The very large tomato thread

[Cole_Robbie]

Case in point, Giant Roo: http://i.imgur.com/UaJjwWL.jpg

Huge fruit, but I didn't get any fused blossoms.

[AKmark]

I want to play too. lol
I think that is a great idea, I suggest Delicious, BZ, German Queen may work too, big perfect fruit. I may have to prune one this year to see.
This is a 3.5lb Delicious from a single blossom, I have a bunch of seed from this fruit if ya-all want some

[BigVanVader]

I got seeds for that in the MMMM swap, looks to be an attractive "giant" tomato, If i grow it like a reg tomato not culling any fruit would they still be some that big or did you cull all but 1?

Work Release Paste - 2 lb. 3.2 oz., 2 lb. 6.6 oz., 2 lb. 1.3 oz., 2 lb. 5.2 oz., 2 lb. 9.5 oz., 2 lb. 2 oz.

Also got seeds for this paste and had no idea they could get so big, it is on the grow list now for sure

[AKmark]

That was culled to two fruits, but was not a nice plant. I have some pics in the container section of Delicious plants that are grown for production, it is a massive producer for me. I get fruit from 1-2lbs consistently, some trusses weigh 6-8lbs maybe.
I think they are delicious too, I pick them about 3/4 ripe and finish them in inside to that deep red color, they are one of our favorites.
My worst complaint is the size of them at the market, one tomato can be pretty expensive.
I got Rozovyi Myod a couple of years ago and got a 2.5lb fruit from a plant that was loaded with fruit, I think I am going to work with a couple of those too.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by lubadub

Hello Carolyn. I saw some growers asking what varieties of seed they should try in order to grow big. Some of the seeds that have produced large tomatoes in the past include Delicious (Hunt Strain), Brutus Magnum, Big Zac and Megamarv. More recently success has come from growing Big Zac offshoots, F5, F6, F7 and F8 Big Zacs. The lines that have come through more recently Fabrice Boudyo from France have done the best having produced 2 tomatoes over 8 pounds with one breaking the world record set by Gordon Graham over 20 years ago. Seeds for the Big Zac offshoots can be obtained through growers posting mostly on Bigpumpkins.com and probably on Ebay as well. They will be sold in auctions later this year and early next. By contacting the growers you might be able to get some free. The thing about these seeds that make them worth growing is that they produce lots of fused blossoms and even single tomatoes may get over 3 pounds. Good luck! Anyone determined to get these seeds should have little difficulty since most of the growers give seeds away free is you send them a SASE. Marv

Marv, thanks for stopping by and there are two items I want to ask you about.

First, at another message site Dale just listed his varieties today, and I know you know him and was going to ask you first if it would be OK to ask him if I could post it here when I realized he's already public and here's his website/

http://www.gianttomatoseeds.com/index.html

I didn't check his prices but thought it might be useful for those in this thread to take a look at it.

Now Brutus, and I'm confused here.

I was sent seeds by Andrey in Belarus a couple of years ago who described it as Brutus and said......Polish CV ( commercial variety, cjm), red,ribbed, indet, giant, 500 to 2000 gms

Then I look at Tania's page for it and see

http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Brutus

And from the Czech Republic, and Vladamir posts here a lot and has been very helpful to many in terms of histories, his spanish tomato project and more.

then I look at Tania's page as follows

http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/B...b=General_Info

Then I look at the following and find your name

http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/B...b=General_Info

The person who originally grew the Brutus from Andrey kind of disappeared, so I found most of the seeds that the person had and sent them to Bill Minkey in WI for seed production this past summer.

Just noting here that Dale in a list had changed the name he had to Brutus Magnum

And here's the report I got back from Bill.

I sent it to him as Brutus but he sent it back as Giant Brutus, I think a simple error on his part. And I'veknownBill for years and he's a very experienced tomato grower and seed producer

Ind, RL,Red beefsteak, ribbed, very good to excellent flavor, around 24 oz.

Still with me?

So do I have Brutus Magnum and if so is it from Poland or the Czech Republic?

I have seeds for it and planned on listing it in my upcoming seed offer, whenever.

