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On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

Megablossoms need special attention if you want them to develop into big tomatoes. Start by timing the appearance of open megablossoms so that they are on the vine when the air temperature is less than 80 degrees during the day and no lower than 65 degrees at night. If temperatures at night are less than 55 degrees or over 90 degrees in the daytime, the pollen granules stick together and pollination/fertilization fails. The use of Blossom Set Spray helps to prevent blossom drop (failed pollination/fertilization) from low temperatures but this may also result in deformed tomatoes and each tomato will definitely contain fewer seeds than usual. Another helpful plan for cold nights during pollination/fertilization is to protect your plants with a plastic wrap. Big tomatoes need lots of pollen. Most pollen is shed between 10 AM and 3 PM and so it is helpful if you shake or vibrate (some use an electric toothbrush to do this) your tomato plants during this time period when blossoms are open. This results in more pollen landing on the stigma. Also it is a good idea to give your blossom extra pollen from other plants if it is available. You may obtain pollen from any tomato plant you have but if it is a plant other than the one with the blossom, you may not get the seeds you want out of the tomato. Pollination/fertilization is less likely to occur if the humidity is high or it is raining. You might want to protect the newly opened blossom from rain. You could also protect it if weather is too hot by shading. High nitrogen levels in the soil inhibit pollination/fertilization and so do not use fertilizer products around the time of pollination/fertilization. Very dry weather decreases fertilization and so be certain your plants are adequately watered. Marv

3/4/2011 5:00:23 PM

On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

If you think your tomatoes always get enough pollen then consider that cat-facing is the result of incomplete fertilization of the ovules. This occurs primarily in larger tomatoes as they require more pollen. You will rarely see it in a small tomato. Recall that you see it most often early in the season when the nights are cooler. Ever seen it in your garden? Marv

3/4/2011 5:04:10 PM

Massachusetts

marv ,question,last year i pruned the smaller blossoms on the group and left the largest blossom to grow, i did this very early in the growth stage,should i wait till they develope more? would the small blossoms maybe develope into megablossoms? thanks so much ,scott..

3/4/2011 8:27:53 PM

On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

Scott: The smaller blossoms are small because they are single blossoms. A blossom that is fused is fused and larger than the other blossoms in the cluster from the very start. You could have waited a little but it would not have made a difference. Minnie Zacarria refers to those small blossoms as berries and they do sort of resemble small berries. She pinches them off as do I. Marv

3/4/2011 9:03:39 PM

Massachusetts

thank you!

3/4/2011 9:25:32 PM

Hamilton Nj

well i will be collecting pollen this year and adding a little extra special attention to my megablooms this year !! very nice marv. pizza

3/5/2011 2:09:39 AM

Owensboro, Ky.

Curious...what is cat-facing? Peace, Wayne

3/5/2011 2:39:12 AM

Muddy Waters

Is cat-facing why there so ugly with dry patchs on them & ugly holes(crators)

3/5/2011 7:00:20 AM

On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

Here is a link to a catfaced tomato. Cat-facing comes in all sizes. It is on the blossom end of the tomato. Some thought it was from the blossom sticking to the tomato. But it really is about not enough pollen.

http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y10/lubadub/?action=view&current=catface.jpg

Marv

3/5/2011 7:30:53 AM

Muddy Waters

So will more pollen make a better shaped tom???

3/5/2011 8:11:48 AM

On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

More pollen in the case noted would have prevented cat-facing. Marv

3/5/2011 9:24:50 AM

East Carbon, Utah

My understading is that if night temperatures are above 74°F, blossoms will abort, at least for most tomato varieties. That has been my experience. I get very poor fruit set from mid-July through mid-August.

Last year my heaviest tomato set fruit on about 5-30-2010, while my second heaviest set on about 8-13-2010. The 8-13 tomato never did get ripe. It was still growing, albeit slowly, when I picked it on 10-17-2010.

I live in the Great Salt Lake Valley at 4,300' elevation, where the temperatures in May and September can get rather chilly at night, but where it can get very hot during the peak of Summer. So, as mentioned, location can make a big difference in growing strategies.

If I waited until mid-May to start my tomatoes, it's unlikely there would be time for any of the late-season varieties to ripen on the vine before cool Fall weather set in.

Some would characterize the catfacing on the True Black Brandywine tomato posted at http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y10/lubadub/?action=view&current=catface.jpg as "Stitching", which is a characteristic trait of some varieties.

Wanna see some SERIOUS catfacing on an early Amana Orange tomato? Check out:

http://gianttomatoseeds.com/growing_tomatoes.html

3/25/2011 10:21:44 PM