From

Location

Message

Date Posted

sevierville, Tn

does anyone know what date or even what month he weighed his record? i know it was 1986. Thanks

2/28/2014 10:21:58 PM

Allentown, PA

According to the information in Dr. Marv Meisner's book "" Growing Giant Tomatoes "" Gordon Graham planted his tomato plants in ground in early February. I too have searched but was unable to obtain any further information concerning the exact date or month. With that being said we can however extrapolate a close approximate time frame as to the date based on when he transplanted his tomatoes in ground.

The Delicious strain that Graham grew to record has an average maturation time frame of 77 days. Based on assumption that he chose to transplant on the 7th of Feb. then the 24th of April would be the approx date of maturity for the average Delicious strain of tomato. Since We are speaking of the world record at 7 LBS 12 OZ and the plant it came from was very long as opposed to tall due to wind blowing the plant to the ground.

Based on this data we can assume that Graham's tomato took additional time to reach that size How long? We don't know that. Let's assume that it took approx 14 additional days to reach that size we would then have a date of approx the 8th of May.

3/1/2014 8:31:53 AM

Allentown, PA

Addendum;

The history of Graham's plant tells of it falling over on his melon patch.

What type of melons, we don't know. If the melons were sizable and taking into consideration the size of the tomato plant that produced the tomato we could also have a date into June. This information also tends to follow the issue of heat in the state of Oklahoma. Graham would want to plant his tomato's early in order to have a chance of a favorable outcome by avoiding the heat intensity that's found in Oklahoma from June through September.

3/1/2014 8:37:44 AM

On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

Gordon started his plants very early and put them in Walls-of-Water. This allowed him to plant out quite early. I fear you will never know exactly when he picked his big tomato.

3/1/2014 3:59:46 PM

sevierville, Tn

thanks for trying....that summer was very hot there, so i wondered if he grew it early.

3/1/2014 7:31:29 PM

Mnt.pleasant ,tennessee

I ran across a news paper article while back might have a date on paper .havent been able to find again.i found it was the page seed contest.in edmond ok.searched allot, found couple interveiws said same he was experomenting he heavy fertilized it got to 14' fell over& he forgot bout it & was 53' long when died.but the mater started growing after 14'. Thats what ive found anyways

3/2/2014 4:13:12 PM

Muddy Waters

You going for the record Chris??

3/2/2014 8:09:02 PM

Cameron

Just for a compare our 7.33 Hunt (Delicious), to Gordon's 7.75. Our plant was started in late May & was pollinated @ the 1st week in Aug. The plant was allowed to grow to @ 5' tall & the fruit was on the 1st cluster of flowers. We terminated most of the growth after it reached the 5' mark. The weather was cool in Sept & we covered it with remay to protect it from the frost & cold temps. It had just started to show a little colour when it was picked for the Port Elgin weigh off. If we had have left it for another week longer & took it to a later weigh off, we might have gotten a bit more weight out of it, but we didn't really think it was that heavy until it was cut off the plant. Quite different than Graham's tomato & plant.

Just thought I'd share that with you all. Now go out there & break Gordon's record. You know we'll be trying to. :o).

Good luck.
Jane & Phil Hunt
GVGO (Giant Vegetable Growers of Ontario)

3/7/2014 9:38:51 AM

On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

The other thing you might have done was to water it about 2 hours before you picked it. That and another week's growth and who knows? But if it was changing color then it probably was done growing. Maybe this year with more experience etc etc you will be able to pull it off.

3/7/2014 10:03:31 AM

Bloomington, IN USA

Marv, how much do you think it helps to water before you pick? I did that last year just out of general principles but then I became concerned about watering too much & getting cracking.

3/10/2014 9:43:46 PM

Allentown, PA

Last year I had superficial cracking on both my 4.01 and 4.03 Mega Marv tomatoes. As long as those cracks are not deep and destructive to the overall integrity of the tomato everything should be just fine.

Both of those tomatoes were accepted as normal entries in the GPC contest last season.

3/11/2014 8:10:54 AM

Netherlands

From my research, I have difficulty believing his plant actually reached 53.5 feet in length. That would have been a world record. Even commercial growers don't reach that length in a year time in a controlled greenhouse environment. Nutriculture, a company in the UK, managed to grow the main vine of a tomato plant to 65 feet. It took 12 months and was grown hydroponically in a warmed greenhouse. It was also of a special type of tomato. That is the world record.

If Graham's tomato plant reached 53.5ft, then that must have been after the tomato was picked or about a year after planting it. If not, then something happened which never happened before and hasn't happened since.

We know that the plant grew alongside melons. The day it fell over it was about 14-16ft. That was an estimate. When he came back, probably to check or pick the melons, the tomato was already growing. There is no way that the plant grew 40 feet in that space of time.

It is likely that Gordon measured the main vine plus the length of one of the longest or top secondaries. That would make the length plausible. The Nutriculture plant would then have been 98 feet long. Unfortunately, that is not the way to measure a tomato plant. I think a figure in the 35 feet range would be more plausible. Even that is enormous as most plants grown outside for height rarely measure over 15ft.

All in all, it seems rather unlikely, but, if correct, would suggest a very late picking. End of September/October?

3/20/2014 4:17:40 AM