Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 158 Entries. Monday, March 4 View Page Welcome to my 2013 diary. This year my concentration will solely be on growing giant tomatoes. This years line up is; Big Zac Brutus Magnum Church Delicious Mega Marv And of course...MINE Julia's 2.86 LB Big Zac from 2012. My approx date of first seed planting will be March 26th.   Friday, March 8 View Page This is my personal Best, my 2.86 LB Big Zac from 2012. This year I'm armed with great seed, an ever expanding knowledge of giant tomato growing and good soil. This season I have set a goal of 3.50 LBS for myself. Knowing what I know going into the season there is no reason, barring the weather, as to why this cannot be achieved.   Sunday, March 10 View Page Today I measured the area for a permanent support structure for my tomato plants. Six 8 foot 4 X 4's will be set in concrete with lightweight metal fencing affixed to the 4 X 4's. This will provide very solid support for my tomato plants.   Saturday, March 16 View Page Here's my lineup for seed planting next weekend. Everything's a go for a great season!!   Saturday, March 23 View Page This morning I planted my tomato seeds. I have them on a heating mat in a small storage bin. A week ago I was able to obtain a rather unique and interesting cross between Brutus Magnum and a yellow beefsteak. The tomatoes grew out at close to two pounds and were Yellow in color. The grower has named them simply Yellow Brutus Magnum. I obtained very little seeds but from my specimens I will have seeds for any one who wants them this coming summer/fall. Happy germination everyone!! :O)   Wednesday, March 27 View Page I planted my seeds this past Saturday 03/23 and yesterday evening 03/26/2013 we achieved germination of five of six strains. Still waiting on Brutus Magnum. The first one's up were Terry's Brutus Magnum Yellow!! Thanks again Terry! I germinated them inside a storage tub using Jiffy pellets inside a tray sitting on a heat mat set at 80F. They are now out of the tub under lights sitting on the heat mat. Fastest germination I have ever had.   Thursday, March 28 View Page This morning there was one Brutus Magnum seed that has germinated out of four. I'll give it a few more days then if nothing further germinates I'll plant a few more. So far a fantastic start to the season! :O)   Friday, March 29 View Page All four Brutus Magnum seeds have germinated. We are go for launch.   Wednesday, April 3 View Page Seeds are coming along extremely well. Yesterday I transplanted my tomato seedlings into 12 OZ plastic cups. In a couple of days I will roto till my area to a 4 foot depth and add compost and more aged manure.   Monday, April 8 View Page I began roto tilling the tomato patch this morning. It has been a fantastic day with mostly sunny skies and temp's in the low seventies. Welcome to spring!! :O)   Monday, April 15 View Page Hello again everyone. :O) Here are my giants thus far. Most are over 3.5 " with many at 4.5 ". As they continue their trek skyward I toil behind my roto Tiller adding amendments. An up date along with a photo of my progress outdoors will be coming shortly. Happy growing!   Saturday, April 20 View Page Yesterday was roto tilling additional compost and other nutrients into the soil. As for today I finished transplanting my tomato seedlings into bigger pots. This is the second and most likely the transplanting into pots before planting directly into the patch.   Monday, April 29 View Page I took this photo a couple of minutes ago of my tomato growing area while it was drizzling outside. I roto tilled to a depth of approx 16 inches and added aged manure and some high quality compost. Once the amendments and soil were tilled I leveled it and layed down weed fabric. The last thing to do prior to planting is to build the Tee Pee shaped trellis that will run the length of the growing area.   Monday, April 29 View Page I've been giving my tomato plants some diluted liquid fertilizer in order to assist in growth prior to in ground planting in approx. two weeks Most of my plants are now approaching a foot tall with some at the foot and half stage.   Saturday, May 4 View Page In one week from today I am going to transplant my tomatoes into the patch. This is the same date as when I transplanted last year. May in eastern PA has brought stabilizing temperatures thus far so all signs point to yes.   