Parthenocarpic Toms

[whoose]

Anyone use these in a green house? Comments and suggestions please.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by whoose

Anyone use these in a green house? Comments and suggestions please.

I have grown several parthenocarpic varieties but I can't see why anything would be different growing in a greenhouse or not.

In either case fertilization of the ovules in the tomato ovary do not need pollen to do that, regardless of conditions.

Dr. Baggett at OSU developed many of them, as I'm sure you know, being in Montana and did so bc spring temps in the Pacific NW often did not allow for effective normal pollination.

I do know that of course seeds are few and since fruit development is not normal that fruits can be irregularly shaped from time to time.

So whether grown by me in zone 5 in upstate NY or you in Montana in a greenhouse I can't see how there would be that much difference.

If I've missed a point and/or my answer is not clear, please let me know.

Thanks,

Carolyn

[feldon30]

Originally Posted by whoose

Anyone use these in a green house? Comments and suggestions please.

I have not personally grown tomatoes in a greenhouse, but you could grow standard varieties and touch an electric toothbrush to each blossom cluster to ensure pollination.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by feldon30

I have not personally grown tomatoes in a greenhouse, but you could grow standard varieties and touch an electric toothbrush to each blossom cluster to ensure pollination.

Agree Morgan.

If the issue is growing any variety outside vs in a greenhouse then I'm wondering why the original poster specified parthenocarpic varieties.

If the problem with growing standard varieties in the PNW led to the development of parthenocarpic varieties, and there are some parthenocarpic varieties that are naturally parthenocarpic, b/c of cold spings, then that shouldn't be a problem in greenhouse conditions, as to temps that would lead to normal pollination.

But yes, lack of wind that facilitates self pollination or even insect pollinators can be a problem. I know one commercial greenhouse company near me and they use fans and I also know of some very large hydroponic places that actually rent pollinator bees,

Here's the place near me and Phyllis would ask everyone if they smoked and if yes, would not let them inside.

http://www.shushanvalleyhydrofarm.com/

As I said above, I had no problem growing them where I live in zone 5, I only did it once, no problem with yields, but I just didn't like the taste of them and if one does a Google search one can also find that in addition to few seeds and mishapen fruits one can also find that mushy interiors can also be a problem.

I'd already done a couple of Google searches so I'll just link to both here.

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q...uit+varieties+

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q...be+produced+by

Carolyn

[Fusion_power]

I've grown one parthenocarpic in my greenhouse and had no difficulty with it. I also use a backpack blower to walk by the tomatoes and blow the vines and flowers around a bit once a day. This enables self-pollination for varieties that need it. The problem I had with all varieties of tomatoes I've grown so far is that they are seriously damaged by low temps between 28F and 40F. If growing in a greenhouse, I strongly suggest maintaining temperature at or above 60 degrees.

Also, for greenhouse pollination, I suggest a vegibee instead of an electric toothbrush. It is handy for making crosses of tomatoes and other vegetables.

http://vegibee.com/