Carolyn

[KarenO]

Mark, that is a Beaut! I have grown delicious and like it very much as well.
Mine I call Tundra, an F3 of one of my crosses.
KO

[AKmark]

Karen, that is a really pretty tomato, prune one back and give it a try.

I did the right thing and simply asked Tatiana what she thought, she is looking at this for me. I will post her suggestions for everyone to try.

Thinking back, I also had a Caspian Pink that threw a 2.975lb tomato a couple of years ago from an unculled plant, I am going to try a culled one this year too as another suggestion, they really grew large tomatoes for me.

[MrBig46]

Brutus
Brutus is a variety released to the market by Moravoseed (140) in 2008. To this daythis company has the exclusive right to this variety. Catalogue EU in the Annex.
Vladimír

[dfollett]

Originally Posted by KarenO

I think there should be two categories. One for big ugly fused messes and one for big beautiful singles.
KarenO

Absolutely! Like Worth said, typical and non-typical.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by MrBig46

Brutus
Brutus is a variety released to the market by Moravoseed (140) in 2008. To this daythis company has the exclusive right to this variety. Catalogue EU in the Annex.
Vladimír

Thanks Vladimir.

To be honest I don't care that much about the country of origin of Brutus, I'm much more interested in the variety itself and the fact that it has had several names that refer to it.

Which is why I hope that Marv stops by and can help me determine if what I have, from the conflicting info I posted above, is what most are calling it now, and that's Brutus Magnum.

Carolyn

[Gerardo]

Originally Posted by KarenO

You guys need a woman in this contest.
Where is Pa Julia? I think there should be two categories. One for big ugly fused messes and one for big beautiful singles. (Such as the one in my avatar.... )

KarenO

XX definitely required here, great you're joining in the fun!

Your Tundra should prove a worthy gladiator.

[AKmark]

Started my first batch, for production, and Giants. Here a list of my first batch of seed for growing a big tomato.
Bulgarian Old Sort
Belmonte 3lb 3 0z (The Belmonster)
Yuvel
Mega Marv
Church
Hunt Competition- Is a selection of Delicious.
Big Zac- I have a couple generations
Terhune 5.41LB
Rozovyi Myod

[PureHarvest]

So, I have a Big Zac F1 and a Delicious that are almost two weeks old now.
I started 2 Chapman at the same time and neither sprouted for some reason.

I am sorta seriously attempting the challenge, and decided to check out the rules for how you would actually register. I find the giant pumkins site hard to navigate.
So I went to the Guiness book of world records site and found out that you don't have to be a part of an official growing contest to get a record.
They do have an application process, and it can take 12 weeks, so if anyone that thinks they seriously want to have an official entry might want to look into that (if I read all this correctly).

I need to get Marvin's book. Is that still the current "bible" on record?

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by PureHarvest

So, I have a Big Zac F1 and a Delicious that are almost two weeks old now.
I started 2 Chapman at the same time and neither sprouted for some reason.

I am sorta seriously attempting the challenge, and decided to check out the rules for how you would actually register. I find the giant pumkins site hard to navigate.
So I went to the Guiness book of world records site and found out that you don't have to be a part of an official growing contest to get a record.
They do have an application process, and it can take 12 weeks, so if anyone that thinks they seriously want to have an official entry might want to look into that (if I read all this correctly).

I need to get Marvin's book. Is that still the current "bible" on record?

No, Marv's book is not the current bible of record ones.

You need to go to

http://www.delectationoftomatoes.com/

And go to Dale's Giant tomato section to get updated on what giant ones area as well as the current record holder, etc.

And he also lists a HUGE number of less than HUGE ones and his link is also in the Seed and Plant Forum here and many have bought seeds from him and been very pleased.

He's looking for some,I think to use in his breeding projects and I expect to send him seeds for those consistently in the 2-3lb range, at least for me and several others I know..

Hope that helps,

Carolyn, start thinking an 8# plus fruit and you'd be close.

[PureHarvest]

Cool, thanks Carolyn.
I was on his site last night and have seen the Big list.

I guess my more specific question is less on genetics and more on the nuts and bolts of the growing part and understanding the megabloom feature.

Edit: I guess I should have re-read the 1st two pages of this thread and got the answers.
A pictorial of those tips would be awesome, and was wondering if that exists on TV or in a book/weblink.