Wednesday, May 8 View Page I actually jumped the gun on my own planting dates and went ahead and began planting on 05/05 and finished the task on 05/06. The night time lows are conducive to planting so I went ahead. All planting holes were trenched out approx 1.5 feet. I mixed the planting areas soil for each seeding with mushroom compost and a small amount of granular fertilizer. The tomato seedlings were placed horizontally in the trench and the seedlings stalk gently curved upward to reach above the soil line. This will allow a stronger and more prolific root system to form as opposed to planting the seedling vertically in the hole. A total of 17 seedlings have been planted. I next move on to planting my 70 sunflower seedlings of different varieties and colors in various locations in the garden. Photo's showing the progress of the tomato plants and sunflowers will follow as progression occurs.   Thursday, May 9 View Page I have decided to add two more plants to my lineup. Both are Big Zac but instead of from my personal best of last year they are from the 5.32 Lyons monster from 2011. I have planted the seeds in Jiffy pellets and have them heating on the heating pad in the grow chamber. This should also bring more potential later in August and September since they will mature later than those I have already planted.   Friday, May 10 View Page Our local news stations forecast for Monday has me worried as to the overnight low temperature. It's bordering on frost for that night so I have to be prepared to cover the tomato plants if needed.   Tuesday, May 14 View Page My tomato plants along with everything else survived the overnight 32F temperature. I covered the tomato plants with plastic pots which worked extremely well in keeping the plants from being harmed. Tonight's low is 42F so a nice 10 degree jump from last night. By Thursday highs will be in the low eighties and the overnight low staying in the upper 50's. I dodged the frost/freeze bullet this season..Whew!!   Friday, May 17 View Page This morning I bottom fed 10-52-10 granular mixed in water to the tomatoes. Next week I will begin foliar feeding them the same. I am following a weekly 10-52-10 foliar feeding along with a bi weekly foliar feeding of fish emulsion.   Monday, May 20 View Page This morning I added more mulch to the tomato area in order to cover the black garden fabric. This has a two fold effect. It will provide moisture retention as well as keeping the ground surrounding the plants at a cooler temperature than leaving the black garden fabric exposed to direct sunlight.   Wednesday, May 22 View Page This morning I foliar fed fish emulsion to the tomato plants.   Sunday, May 26 View Page Today I began my regular schedule of fungicide application.   Wednesday, May 29 View Page This afternoon I foliar fed fish emulsion as part of my weekly fish emulsion application schedule.   Saturday, June 1 View Page The heat!! My God the heat!!! For the last 3 days we have had temp's in the low 90's with some humidity. If this would have been a month from now the humidity would be much much higher and the weather very very suppressive. Yesterday evening I deep watered the tomato plants after pruning them. The plants are looking fantastic despite the mini heat wave happening.   Sunday, June 2 View Page This morning I was up at dawn adhering to my weekly foliar spray schedule of application of Bloom Booster 10-52-10 to the tomato plants.   Thursday, June 6 View Page I just finished foliar feeding my tomato plants 10-52-10 bloom booster. Here is a 3 lobe megabloom on one of my three Delicious plants. The plant is approx 3.0 feet in height.   Thursday, June 6 View Page Here is the Delicious plant that the 3 lobe mega bloom is located on.   Thursday, June 6 View Page Here are my tomato plants as of ten minutes ago. All are doing great with many breaching the 3.5 foot mark. I just finished foliar feeding 10-52-10 bloom booster with a brand new hand pump sprayer I purchased at Home Depot.   Saturday, June 8 View Page Over the past 72 hours we have received over 2.50 inches of rain. Post tropical storm Andrea has now moved on. This afternoon I pruned more of my plants to just two main stems as suggested in Dr.Meisner's book How To Grow Giant Tomatoes. I have to say it was difficult to cut such healthy growth from each of my eighteen plants but I am growing strictly for giants not quantity so I did what I had to do in order to create conditions favorable for tomato growth.   Sunday, June 9 View Page This morning I sprayed an application of insecticide as part of my preventative spray schedule.   Monday, June 10 View Page More rain.....Ummmm...Don't get me wrong we are blessed on the eastern seaboard to receive ample amounts of rain each season but now we're reaching over four inch mark for the last week. Today alone we have received over an inch. Tomorrow's forecast calls for sun with clouds and obviously high humidity.   