From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Bowdon, GA

How big do you guys like the plant to be before setting fruit?
How far from the ground do the best ones grow?

6/23/2014 11:35:17 PM

Princeton Kentucky

Heres a link to frank & Tina's Patch update on there tomato plants. If you check out their diary they must be doin something right!! I'm doin like them, Marvin and others and growing two main vines with one at around 4 ft tall and the other with the mega bloom letting it run on up to 7-8 ft if you can eliminating all other single blooms. Just my personal opinion here. Keep us posted on the Cantaloupes!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCiR7aUZJAI

6/24/2014 6:21:00 AM

Allentown, PA

Hi Holloway,

At this moment I have nine tomatoes set on eight plants. As of this morning all eight of those plants have been pruned to a single stem. Four of those eight plants are approx three to three and a half feet in height at the moment. The others range from four to five feet.

Most of those tomatoes set are currently approx. 12 to 16 inches from the ground.

If you go to my diary and look at my entries from yesterday you'll see two photo's. The first photo shows my largest tomato to date. It's on a plant that's currently a little over four feet tall. The second photo shows my five fused bloom set and growing. This plant is approx. four feet tall.

The first fruit truss that appears on the plant is the optimal truss in which to set a mega boom. The first truss generally appears on the first 12 inches of the plant. Many times the plant creates the first first truss before the plant's size seems large enough to grow a large tomato as well.

In my opinion, if you get a good mega bloom on the first fruit truss on a rather short plant I would set the bloom and allow the tomato to grow. Here's the reason why;

We are now in latter part of June. The heat generated by the sun combined with humidity and precipitation creates the best growing time of the season. A more advanced way of seeing this is through what is called the GDDF. That acronym stands for ""Growing Degree Day Forecast "".

The higher the number of the daily GDD technically the better the growth is for crops, in this case tomato plants.

To read your specific forecast go here; http://wwwagwx.ca.uky.edu/

Enter your zip code above where it says Ag Weather Forecast and click the ag weather forecast button directly below where you entered your zip code.

You'll see a rectangular box showing your forecast. Go to the last line and observe the growing degree day count.

6/24/2014 9:32:01 AM

Allentown, PA

CONT;

For a simple explanation of how they come up with the GDD numbers go here;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roTa3fCl9dU

The reason why I told you this is this; Since we are in late June the growing degree day count is on average the highest beginning now



To summarize; The higher the GDD generally the better the growing conditions are for a plant to grow in which to support a potential heavyweight tomato.

6/24/2014 9:32:28 AM

Corbin, KY

I dont really worry about the size of the plant. I just wait and watch where the big blooms are going to appear. Usually the first truss is where some of the biggest will be. If that is at 8" Im not really concerned. If it happens
at 4 feet thats good too. After one is set and growing I will stop growth on the second main and stop all growth at the tops of my cages which are 5 feet. Shade the fruit and try and push the fruit to grow as big as possible. I believe it doesnt take a giant vine to grow a giant fruit. Just a giant bloom.

6/24/2014 9:56:12 AM

sevierville, Tn

Why is this " first fruit truss that appears on the plant is the optimal truss in which to set a mega boom" Why does the plant like to produce the "mega fused" flowers here??
Thanks

6/24/2014 10:13:00 AM

Allentown, PA

The first fruit truss does not always produce a mega bloom.

None of my three 4.50 Evans plants (Mega Marv) have produced any mega blooms on the first truss. Two out of three of those have mega blooms maturing on trusses approx. 4.5 feet on the plant.

The first truss is the optimal truss in which to set a mega bloom because there is less plant between the root ball and the growing tomato in which to leach nutrients away from the tomato itself.

6/24/2014 10:38:55 AM

On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

You guys are way ahead of me. I am just starting to get some blossoms on my plants. But, then again, it is early. Not all of my plants are being grown with two stems as I am doing a trial. Lots of rain here and it just keeps coming. Probably we will be crying for rain in July and August.

6/24/2014 10:35:07 PM

Bowdon, GA

Thanks everybody, that helps a lot. My local paper has a contest each year. Last year I decided to grow my first big tomato for it and they cancelled the contest in the name of bad weather. So this year I didn't plant any until they advertised that it was on again, which put me behind. But this is encouraging news.

6/25/2014 1:07:25 AM

Allentown, PA

Holloway,

You know you could enter the GPC online contest here.

The rules and requirements are listed under the early tomato weigh off section of the GPC area here.

6/25/2014 9:23:43 AM

Bowdon, GA

Thanks PA_J. Probably won't have much as far as GPC standards but I guess you never know

6/27/2014 11:46:17 AM