tomato taste gone bad fast

GreenFarmer · May 22, 2015

only 10 days ago, i was picking what were the best tomatoes that one could taste. Today I cannot eat them. They got a bad taste from somewhere and i have no clue where. I have been lowering the EC of the nutrient solution for a while because they were overfed. I have no clue what caused this sudden change in taste, the plants are actually looking better after being flushed, but the taste is going worse. I am wondering what can cause this? I cannot describe the taste easily, it's like that bad smell that sticks to your hands after you prune tomatoes

AlittleSalt · May 22, 2015

How is it that you are growing these tomatoes?

Nematode · May 22, 2015

I grow hydroponically and as far as I can tell they taste better when stressed, except for cherries which don't seem to care one way or the other. Yield can suffer, I'm still looking for the magic recipe that will give good yields and great flavor.

http://www.silversunproducts.com/tre...roving-flavor/

decherdt · May 22, 2015

I get some that are too "umami" (no wonder we cant describe it) No idea if its me or the maters, or what is the cause. Incidentally, I like the smell of tomato prunie hands.

http://www.umamiinfo.com/2011/03/the...vegetables.php

bughunter99 · May 22, 2015

I know nothing about hydroponics, but I wonder if you have some anaerobic bacterial growth happening somewhere in your water system. The smell you are describing aligns with that. No idea if it would also impact taste but I suspect so.

GreenFarmer · May 23, 2015

if i can describe it like that, the tomato taste is made of 2 parts, a good part and a not good part, and it seems like they lost the good part and have only the bad tomato taste in them with no acidic juicy flavor i don't know how to describe it better. i grow them in flood and drain in growrocks. i have 10 different varieties from cherries to big tomatoes, and all have their taste going bad.

cheebamaster · May 23, 2015

Hey GreenFarmer,

Have you tried http://www.amazon.com/Hydroponic-Tom...ato+fertilizer yet? (MAKE SURE TO BUY CALCIUM NITRATE + EPSON SALTS WITH THIS PRODUCT TO USE PROPERLY)

I used to grow tomatoes hydroponically and if you follow the instructions on the label and have ppm around 1400 or so you'll get fantastic yields.

Also, on youtube you can type in "mhpgardner" he does a lot of hydroponic tomato growing using these products and has some excellent instructional videos. The tomatoes in his videos speak for themselves. I've never seen such massively producing plants.

I'd also like to add that for hydroponics there's a couple things you can check.

1. Water temperature/mold/fungus. Your water temp should be no more than 75 degrees
2. Make sure you flush your system and let it run for at least a day with just water before harvesting. Harvesting plants while they are soaking in nutes can lead to foul taste.
3. You can pick your tomatoes early (once they start turning color) and leave them at room temperature to allow sugars to break down and ripen the fruit.

Hope this helps

GreenFarmer · May 23, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheebamaster

Hey GreenFarmer,

Have you tried http://www.amazon.com/Hydroponic-Tom...ato+fertilizer yet? (MAKE SURE TO BUY CALCIUM NITRATE + EPSON SALTS WITH THIS PRODUCT TO USE PROPERLY)

I used to grow tomatoes hydroponically and if you follow the instructions on the label and have ppm around 1400 or so you'll get fantastic yields.

Also, on youtube you can type in "mhpgardner" he does a lot of hydroponic tomato growing using these products and has some excellent instructional videos. The tomatoes in his videos speak for themselves. I've never seen such massively producing plants.

I'd also like to add that for hydroponics there's a couple things you can check.

1. Water temperature/mold/fungus. Your water temp should be no more than 75 degrees
2. Make sure you flush your system and let it run for at least a day with just water before harvesting. Harvesting plants while they are soaking in nutes can lead to foul taste.
3. You can pick your tomatoes early (once they start turning color) and leave them at room temperature to allow sugars to break down and ripen the fruit.

Hope this helps

how could i flush the system with only water every time i want to harvest? i dont harvest in one day i pick heads as they ripen. the info is very misleading, i hear suggestions to raise ec and then suggestions to flush. yesterday it tasted so bad that i am afraid to taste one without a candy nearby

Worth1 · May 23, 2015

There's nothing you can do you are just losing you taste for tomatoes.
It happens sometimes.
At least you enjoyed it while it lasted.

Worth

GreenFarmer · May 23, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Worth1

There's nothing you can do you are just losing you taste for tomatoes.
It happens sometimes.
At least you enjoyed it while it lasted.

Worth

worth i really believe that it is the tomatoes that are changing in taste

cheebamaster · May 23, 2015

A good rule of thumb is once plant begins to set fruit, you do a flush for a day or two with water every 2-3 weeks. I'm not implying that you flush every time you want to harvest, that would be ridiculous. However, you want want to flush on a regular basis after fruit set for hydroponic application.

Also, I highly recommend looking at the product I recommended. What fertilizer are you currently using and are you adding anything else to the water besides your nutrient solution? Microbes/humates/silicon etc?

If you're not flushing on a regular basis you WILL have bad tasting fruit.

Worth1 · May 23, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreenFarmer

worth i really believe that it is the tomatoes that are changing in taste

Just pulling your leg.