Tuesday, June 11 View Page Today's forecast calls for clouds and sun with the percentage of precipitation increasing by this afternoon. Based on this I decided it was safe enough to foliar feed fish emulsion to the tomato plants in order to adhere to my fertilizer schedule.   Wednesday, June 12 View Page This morning I have been installing eight foot stakes for the tomato plants.   Thursday, June 13 View Page What for it!.....More rain!!   Friday, June 14 View Page My house backs up against a private church owned park of considerable size. Despite an eight foot fence with barbed wire separating my neighborhood from the park it is hardly a defense against non human attacks on plants and flowers. Rabbits are the number one culprit eating my sunflowers one leaf at a time. Due to the 6.17 inches of rain we have received thus far this month I have had little opportunity to apply and to have the scent stay of a rabbit repellent. This morning has been partly cloudy thus far so I felt it was safe enough to apply Liquid Fence to my sunflower plants and herbs growing. The short term 72 hour forecast calls for mostly dry weather with a nice warm up coming so my fingers are crossed.   Friday, June 14 View Page Here is a photo I took this morning of the eight foot stakes I finished installing a couple of days ago. The one's farthest from the camera are not painted because I ran out of paint and had to get them installed in order to support the plants that needed supporting.   Saturday, June 15 View Page Yesterday evening I foliar fed the tomato plants their scheduled dose of 10-52-10.   Sunday, June 16 View Page Good morning and Happy Fathers day to those that have reason to celebrate such. I went outside to vibrate the megablooms I have going on the plants with my older Oral-B Vitality toothbrush that I replaced with a new one. While I was playing bumble bee I found a mega bloom that has set fruit. It appears it is a double fused bloom so it's not going to be a world record but it could reach into the upper two pound range or lower three pound range. Enjoy your Sunday! I   Thursday, June 20 View Page Here is a three bloom fused blossom on on of my three Mega Marv plants. The stalk is very thick as it compares with the other seven or so mega blooms I have going on my other plants. The bloom is also at around three feet up the plant which is just about optimum height for good tomato growth. This one thus far is the star of my lineup.   Thursday, June 20 View Page Here is the Mega Marv plant that the large mega bloom with the thick stalk is on. Not a tall plant but a solid and very healthy one.   Friday, June 21 View Page Foliar fed 10-52-10 to the tomato plants as part of my weekly fertilizer schedule.   Saturday, June 22 View Page I bottom fed calcium to those plants that are growing tomatoes resulting from mega blooms.   Sunday, June 23 View Page This morning I deep watered the tomato plants in preparation for another heat wave beginning tomorrow. I also did some pruning as well. I currently have four tomatoes growing from mega blooms. One that I took a photo of and posted earlier this past week is growing rapidly from it's thick stalk. Photo's in a few days will be posted of the progress of this and the other tomatoes growing.   Tuesday, June 25 View Page Here is tomato growth on the largest mega bloom that I have thus far. This is on one of three Mega Marv plants I have. Growth has been rapid.   Tuesday, June 25 View Page Here is another fruit growing on a Mega Marv plant one down from the superstar of the garden. It was pollinated approx the same time as the largest one. It's not quite as large but it's from a three flower fused bloom and it's up approx. 2.5 feet so it's in the "" sweet "" spot for tomato growth.   Tuesday, June 25 View Page Here is a fruit growing from a 3 flower fused bloom from a Brutus Magnum Yellow plant. It's a cross between a regular Brutus Magnum and a large yellow beefsteak which has been kept a secret by the originating grower. I obtained these seeds from the person that created the cross who resides in MI. Excellent growth and up around three feet.   Tuesday, June 25 View Page Here is a five fused bloom that's on one of three 2.86 LB Diehl Big Zac plants I have growing. The seeds originated from my personal best tomato of 2.86 LBS from a (F1)Big Zac seed I purchased commercially. This mega bloom I have extremely high hopes for as it could hold a monster yet to be born. If this pollinates correctly it could hold my personal best thus far. I keep you updated.   