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Tasmania Australia

Hi, sorry if this has been asked many times before or is an obvious answer.
But how many do you usually leave on a plant?
Do you just keep the one as you would like pumpkins?
Any information is greatly appreciated.
Cheers.

11/27/2014 12:21:42 AM

Ely Mn

if you are going for the biggest tomato possible...just one per plant.
here is what i did this year and worked well.
try to set the tomato on the first truss if it is a double fuze or larger.
about ten days after you know it set.cut the top of the plant as well as any suckers.its a bit of a gamble doing it this way,but if you grow around 10 plants ,the odds should be in your favor.

11/27/2014 7:22:16 PM

Ely Mn

the theary behind this is more energy goes into the tomato at a
very early age,vs growing the plant and tomato together.

11/27/2014 7:27:25 PM

Tasmania Australia

Cheers, yes makes perfect sense, never thought of it like that.
Appreciated.

11/27/2014 11:38:52 PM

Central NY

If we cut our tops next year, and we keep the plants healthy, will we have time for another later set on the plant after harvesting"the one?"..I feel like it would have worked for me this year but I didn't keep track of days...that make sense?...thanks

11/28/2014 11:33:04 AM

Ely Mn

you probly could if you started early enough.but i would rather put all my foucus on one tomato and after you pick it,pull the plant.but thats just me.
would you rather have 2 5 lbers or one 10 lber:)

11/28/2014 9:13:01 PM

East Carbon, Utah

I can't argue with proven and phenomenal success! I will certainly be using Dan's strategy for most of my competition plants in 2015.

In 2014 the plant that produced my biggest tomato - Big Zac (3.75 Catapano 2007) - had some surprising results. The biggest megabloom was indeed on the first truss, but it was a dud - not enough pollen available. So I let the second biggest tomato grow.

Then on trusses 2, 3, 4, 5 I selected and pollinated the biggest blossom - which was a double or triple in each case - and removed the rest. The surprising part was that the mature tomatoes got progressively bigger with each truss going up the vine! So I had 2-3 tomatoes growing for most of the season. The fifth and largest tomato was 7' up on the vine and was harvested on November 4th.

I can only speculate about the reasons for this unexpected trend, but it causes me to think that it's still worthwhile to explore different strategies. That's what's nice about growing tomatoes; in contrast to pumpkins, it's not that much extra work to put in an extra 5 vines or so to test different techniques.

11/30/2014 1:33:50 AM

Ely Mn

i agree Dale...there is more than one way to grow a big one.
i am just going to do what worked for me.i will try again in 2015 and see how it works.

11/30/2014 8:30:54 AM

Central NY

I was thinking if there was enough time,...maybe two 9 lbers...

11/30/2014 8:33:02 AM

Ely Mn

go for it porkchop!

11/30/2014 9:42:47 AM

Central NY

I think we are all going for it next season...7,8, and 9 lbers in everyone's patch!!!....hmmm..I doubt it...I hope so, but I doubt it.. I think you grew a real special fruit master p...I know I'm about excited as can be for next year but taking down the REAL macoy is going to be a tall order...PB's for everyone in 2015!!!...

11/30/2014 11:30:48 AM

Allentown, PA

Unless I have two mega blooms both with more than three fused blooms each I will remove all flowers once pollination and growth of the one occurs. If by chance I do have two mega blooms that are very large I will pollinate both and see if they both begin to grow a tomato. I then see which tomato is more aggressive in growth. I will then cull the slower growing tomato.

12/31/2014 9:55:33 AM