How long from bloom to tomatoes

[Labradors2]

I tried to search for the "growth charts". Perhaps that's the wrong terminology, but I know they exist - somewhere here.

On another list they are discussing whether to trim flowers on tomatoes now because of short growing seasons so I wondered.

Linda

[goodwin]

On average, it is a little less than 60 days from bud to fruit, but it seems like forever. Talking to the plants may or may not help.
Anyway, here is a link to the classic timeline someone did a number of years ago. http://web.archive.org/web/201012180...Truss_Timeline
Lee

[Labradors2]

Originally Posted by goodwin

On average, it is a little less than 60 days from bud to fruit, but it seems like forever. Talking to the plants may or may not help.
Anyway, here is a link to the classic timeline someone did a number of years ago. http://web.archive.org/web/201012180...Truss_Timeline
Lee

Wow! 60 days! No wonder the tomatoes sit on the vine, apparently doing nothing for so long! I'll have to talk to them some more....

Many thanks for the info. I've checked out when our first frost date is, and it's early in October, so I might as well top my plants in mid August.

Cheers,
Linda

[edweather]

I'm not against topping plants, and our frost comes early enough. A couple of years ago I topped the few plants that I had trying to force the last few tomatoes. It seemed that for every main branch/stem that I cut, 10 more little branches/suckers started almost immediately. I figured the plant was doing it just to mock me :- ) So now I don't bother, it just seemed to generate additional work. Just my experience, might not be yours.

[Labradors2]

Originally Posted by edweather

I'm not against topping plants, and our frost comes early enough. A couple of years ago I topped the few plants that I had trying to force the last few tomatoes. It seemed that for every main branch/stem that I cut, 10 more little branches/suckers started almost immediately. I figured the plant was doing it just to mock me :- ) So now I don't bother, it just seemed to generate additional work. Just my experience, might not be yours.

Thanks Ed,

Maybe I'll just save myself the trouble then!

Linda

[Tom A To]

I think that generally, the larger the fruit, the longer it takes to ripen, with some exceptions.

[cythaenopsis]

The time it takes may also vary depending upon where in the growth cycle the plant is. A mature plant has a much more extensive nutrient delivery system going on, versus a young plant just out of seedling stage. I'm not sure if the number of concurrent tomatoes being grown has much of an influence on the growth rate, as the plants seem to choose how many fruits they'll grow at a given time by dropping blossoms. The first tomatoes I harvested were ones that germinated early in the plant growth cycle, and they were alone on each plant. It had written down the date of first observed fruit set up until the day picked. One was 61 days and the other was 65 days.

[edweather]

I might remove the blossoms though. No sense letting new ones start. I hate the thought that summer is ending. I was looking at some baby Brandywines today and saying to myself, 'no way are they going to make it.'

[Labradors2]

Cythaenopsis, your observations about early fruit set are very interesting! I was wondering how the 60 days to fruit set works with some varieties that have DTM of 45-50 days. I guess there are some exceptions {G}.

Ed, summer goes so quickly! We've had so few ripe tomatoes, and yet we have to think about stopping more fruit from setting ALREADY???

Linda

[SharonRossy]

I picked my first bloody butcher, it's not quite ready but I was just excited! Anyways I just read the sixty day period the other day and I've been doing some topping. I have the same question, if a plant is 55 days, how does that work, and what about later varieties. What I'm assuming is the time it takes to set flowers is one time frame, and then flower to ripe tomato is another?
Ed, I'm looking at most of my plants and not sure how many are going to make it. As much as it hurt, I took the hard path and pruned. We're supposed to have thunderstorms and a cold front. Crazy!

[habitat_gardener]

Last August, there was a discussion of topping, removing blossoms/buds, etc., and Carolyn explained why neither one is her choice, and what she did instead, when she had hundreds of plants to tend.
http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=24685

[joseph]

This summer I have been conducting a cold/frost tolerant tomato trial. The earliest 4 varieties to ripen fruit were 49 days from the time I first documented blossoms until I picked ripe fruit.

I've only picked fruit one time so far. I hope I remember to update this thread in a month or so after I have data on the other varieties. These fruits were all about golf ball sized.

[cythaenopsis]

Originally Posted by Labradors2

Cythaenopsis, your observations about early fruit set are very interesting! I was wondering how the 60 days to fruit set works with some varieties that have DTM of 45-50 days. I guess there are some exceptions {G}.

Ed, summer goes so quickly! We've had so few ripe tomatoes, and yet we have to think about stopping more fruit from setting ALREADY???

I've seen semi-conflicting statements about this, so I'd fall back on what Carolyn has said: "DTM, or days to maturity means when you first get the first ripe fruits after setting the plants outside." So, from seedling transplanted into the main container until the first ripe fruit is picked. Pollinated flower to ripe fruit on an established plant seems to vary quite a bit depending upon the variety and the health of the plant.

Of course, with indeterminate tomatoes they'll be producing fruit across the season. Given all of the growing activity in the immature phase, I have to believe that flowers set later on will produce a ripe fruit in less time... depending upon conditions.

Originally Posted by habitat_gardener

Last August, there was a discussion of topping, removing blossoms/buds, etc., and Carolyn explained why neither one is her choice, and what she did instead, when she had hundreds of plants to tend.
http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=24685

Thanks for the link. I like the idea of severing roots versus aggressive pruning. Flowers come and go in abundance, so I'd like to believe the energy required to create them isn't all that much relative to all the resources it takes after setting.

It's sad to think that any flowers produced after early August are pretty much doomed, that whatever fruit you've got growing is all that you're left with reaping at the end of the season. That is, unless you've got a greenhouse or a sheltered patio/porch. I rooted a sucker in late June/early July and planted it a few weeks ago. I realized my chance for getting ripe fruit from it would be quite low, but I wanted to see if some changes I'd done in planting preparation would make a notable difference. It has been growing rather aggressively and has already produced flowers. My hope is that if any flowers do set, I can bring the plant indoors for the last few weeks and perhaps get a little fruit from it.

[SharonRossy]

I also hate to think summer s coming to an end and it was hard to do, but I did start removing some buds, leaving flowers. My concern are my late varieties, which I worry won't have the time to set fruit and ripen. I am not one to store greenies in bags and all that. And I have had issues with squirrels late in the season.
I also rooted a sucker and planted it in the garden and its got flowers, even though its not very tall. It's a black Krim, so I'm watching and waiting.

[NarnianGarden]

Originally Posted by SharonRossy

I also hate to think summer s coming to an end and it was hard to do, but I did start removing some buds, leaving flowers. My concern are my late varieties, which I worry won't have the time to set fruit and ripen. I am not one to store greenies in bags and all that. And I have had issues with squirrels late in the season.
I also rooted a sucker and planted it in the garden and its got flowers, even though its not very tall. It's a black Krim, so I'm watching and waiting.

The same here. I had some very healthy and strong-looking suckers, so I planted them, and they are now blooming.
Actually, they look so much greener and healthier than my original Black Krims... because of the horsemanure they were planted in! I hope that five weeks - till early Sept - will be enough to have some fruit from them, even tiny ones. I am curious to compare the taste of tomatoes grown in different conditions/soil.