Tuesday, June 25 View Page Here is a photo of the first sunflower head to emerge this season. It's a Velvet Queen that's about five feet in height.   Thursday, June 27 View Page Here is another photo of the 5 lobe fused bloom on one of my 2012 2.86 LB Big Zac plants. Yesterday evening I foliar fed granular 14-03-18 fertilizer to the tomato plants. Due to a fairly high volume of megabloom development and notable fruit set at this time I felt it was necessary to switch from a bloom booster fertilizer of 10-52-10 to a 14-03-18 for the remainder of the season. Higher Potassium load boosts plant vigor and disease and stress resistance.   Saturday, June 29 View Page Here is the largest of my lineup thus far, it's on one of three Mega Marv plants. I have an earlier photo of it in this diary. Excellent growth thus far.   Saturday, June 29 View Page Here is the other tomato growing from a fused bloom on another Mega Marv plant. Excellent growth and just slightly younger than the one I spoke about in the last entry.   Saturday, June 29 View Page Here is currently the sole tomato I have growing from a double bloom on one of two Brutus Magnum Yellow plants. It's growing rapidly. Iobtained the seeds from another giant grower out of MI.   Sunday, June 30 View Page My biological family is Greek so I thought I would honor that by placing a Greek flag with today's post. This morning I watered the tomato plants with a medium amount of water. The forecast calls for a high probability of thunderstorms this afternoon, this evening and especially tomorrow. Despite the forthcoming moisture my plants needed just a little boost to get them to the rainy weather. I also bottom fed my sunflowers a liquid nitrogen only drench in order to keep the height increasing since many already are blooming.   Wednesday, July 3 View Page For the last few days I have been busy pruning more tomato plants that have started fruit set of possible heavyweights. I current subscribe to the two stem only method of pruning which means I only allow two main stems to grow on the plant after I have fruit set of a potential heavyweight. The stem that holds the truss that in turn holds the fruit is pruned to a height of approx. four feet while allow the 2nd stem to continue to grow to a height of six feet where I terminate all further vertical growth. At the time of this entry I have nine tomatoes with potential that are set and growing. Out of those nine I have three that are growing extremely rapidly. I have attached thin light colored wash clothes just above those three tomatoes in order to keep maturation rate at a minimum. Photo updates of the tomatoes I have taken shots of early in this diary will be posted shortly   Thursday, July 4 View Page Happy 4th of July everyone!!! This morning I foliar fed the tomato plants their weekly scheduled fertilizer. This photo I took just a few minutes ago of the overall backyard. You can see the small herb garden area, many of my sunflowers growing as well as many of my tomato plants.   Thursday, July 4 View Page Here is the current growth of one of my tomatoes set on one of three Mega Marv plants. Growing rapidly.   Thursday, July 4 View Page Here is the other tomato set on another Mega Marv plant. It is the biggest thus far. I'm using my hand as a size scale. This one seems to have the potential to go rather heavy. I have my fingers and toes crossed.   Friday, July 5 View Page Here is the large five flower fused bloom that I have shown earlier here. It has now set fruit and is growing. If you look to the left of it you can make out a tomato growing from a three flower fuse blossom that I have allowed to grow as a backup to the five flower bloom. Another couple of weeks of fruit growth on the five flower fused bloom and I will cull the tomato from the three.   Saturday, July 6 View Page Good morning everyone! Early this morning at sunrise I was out watering the tomato plants and everything else for that matter due to the heat wave we are finding ourselves in. The humidity is extremely high along with the 90 + degree heat so it's been like a South American jungle here.   Saturday, July 6 View Page I forgot to mention that the large megabloom that has set fruit shown in the photo on entry 59 is on one of three Big Zac 2.8 LB Diehl plants.   Monday, July 8 View Page Hello everyone, This morning I foliar fed the tomato plants their bi weekly scheduled application of fish fertilizer.   