Pictures from the Tomato Nursery...

Spartanburg123 · May 28, 2015

Just a few pics from the first fruit set of 2015. Enjoy!! Many more to come....

Picture order:

1. Cherokee Purple
2. Cherry Falls
3. Cuostralee
4. Early Girl
5. Black Krim

ermentrude · May 28, 2015

Aren't baby tomatoes so cute? :-)

wormgirl · May 29, 2015

Nice pics!!!

PA_Julia · May 29, 2015

MMMMMMM............Fantastic looking!!

Gardeneer · May 29, 2015

Nice, Spartansburg(ER).
Thou we are in the same zone ( 7/8 ?) but you have much warmer weather.
Mine take for ever to get out of flower stage into fruit stage.

Spartanburg123 · May 29, 2015

Thanks Gardeneer! One thing I do every day at lunchtime is to buzz the blossoms with an electric toothbrush, using the back of the brush right at the elbow (calyx) of the blossom. If you do this too early, the pollen is clumpy due to moisture. I have very high fruit set rates on my plants. One disadvantage, though, is the tomatoes don't get as large due to the larger energy distribution on the plant.

flgatorguy87 · May 29, 2015

Do you care to give a clearer picture of the method with which you use the toothbrush. I haven't been around here long but this entire time I'm imagining people with a toothbrush going from flower to flower pollinating the opening?

Starlight · May 29, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by flgatorguy87

Do you care to give a clearer picture of the method with which you use the toothbrush. I haven't been around here long but this entire time I'm imagining people with a toothbrush going from flower to flower pollinating the opening?

That's what I thought too, like you do flowers and I was glad I happened to notice that "back of the bloom" was mentioned. So glad that bit was posted or I probably would have wrecked all my blooms.

Spartanburg... Nice pics and some nice looking plants. They coming along real good. Thanks for sharing. Nice to see other folks pics and how the fruits and plants look.

Spartanburg123 · May 29, 2015

I'll post a picture tonight. You just need to buzz the elbow of the bloom, where it bends down. You should never buzz anywhere near the bottom of the flower! You will damage the stigma, and there won't be a tube for the pollen to get to the ovary!!

MissS · May 29, 2015

Hmmm.... Early Girl seems a little behind.

Spartanburg123 · May 29, 2015

I think Early Girl has really fast fruit growth and quick ripening- they are also pretty small. I'll bet those little fellas will outrace all of my others easily!

Gardeneer · May 29, 2015

Thanks Spartanburg.
At what stage do you use the eBrush ? Tomato flowers last a looong time.

Gardeneer.

wormgirl · May 30, 2015

My recent research turned up that flowers need pollenation within 50 hours of opening. So my guess is the day they open is the best. I packed away my Sonicare, still looking for it!!

Fiishergurl · May 30, 2015

Here's a link to a short video that shows the electric toothbrush in action. I use that method also as it is very humid here. I don't really think the time of day matters so much as last year I did it at 6AM before I left for work in the morning and again at 7PM when I got home and I had tons of tomatoes. I know it's because of the e-toothbrush helping because when I leave for a week on business or to visit family, my neighbor waters the plants but refuses to do the toothbrush trick and I always have blossom drop during those times that he is watering the plants for us. Plus before I started using the e-toothbrush, I had big beautiful plants, tons of blossoms, and no tomatoes on the larger fruited varieties. Another Floridian suggest I give it a try as a last resort. I didn't think it would help because we have howling winds here so I didn't think the blossoms needed any help, but I finally decided, what the heck, it's worth a try and it worked wonders!

If you are wondering how to do it, watch the link below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFzyIi6yn8Q

Ginny

PS, you can pick up a cheap electric tooth brush at one of the Dollar type stores for a few bucks. With all the money, time and effort you put into your garden, if you are getting a lot of blossom drop and can't figure out why, this is something to try. I could see results within a few days as the blossoms quit dropping and beautiful little tomatoes were growing instead... :-)

wormgirl · May 30, 2015

Ginny, it's your convincinb testimonials on another thread that have got me looking for that toothbrush! I may just go to the dollar store like you said!!

May 29, 2015	#3
wormgirl Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Tacoma, WA Posts: 245	Nice pics!!! __________________ Jenn

May 29, 2015	#4
PA_Julia Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Princeton, Ky Zone 7A Posts: 2,208	MMMMMMM............Fantastic looking!! __________________ Personal Best- 4.46 LB Big Zac 2013

May 29, 2015	#5
Gardeneer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: NC - zone 8a - heat zone 7 Posts: 4,919	Nice, Spartansburg(ER). Thou we are in the same zone ( 7/8 ?) but you have much warmer weather. Mine take for ever to get out of flower stage into fruit stage. Last edited by Gardeneer; May 31, 2015 at 05:01 AM.

May 29, 2015	#10
MissS Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin Posts: 3,150	Hmmm.... Early Girl seems a little behind. __________________ ~ Patti ~

May 30, 2015	#13
wormgirl Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Tacoma, WA Posts: 245	My recent research turned up that flowers need pollenation within 50 hours of opening. So my guess is the day they open is the best. I packed away my Sonicare, still looking for it!! __________________ Jenn

May 28, 2015	#2
ermentrude Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Charleston SC Posts: 34	Aren't baby tomatoes so cute? :-)

May 29, 2015	#6
Spartanburg123 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: Spartanburg, SC Posts: 1,262	Thanks Gardeneer! One thing I do every day at lunchtime is to buzz the blossoms with an electric toothbrush, using the back of the brush right at the elbow (calyx) of the blossom. If you do this too early, the pollen is clumpy due to moisture. I have very high fruit set rates on my plants. One disadvantage, though, is the tomatoes don't get as large due to the larger energy distribution on the plant.

May 29, 2015	#7
flgatorguy87 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2015 Location: Pleasant View, TN Posts: 66	Do you care to give a clearer picture of the method with which you use the toothbrush. I haven't been around here long but this entire time I'm imagining people with a toothbrush going from flower to flower pollinating the opening?

May 30, 2015	#14
Fiishergurl Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Oak Hill, Florida Posts: 1,781	Here's a link to a short video that shows the electric toothbrush in action. I use that method also as it is very humid here. I don't really think the time of day matters so much as last year I did it at 6AM before I left for work in the morning and again at 7PM when I got home and I had tons of tomatoes. I know it's because of the e-toothbrush helping because when I leave for a week on business or to visit family, my neighbor waters the plants but refuses to do the toothbrush trick and I always have blossom drop during those times that he is watering the plants for us. Plus before I started using the e-toothbrush, I had big beautiful plants, tons of blossoms, and no tomatoes on the larger fruited varieties. Another Floridian suggest I give it a try as a last resort. I didn't think it would help because we have howling winds here so I didn't think the blossoms needed any help, but I finally decided, what the heck, it's worth a try and it worked wonders! If you are wondering how to do it, watch the link below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFzyIi6yn8Q Ginny PS, you can pick up a cheap electric tooth brush at one of the Dollar type stores for a few bucks. With all the money, time and effort you put into your garden, if you are getting a lot of blossom drop and can't figure out why, this is something to try. I could see results within a few days as the blossoms quit dropping and beautiful little tomatoes were growing instead... :-) Last edited by Fiishergurl; May 30, 2015 at 06:06 PM.