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Minnesota(dw447@fastmail.fm)

Does anyone know what the heaviest tomato grown from a single(non-fused) blossom is? Just curious.

Just for speculation. Lets say there's an heirloom tomato(beefsteak or heart-shaped) that can regularily produce some fruit over 2 lbs. with no special treatment(just leaving all the fruit set and no pruning). If you took that variety and employed the methods used for growing giant tomatoes for competition, what potential weight do you think you might obtain from it? Lets say this variety produces mainly single, non-fused blossoms.

1/6/2017 12:25:10 AM

50 Acres

Was it Gordon Grahams 7.75 in1986.

1/6/2017 8:37:14 AM

East Tennessee

I think I read somewhere that Gordon's was from a megabloom not a single. The mater in the pics is not the actual one but something miracle gro made for advertising.

1/6/2017 11:30:16 AM

On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

Gordon Graham's tomato was grown from 5 fused blossoms. It would be difficult to say what the largest tomato grown from a single blossom was because it is not always so easy to say that a tomato was grown from a single blossom or a double blossom. When a tomato is grown from a single blossom there usually is a very well defined point where the blossom was on the blossom end....but not always. A double blossom usually leaves more of a line than a dot on the blossom end...but not always. So, just because the tomato looks roundish but with a blurry blossom end it could be from two fused blossoms. A lot of tomatoes I have seen in the past were thought by growers to be from a single blossom but they were not. I am not posing as an expert on this, just bringing up the difficulty of being certain.

1/6/2017 11:37:35 AM

Wixom MI.

well said marv. many small double bloom tomatoes look like a single tomato but will have an elongated line on the flower bottom. i have grown several single flower tomatoes over 3 pounds near 4 pounds but i think that you will still need a large double bloom or more to grow that big one. i think that the slankard and domingo can grow the largest single blooms tomatoes that i have seen so far, here is a picture of my slankard tomato last year.
http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=251396

1/6/2017 12:47:39 PM

On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

That is indeed a nice round tomato and I still grow some Slankards. Take a hard look at the blossom end. Is it clearly a small little dot or is it more? And see that groove on the side of the tomato closest to you. Hmmm. Could that be some kind of a dividing line between maybe two tomatoes? Just asking. Hmmmm. How sure are you now? Very sure? Kind of sure? Hmmmm. Whatever. Nice tomato. I wish I had it here to eat.

1/6/2017 5:02:09 PM

Wixom MI.

i see what you are saying about the groves on the sides but i think those are more like stretch marks than divides ? look at this other example.
http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=268813
the 3.15 i called a single bloom but the stretching and cracking does cause grooves, where as the 3.33 has clearly enlongated and i would call a double. what do you think about the 3.15 ?

1/6/2017 6:48:37 PM

Wixom MI.

i wonder if any beafsteak type of tomato can grow a true large single tomato ? they all seem to get some kind of grooves in them when you think about it ?

1/6/2017 7:03:13 PM

Lebanon, Oregon

The Russian Oxhearts I grew last year throw out singles. I decided to trim the whole plant down to focus growth on one of these singles to see what it would do. It went 4.66 and is on my Garden Rebel diary. I would copy/paste the link but not sure how on my iPhone. I will try growing it again this year, and with more plants and focus, I'm sure I can get a single to break 5 lbs.

1/6/2017 7:44:03 PM

Lebanon, Oregon

As a PGVG auction plug, the 4.66 is in the auction tonight.

1/6/2017 7:48:23 PM

Wixom MI.

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=264641

rick that probably wouldn't qualify as a single bloom ? a true single tomato would be almost perfect round like a big boy tomato.the blossom end would have to be at least round or a pin point to be a true single ?

1/6/2017 8:21:16 PM

Wixom MI.

very impressive tomato rick !

1/6/2017 8:26:42 PM

Lebanon, Oregon

I see what you are talking about. So at pollination if you see only one stigma, wouldn't that mean it's only one tomato eventhough it may have its creases and lines? Maybe that's just a variety characteristic? The Oxhearts only have one stigma although I pollinated one freak with two that didn't do much. I would think two distinct stigmas would be two tomatoes ect. The 4.30 Megadom from Aug. 7 had one stigma eventhough it has ripples and rolls. I still think of that as a single also but I'm not a botanist. Maybe we can go with 1.5.

1/6/2017 9:00:51 PM

Minnesota(dw447@fastmail.fm)

Interesting. Thanks for the input. I grew a tomato variety last year that may have grown the largest tomato I ever grew. I don't know if it was a single flower, double, or what. I would describe it as a fat, blunt heart. It was quite smooth in shape, not lumpy. I've grown heirloom tomatoes for over 20 years. This one impressed me for it's size. The place I got the seeds from stated that it can get up to 4 lbs. with the double blossomed fruits.

1/6/2017 9:26:09 PM

Minnesota(dw447@fastmail.fm)

I should add that I don't grow tomatoes for size. I left all the tomatoes sets tomatoes on, and didn't prune the plant. I'm just curious as to what this variety might produce with someone experienced in giant tomato growing techniques.

1/6/2017 9:31:16 PM

Minnesota(dw447@fastmail.fm)

I meant left all the tomatoes on that set.

1/6/2017 9:31:50 PM

On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

Wixom. Nice tomatoes. I can't tell much looking at the top. I need to see the blossom end to see if the "scar" there is one little pinpoint or something more elongated, maybe like a smile. Sorry. Nice tomatoes though.

1/6/2017 10:03:21 PM