Tuesday, July 9 View Page I just finished taking some photo's of the progress of the giant's I have growing currently along with the sunflowers. Here is a nice overview shot of the garden today   Tuesday, July 9 View Page Here is an example of the large leaves on the Mammoth Sunflowers that are continuing their trek skyward prior to blooming. Most of the mammoths are approx. 4.5 feet tall at the moment.   Tuesday, July 9 View Page Here's a bee enjoying some pollen for breakfast from the flower of a Pastiche sunflower I have six of this particular strain growing throughout the garden.   Tuesday, July 9 View Page Here is the bloom on one of my Golden Cheer sunflowers. One of the more unique varieties I have growing.   Tuesday, July 9 View Page Here is a photo of a border of sunflowers made up of Golden cheer and Velvet queen sunflowers with some producing multiple blooms. The tallest is pushing seven feet in height.   Tuesday, July 9 View Page Here is a photo I took showing one of my largest growing tomatoes being shaded with a wash cloth. Shading retards the maturation process by shading the tomato from direct sunlight. I use white or very light colored cloth to shade in order to reflect heat.   Tuesday, July 9 View Page Here is the tomato that was shown being shaded by the wash cloth in the previous photo. It's on one of three Mega Marv plants. It's still growing rapidly. I will measure all tomatoes shortly and will post that information shortly.   Tuesday, July 9 View Page Here is the largest tomato I have at the moment. It's on another Mega Marv plant and is also shaded by it's own wash cloth. It's still growing and is quite large. My hand is shown for size comparison.   Tuesday, July 9 View Page Here is a tomato growing on one of two Brutus Magnum Yellow plants. It's the only yellow tomato in my lineup. This is a rare cross with the seeds being given to me by a fellow giant grower in Michigan.   Tuesday, July 9 View Page Here is a growing tomato on one of three Brutus magnum plants.   Tuesday, July 9 View Page This is the five fused megabloom with a fast growing tomato growing from it. I have shown this megabloom numerous times in past entries. This is that one tomato that has the ability to go very heavy for me. Updates of course will be coming.   Wednesday, July 10 View Page This morning I bumped up my watering schedule due to the recent heat wave that has now left the area. Everything was thirsty so I gave a medium amount of water to the tomato plants. I also pruned a few plants along with dealing with some slight disease concerns on a couple of plants by spraying fungicide.   Thursday, July 11 View Page Hello everyone, Today is a scheduled fertilizer day, however, with the percentage of heavy precipitation hovering in the 90 percent range I'm moving the fertilizer date forward. It is currently raining so I went out a moment ago and took a few photo's of hat's going on. Here is a photo of one of two new and growing blooms on what is called a Tithonia Diversfolia or more comonnly known as a Mexican Sunflower or Torch named as such due to it's fiery red bloom. This bloom is on one that is approx five feet in height.   Thursday, July 11 View Page Here is another new bloom on another Mexican Sunflower next to the one I just showed you in the previous entry.   Thursday, July 11 View Page Here is the growing monster from the five fused bloom on one of my Big Zac Diehl plants.   Thursday, July 11 View Page In a previous entry I mentioned that I had a back up tomato on the Big Zac Diehl plant that had the five fused bloom now growing a tomato. Since the tomato from that monster bloom is growing so rapidly I made the decision to cull the back up tomato growing beside it. Here is a photo of it. If allowed to continue and if it was the sole tomato on the plant it would have grown to an impressive weight.   Friday, July 12 View Page One of my favorite pizzerias, Antonio's in Brooklyn. This morning I foliar fed the tomato plants their weekly schedule of fertilizer.   Saturday, July 13 View Page Here is the tomato growing from the five fused bloom on the Big Zac Diehl plant. I just took this photo a few minutes ago after measuring it. It has grown slightly over 1 1/4 inches in 24 hours.   Saturday, July 13 View Page Here is the largest tomato growing at the moment. It's on one of my Mega Marv plants. It's impressive to say the least. Because it's almost perfectly round it has earned the nickname the "" Mother ship "" It continues to increase in size.   Saturday, July 13 View Page Here is a close up of the underside of the Mother ship.   Saturday, July 13 View Page Here is the second largest tomato in my lineup. It's on another Mega Marv plant.   