Worth

GreenFarmer · May 28, 2015

so just a heads up, the tomatoes are tasting good again. it turned out that, in hydro, you need to keep the EC high and not low, you need to stress the plant with salts. In fact, Israelis discovered that the salty water from under the desert fed to the plants at a certain stage in fruiting, stresses the plants but gave the superior taste of their product. well i didn't go adding sea salt, i added epsom and potassium sulfate and MPK and within days the taste is back to GOOD almost delicious.

Now I am having another issue I want to deal with, that is the very outer skin layer, I think it is the high Nitrates that caused it to be thick but I am unsure, genetic factors play role for sure, but all 10 varieties I grew seem to have a somewhat thicker skin, what caused this?

Nematode · May 28, 2015

Glad you have it coming together. even cornell and univ arizona are now recommending low levels of salt in hydroponics for tomato flavor, I think the range is 35-100ppm. Last year I was running 2% seawater (700ppm salt) in my hydro setup, flavor was very good, heirloom yield was lower than I hoped but I really set them back early in the season with another experiment.
This year I will run sea-90 only because its easier that collecting seawater. not sure of ppm yet maybe 300 ish.

Nematode

Nematode · May 28, 2015

Also if you are using a drip system, you can crank up the EC in the root zone by running them dry, as the water is absorbed, the ec in the root zone can get very high, up to 8-9 or so i have seen in some studies.

I have different size plants on the same circuit, so even with drip its difficult to create a dry environment all around.

May 22, 2015	#1
GreenFarmer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: under my greenhouse Posts: 40	tomato taste gone bad fast only 10 days ago, i was picking what were the best tomatoes that one could taste. Today I cannot eat them. They got a bad taste from somewhere and i have no clue where. I have been lowering the EC of the nutrient solution for a while because they were overfed. I have no clue what caused this sudden change in taste, the plants are actually looking better after being flushed, but the taste is going worse. I am wondering what can cause this? I cannot describe the taste easily, it's like that bad smell that sticks to your hands after you prune tomatoes

May 22, 2015	#4
decherdt Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Fort Worth, TX Posts: 329	I get some that are too "umami" (no wonder we cant describe it) No idea if its me or the maters, or what is the cause. Incidentally, I like the smell of tomato prunie hands. http://www.umamiinfo.com/2011/03/the...vegetables.php __________________ 500 sq ft of raised rows zone 8a

May 23, 2015	#7
cheebamaster Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: SC lowcountry Posts: 14	Hey GreenFarmer, Have you tried http://www.amazon.com/Hydroponic-Tom...ato+fertilizer yet? (MAKE SURE TO BUY CALCIUM NITRATE + EPSON SALTS WITH THIS PRODUCT TO USE PROPERLY) I used to grow tomatoes hydroponically and if you follow the instructions on the label and have ppm around 1400 or so you'll get fantastic yields. Also, on youtube you can type in "mhpgardner" he does a lot of hydroponic tomato growing using these products and has some excellent instructional videos. The tomatoes in his videos speak for themselves. I've never seen such massively producing plants. I'd also like to add that for hydroponics there's a couple things you can check. 1. Water temperature/mold/fungus. Your water temp should be no more than 75 degrees 2. Make sure you flush your system and let it run for at least a day with just water before harvesting. Harvesting plants while they are soaking in nutes can lead to foul taste. 3. You can pick your tomatoes early (once they start turning color) and leave them at room temperature to allow sugars to break down and ripen the fruit. Hope this helps Last edited by cheebamaster; May 23, 2015 at 03:18 AM. Reason: added info

May 22, 2015	#2
AlittleSalt BANNED FOR LIFE Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 13,333	How is it that you are growing these tomatoes?

May 22, 2015	#3
Nematode Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2012 Location: massachusetts Posts: 1,710	I grow hydroponically and as far as I can tell they taste better when stressed, except for cherries which don't seem to care one way or the other. Yield can suffer, I'm still looking for the magic recipe that will give good yields and great flavor. http://www.silversunproducts.com/tre...roving-flavor/

May 22, 2015	#5
bughunter99 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: zone 5 Posts: 821	I know nothing about hydroponics, but I wonder if you have some anaerobic bacterial growth happening somewhere in your water system. The smell you are describing aligns with that. No idea if it would also impact taste but I suspect so.

May 23, 2015	#9
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	There's nothing you can do you are just losing you taste for tomatoes. It happens sometimes. At least you enjoyed it while it lasted. Worth

May 28, 2015	#13
GreenFarmer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: under my greenhouse Posts: 40	so just a heads up, the tomatoes are tasting good again. it turned out that, in hydro, you need to keep the EC high and not low, you need to stress the plant with salts. In fact, Israelis discovered that the salty water from under the desert fed to the plants at a certain stage in fruiting, stresses the plants but gave the superior taste of their product. well i didn't go adding sea salt, i added epsom and potassium sulfate and MPK and within days the taste is back to GOOD almost delicious. Now I am having another issue I want to deal with, that is the very outer skin layer, I think it is the high Nitrates that caused it to be thick but I am unsure, genetic factors play role for sure, but all 10 varieties I grew seem to have a somewhat thicker skin, what caused this?