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Ely Mn

As we are getting close to planting time it got me thinking about
some things i did last year.
I started my seeds on april 7th .my last pollination for the season
Was around july 15th and that grew my biggest for the year ,4.57 lbs.
So that makes that plant almost 3 1/2 months old before any thing was
pollinated on that plant.the tomato grew threw 60's and a few 70 degree
temps most of its life.it grew pretty fast !it was around 45 days old when
picked.
my point is should we be letting these plants establish a bigger root system
before we pollinate?

3/16/2014 1:55:08 PM

Buffalo, MN (Billsbigpumpkins@hotmail.com)

Here a document posted earlier for pumpkin roots but also contains information on tomato roots that can assist in your thinking.

3/16/2014 4:28:18 PM

Buffalo, MN (Billsbigpumpkins@hotmail.com)

http://www.sustainablefarmer.com/pdflibrary/library-rootdevelopment.pdf

3/16/2014 4:28:39 PM

Allentown, PA

I believe it is all a balancing act between obtaining a large megabloom and waiting until the plant has matured to where root development was at it's apex.

For example, my 4.46 pound Big Zac fro last year came from a five fused bloom that began to form in the middle of June.

It took until approx July 24th to have the tomato begin to ripen.

So an entire month and a half went by from the beginning of the mega bloom's development to the removal of the tomato from the vine.

Many factors come into play concerning tomato maturation rates. Weather, climate, type of soil for region, amendments in the soil and of course the strain of the particular tomato itself.

I noticed that Mega Marv's in my lineup were faster to mature as they compared to my 4.46 LB Big Zac during most of each tomatoes growing phase.

Of course a larger root system will benefit the plant, thus benefiting the tomatoes size potential but many times we are simply subjected to a myriad of variables at any given time.

Balance your soil, prepare and use your fertilizers and cross your fingers.

3/16/2014 6:47:09 PM

Hamilton Nj

every year i start mine early and they die do to frost or in my closet too long ,lol, im itching but after all the snow we had so far hear in jersey im waiting till end of april or mid april!!!! pizza

3/17/2014 12:56:48 AM

East Carbon, Utah

Very interesting article about root development! I would have expected better root growth in unsterilized soil, but I guess that disease load in the soil was a bigger factor in those circumstances than was the presence of beneficial microorganisms.

I have data for hundreds of tomatoes of about 15 varieties from the date of fruit set (that is, when I can see a tiny green tomato starting to form) until harvest. I agree that weather and other conditions make a huge difference. During the hot summers in the high desert where I live, daytime temperatures are usually in the 95-105° range and tomatoes ripen in 40 days, give or take.

The majority of my larger tomatoes are harvested between October 15th to November 15th, after the first light frosts of Fall. During the cooler weather of that time frame, I often get 55-70 days before tomatoes ripen.

That being said, if I can get good sized plants in the ground before May, and get blossoms to pollinate by early June, I can get some of my largest by late July.

However, for about 6-8 weeks during the peak of summer, it's very hard to get any tomato blossoms, especially megablooms, to set fruit. I'm sure those in the deep south have it even tougher. On the other hand, those with cooler summers may have ideal growing conditions for four full months.

As for getting the plant large before setting fruit, I think it's a good strategy, but only if there is aggressive pruning to go along with it. My experience is that thick stems are more likely to produce big tomatoes than are thin, spindly stem.

3/17/2014 6:27:00 PM

N.c.

http://www.hydro-gardens.com/PDF%20Files/Growing%20GH%20Tomates.PDF

A lot of interesting tidbits here.

Touches on the benefits of soil steaming in conjunction with leaching.

3/18/2014 11:07:17 AM

Ely Mn

Great info guys!

3/18/2014 1:20:07 PM

Princeton Kentucky

I always spray all my patches with horse grade/Deer Hunters, $20.00/Gal of molasses to get the microbs going early on and I really think that a couple simple applications carries the plant the whole season as far as root development goes. I've already sprayed the first application down. A week ago we had a snow storm and yesterday I was watching robins pulling night crawlers out of the ground only in the patches, 45 degrees out here in Illinois and they haven't even been tilled yet. Only the patches had worms close to the surface (so the robins say) and I truely believe its the molasses and the microb action thats bringing up the worms..the robins always tell me I'm doing a good job. I'll put another application of molasses in june and thats it. I use 3oz./1 Gal hot water when I apply. Roots systems are huge, plants are out of control every year and yes big maters. I do add fish in May, a couple weeks after transplanting. I also use comressed aerosol can air to pollinate late season mega blooms, works great tranfering pollin as if it was bee wings movin pollin on the bloom then I cover with a rubber band and white cloth for shade.

3/20/2014 8:14:27 AM