Saturday, July 13 View Page Here is the third largest tomato in my lineup. It's also on a Mega Marv plant. It's extremely close in size to the 2nd largest. It has more of an oblong shape than the other.   Sunday, July 14 View Page This morning found me creating hammocks for my largest tomatoes.   Sunday, July 14 View Page This morning I also bottom fed chelated calcium to the tomato plants.   Wednesday, July 17 View Page Here is the Big Zac Diehl plant that has the tomato from the five fused bloom. I have a white plastic grocery bag covering the tomato to protect it from sun scald and to slow maturation.   Wednesday, July 17 View Page Here is the plant with the grocery bag pulled back to show the tomato in it's hammock.   Wednesday, July 17 View Page Here is the tomato from the five fused bloom on the Big Zac Diehl plant. These photo's were taken as of 11:00 AM EDT this morning. The CC" measurement this morning was exactly 12 inches.   Wednesday, July 17 View Page Here is the Growing Mothership enjoying leisure time in her hammock.   Wednesday, July 17 View Page Here is what I have nicknamed "" The Clover "" due to it's clover like shape. It is only slightly behind the Mothership in size. Like the Mothership the CC" measurements are a secret until weigh in time. :O)   Wednesday, July 17 View Page This tomato rounds out the top three in my lineup for size at this time. This one is the oblong one which trails the Mothership and the Clover by approx an inch in CC" at this time. All three of these are on their own Mega Marv plant. All three   Thursday, July 18 View Page This morning I was up shortly after dawn to foliar feed the tomato plants their weekly fertilizer. We also have been in a very intense heatwave that isn't good for man, beast nor tomato plant, because of this I have again watered the tomato plants as well as everything else in the garden.   Friday, July 19 View Page I have tentatively received permission from the regional office of the Pennsylvania Department of Weights and Measures to weigh the Mothership, the Clover and the Oblong tomatos growing on the Mega Marv plants. This will give me an official state reading.   Sunday, July 21 View Page This morning I foliar fed the tomato plants their bi-weekly fish fertilizer application.   Sunday, July 21 View Page Here is the tomato growing from the five fused bloom on one of my three Big Zac Diehl plants. Here are the CC " measurements starting on 07/17/2013. 07/13/2013- 12 " 07/19/2013- 13 1/2 " 07/21/2013- 14 1/2 "   Sunday, July 21 View Page Here's a view of the tomato plants looking down the line.   Sunday, July 21 View Page Here is the tallest out of the four Mammoth strain sunflowers growing in the garden. Due to the heat and humidity during this now past heat wave the plant grow over two feet to approx seven feet as of today.   Sunday, July 21 View Page Correction; The tomato growing from the five fused bloom's CC " listed on 07/13/2013 is incorrect. The date should read 07/17/2013 for the CC " measurement of 12 "   Monday, July 22 View Page I'll let everyone in on the CC " of my second largest tomato at this time. It's a Mega Marv and is currently at 22 1/2 inches in diameter with some significant bottom lobes which most likely will skew the estimated weight upwards. I just took the measurements and this photo approx five minutes ago.   Tuesday, July 23 View Page Overnight we received approx. two inches of rain from a heavy line of thunderstorms. Other than the rain moving alot of my mulch covering the weed cloth around I came out unscathed.   Tuesday, July 23 View Page My largest tomato I had growing started to blush on the bottom. I just removed it from the plant a few minutes ago and weighed it. I just joined the four pound club (barely) LOL!! It's exactly 4.00 lbs, no more, no less. The tomato is a Mega Marv from a 2.78 2012 example that Dale of Delectation of Tomatoes sold to me. The CC " is 23 2/8 inches.   Tuesday, July 23 View Page Here is a close up of the scale readout.   Tuesday, July 23 View Page Here is the tomato showing the CC " measurements.   Tuesday, July 23 View Page Here is the underside of the tomato showing the beginning o ripening.   Wednesday, July 24 View Page I'm back from Valley Farm Market which is exactly seven blocks from my house. Here is the Mothership on one of the check out scales. My scale read this tomato at exactly 4.00 LBS, their scale officially calibrated by the state of Pennsylvania reads 4.01 LBS, I'm taking their scale reading!! LOL!!   Wednesday, July 24 View Page A closer look at the official weight reading.   Wednesday, July 24 View Page A ""behind the cash register "" view of the Mothership on the scale.   