2016.
If you want some, I do have quite a few.

[Ricky Shaw]

The most detailed article technically I've run across, but usable tips and insights that help even a novice like myself.

Thought this was of interest, "Ripe tomatoes only have a short shelf life and as soon as they begin to turn red, the weight and size gains generally halt. Then it’s time to have the tomato officially weighed, photographed, documented, witnessed and certified as a world record!"

Russ Landry, Maximum Yield Gardening Jun2014

http://maximumyield.com/attack-of-the-giant-tomatoes/

[AKmark]

This is good stuff too, I think this is very helpful.

http://www.haifa-group.com/files/Gui...ato/Tomato.pdf

[Cole_Robbie]

I would be curious to see how well an over-wintered hydroponic plant would do at making big tomatoes. You could put one plant in a livestock trough, maybe on wheels, or moved with a forklift, and just move it into a protected environment in the winter. You wouldn't have to worry about trying to give it supplemental lighting, just wheeling it into a heated garage in sub-freezing weather would be enough to keep it alive. Then when spring came, instead of starting from a seed, you could be starting with a root ball the size of a bushel basket. The plant would be like a tree if you let it. I would think that all that energy going into one fruit would grow a red basketball, even without a fused blossom.

[AKmark]

I think that may be a great idea for a person in the South were the summer heat is horrible, they could have a great jump on things in the spring.
That's worth a try

[Ricky Shaw]

Been reading, got some BigZac F1 coming that I'll practice with over the winter. That next level is all about the fused blossom and getting it on the 1st or 2nd truss.

I'm comfortable that the HG 4-18-38 is a good foundation, but thinking I might need a little something extra. Any thoughts on a bloom enhancers?

[kath]

Originally Posted by AKmark

Kath, which of those produces many fused blossoms? Do any produce multiple, more than two fused together?

It's really hard for me to remember, Mark, but looking through my notes and pics, the ones that were likely to be fused were:

Believe It Or Not
Butler Skinner
Church
George's Greek Beefsteak
Slankard

[Gerardo]

Big Zac F1 (danke RS) and Hoy (danke cloz) will be my horses. Are there others I should consider for my stable?

On a side note, has anyone used this stuff or other products from the Haifa Group?

http://amzn.com/B00F4K4JNA

[AKmark]

Gerardo, look at the nutrient uptake on that site at different stages. Also look at the Potassium Nitrate study. We have used a K boost which is very similar just a different company. I am wondering with the mix you looked at, if a guy can run that through an injector with calcium in the same stock tank, that's a no no with most formula's I know of.
Here's a great site that may help when piecing together a complete mixture.
http://www.smart-fertilizer.com/arti...zer-solubility

[Gerardo]

Great site Mark. I've been digesting the Haifa Tomato info and I really like the specifics per growth stage, plus the adjustments based on your particular growing situation.

Those Polyfeeds are quite appealing. It would be a lot of fun to fine tune the parameters just to see how far I could get it.

[carolyn137]

Which varieties with fused blossoms? I can't make a list but almost exclusively large pink fruited PL varieties and always on initial blossoms, the next flush of blossoms, rarely.

Carolyn, who had no use for the large monster fruits that were malformed to an extreme so removed those fused blossoms ASAP, much to the chagrin I'm sure of Marv Meissner who wrote the book on how to grow big ones and is still a friend.

Carolyn

[Gerardo]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

...much to the chagrin I'm sure of Marv Meissner who wrote the book on how to grow big ones and is still a friend.

Carolyn

I ordered his book from Amazon. Used. Let's just say shipping was more than the product itself.