Wednesday, July 24 View Page Another shot of the Mothership   Wednesday, July 24 View Page A blurry but still readable photo of the state calibration decal on the side of the scale showing it's yearly validation of November of 2012 to November 2013.   Thursday, July 25 View Page This morning I foliar fed the tomato plants their weekly fertilizer application. After drying I sprayed the tomato plants their weekly fungicide application.   Thursday, July 25 View Page Here is the tomato from the five fused bloom which I am officially naming the Beast. Today's CC" measurment is 16 5/8 inches.   Thursday, July 25 View Page Here is now the largest tomato currently growing in my lineup. The Clover is looking more like a blob as it continues to add the weight. Today's CC " measurement is 23 1/2 inches. I have a feeling it's going to flash color any day now but I'm praying for another week to get t his guy heavier than the Mothership.   Thursday, July 25 View Page Another shot of the Clover with my hand as reference.   Thursday, July 25 View Page An underside shot of the Clover showing the typical lobes one usually has on these.   Thursday, July 25 View Page Here is one I have not yet shown to all of you, it's a Delicious and the largest one of this line I have growing at the moment. Today's CC" measurement is 17 2/8 inches with a pollination date of approx July 2nd.   Thursday, July 25 View Page I inadvertently caught my brother in law in the photo holding the tomato as I took a underneath photo. He wanted me to tell all of you hello from Jeff so HELLO! :O)   Friday, July 26 View Page Ultraman and I checked on the 23 1/2 inch diameter tomato this morning and, so far no signs of color flash so I'm pretty confident that I have another day of growth coming. Come on, six more days of growth PLEAZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!   Saturday, July 27 View Page ate this morning I removed the third largest tomato growing from on of my three Brutus Magnum plants. It began to flash color three days ago. Here she is; 3 LBS 2.0 OZ with a CC measurement of 21 1/8 inches.   Saturday, July 27 View Page A close up of the scale readout.   Saturday, July 27 View Page Here she is with the tape showing a CC " of 21 1/8 inches.   Saturday, July 27 View Page Here's the underside of the tomato.   Monday, July 29 View Page Early this morning I went out and checked to see if I would get another day of growth out of the largest tomato I have at the moment, It appears that I do not have another day. It's flashing color. In this photo if you look closely at the lower right part of the tomato you can see color beginning to show. Tomorrow morning I have an appointment with the head of the eastern division of the State of Pennsylvania Weights and Measures to have it weighed and certified.   Monday, July 29 View Page Here's a view of the upper portion of the same tomato.   Monday, July 29 View Page Here's the CC " measurement while still on the vine. It sits at slightly over 24 inches in diameter.   Monday, July 29 View Page Here is the tomato from the five fused bloom on one of my three Big Zac Diehl plants. This morning's CC" measurement is 16 6/8 inches.   Monday, July 29 View Page No giant grower would be complete without a throne.   Monday, July 29 View Page Correction; The CC' measurement of the five fused bloom tomato from the Big Zac Diehl plant AKA The Beast is not 16 6/8 inches but rather 18 6/8 inches.   Tuesday, July 30 View Page This morning I have an appointment with the Pennsylvania Department of Weights and Measures to have this tomato weighed. I just removed from the vine a few minutes ago and weighed it. It's my largest and personal best to date, a Mega Marv weighing 4.05 LBS according to my scale. We'll see in just a little while what the state scale says.   Tuesday, July 30 View Page Here is a photo of the underside of the tomato. An extremely interesting design,   Tuesday, July 30 View Page Here is my scales readout of the tomato. 4.05 LBS.   Tuesday, July 30 View Page An overall shot of the tomato sitting on my scale. More photo's will be coming later today from my appointment with weights and measures.   Tuesday, July 30 View Page An overall shot of the tomato sitting on my scale. More photo's will be coming later today from my appointment with weights and measures.   Tuesday, July 30 View Page This morning I went to see Mr. James Davis of the Pennsylvania Department of Weights and Measures to have my latest large tomato weighed. 4.025 LBS with a CC " of 23 3/8 inches. A bit of a difference from weighing the tomato on my $35.00 scale versus a very expensive finely calibrated scale used by the state for official weights.   Tuesday, July 30 View Page The state of Pennsylvania certification decal on the side of the scale.   Tuesday, July 30 View Page Photo showing the CC " of 24 3/8 inches.   Tuesday, July 30 View Page Mr. James Davis the state weights and measures representative and myself holding the tomato. Mr.Davis is an extremely kind and generous man who made it possible for me to weigh my tomato. He took time out of his busy day to help me and for that I am extremely grateful. It is indeed rare to meet a person that restores your faith in the kindness of others. Thank you Jim.   Friday, August 2 View Page Here is the tomato from the five fused bloom on one of my Big Zac Diehl plants that I have named the Beast. I ordered some Dunkel's Tomato Turbo to help increase the weight. I applied it yesterday evening.   Friday, August 2 View Page Here is the Beast's CC' measurement of 20 2/8 inches as of this morning.   Friday, August 2 View Page Here is the other large tomato I have going at this time; It's on one of my Brutus Magnum plants.   Friday, August 2 View Page Here is the tomato on the Brutus Magnum plant showing a CC " of 19 5/8 inches as of this morning.   Monday, August 5 View Page Here is a photo of the Beast this morning measuring a CC" of 21 inches. As I was sitting and measuring this morning I felt the familiar coolness of fall even though it's only the beginning of August. It dropped to 53 F overnight. Today's weather is sunny with highs in the low eighties.   Monday, August 5 View Page Perhaps it would help if I also added the photo of the Beast being measured. LOL!!!   Monday, August 5 View Page Here is the tomato on one of my Brutus Magnum plants. This morning it's CC " is exactly 20 inches.   Thursday, August 8 View Page Here is the Beast as of this morning. The CC currently sits at 21 6/8 inches.   Thursday, August 8 View Page Here is the other large tomato on the radar at this time. It's on a Brutus Magnum plant and as of this morning is sitting at 20 1/8 inches.   Saturday, August 10 View Page Here's the Beast as of a few minutes ago.   Saturday, August 10 View Page As of today the Beast's CC " measurement is 22 2/8 inches.   Saturday, August 10 View Page Here's a scene of some of the sunflowers as of today. The one that's yellow and blooming is a Mammoth along with the tall one behind it.   Saturday, August 10 View Page Here's a close up of the Mammoth with two bumble bees enjoying some pollen for lunch.   Sunday, August 18 View Page Here is the old Indian test pattern that was used by television stations in the 50's, 60's and early 70's to announce the end of their broadcast day. This is quite appropriate due to not updating my blog for a couple of weeks. We are, however about to begin another broadcast day. The beast that I had been updating approx. every two days or so here began to ripen three days ago. I have called my contact at the state weights and measures division to have it weighed either this coming Tuesday or Wednesday. The morning of the day of weighing I will remove it from the vine. The weight and photographs will be coming at that time.   Tuesday, August 20 View Page Here's my new personal best, 4.46 pound Big Zac (AKA)the Beast that grew from the five fused bloom that I had featured in my diary many times this season. I had a feeling it was going to grow into a large heavyweight and I wasn't disappointed. Extremely close to the four and a half pound mark. This now concludes my 2013 season.   Tuesday, August 20 View Page The final CC " for the Big Zac was 23 1/2 inches.   Tuesday, August 20 View Page A closeup of the weight readout.   Tuesday, August 20 View Page The calibration decal on the side of the scale. I took the tomato to be weighed by Jim Davis at the Pennsylvania Weights and Measures division. This is the same person who weighed and verified my 4.03 Mega Marv in July. Thank you again Jim for everything!! See you next season!!!   Tuesday, August 20 View Page The bottom view of the 4.46 LB Big Zac.   Wednesday, August 21 View Page A special thanks to Dunkel's Organic Fertilizer for helping me get the beast to this level. I got some of their Tomato Turbo in hopes that it would push this tomato as far as it could and in my opinion it it. I observed the plant that the Beast was grown on becoming a bit fuller and the color of leaves achieving a deeper green color from a couple of weekly applications of the fertilizer. Thanks Mr. Pennington for a great product!!   Tuesday, December 31 View Page Happy New Year to everyone!!! The 2014 season is going to rock!!!!