Big Tomato

A Hillbilly 6 inches long, 3-1/4 inches  tall, weighs 1 pound and 15-1/8 oz.  Or one quarter ounce short of matching a personal best.


and a group shot of several varieties-

Hillbilly and Brandywine tend to produce the largest toms in my garden.

Nice!

 (Also jealous  )

very nice...would probably make a good BLT...I need to go to the garden this evening and see what's ripe.

Wow!  Almost 2 lbs!  I haven't even hit a 1 pounder yet.
Nicely done, LM!  Perfect for sammies.

Thanks, Cape, Scorp, Country, and Landarch,
 
The compost I used was all of last years stored in containers without stirring  during winter months for aeration.  So I'm very surprised anything could grow this size. Plus I usually mix older compost with new.  I admit there were no plants that grew 8 ft tall like other years.  Whatever, I'm surprised and grateful.

WOW! Nice looking and nice SIZE!

How does it taste?

I picked four tomatoes today .
 one at 345  grams ( 12 ounces ) , one at 365 grams ( 12.9 ounces ), one at 392 grams ( 13.8 ounces ) and a monster one at 538 grams  ( 19 ounces )  the last two toms are co-joined  double fruits  ,
can any one beat these numbers ?

 The seeds came from Josh Green , he sent me seven of his big ugly tomato seeds s , four were crushed to dust , the remaining three gave me two plants three years ago .  Thanks Josh .

 I took seeds off a plant that gave forth three double headed flowers that became double fruits .

 Last year two plants made double blooms  I took the best sized double tomato ,  ate the flesh and saved a teaspoon of seeds seeds for this years plants & give aways .
This year has given me two plants with double bloom flowers  ,they have given me these whopping tomatoes with a couple more in the offing from them .

This was posted August 9 -
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t20912-big-tomato

AtlantaMarie wrote:WOW!  Nice looking and nice SIZE!

How does it taste?

That is the Question!

It was chopped and roasted with other tomatoes and peppers for sauce.

very nice llama...this year Granny Cantrell is my big tomato and have had some gorgeous, tasty fruits...single slices cover a BLT.

I'm happy to be beaten wrt the size of the toms .. I didn''t find the thread , thanks for putting the link up for it .
Dave

My Oxhearts were big, so big in fact they broke the steel support and also broke the plant while we were on vacay....had only a couple salvageable, but it is a repeat for sure with more sturdy support in store!  They were very tasty as well.

I think I'll have to get our Munchkin to make me several  tomato hammocks out of some new pantyhose / nylon stockings for next year as I almost had that same problem

It has been a horrible year for me for tomatoes. Even though I got them out later than I meant to they started out vigorous, with thick trunks and huge leaves... but it's been too wet, too cold*, not enough sun, leaf spot disease... The tomatoes are splitting, not ripening well, and being attacked by slugs - especially those on the plants that came off their ropes and ended up on the MM/mulch. The rope technique worked well last year, but the plants with huge tomatoes were just too much for the stalks to stay on the ropes, especially once the ground got too wet for the rebar supporting the trellis to stay upright (I never got to pipe strapping it to the bed, oops.) (*How cold? - Cold enough that the too-late spring cabbages are heading instead of bolting like they did last summer, and some of the onions-started-from-seed that I transplanted in mid-April thought they'd gone through winter and they did bolt - i.e. a bunch of the time it's been too cold for more tomato flowers.)

I guess the silver lining is that I get to see which types of tomatoes cope better in my garden under bad conditions.

In spite of this, I got one pretty awesome tomato. Zippered, but huge - and tasty! I think it's a Purple Cherokee (thanks, SR!), but the Black Krim were adjacent and the stems have crossed, so I might be wrong. (Plus I can't find the labels I went through the effort of using!) The scale says 1lb 14oz and a smidge.
 

I ate it on BLTs with some leaves from my first attempt at iceburg lettuce - it didn't head, but the leaves were still nice for sandwiches.

BeetlesPerSqFt wrote:It has been a horrible year for me for tomatoes. Even though I got them out later than I meant to they started out vigorous, with thick trunks and huge leaves... but it's been too wet, too cold*, not enough sun, leaf spot disease... The tomatoes are splitting, not ripening well, and being attacked by slugs - especially those on the plants that came off their ropes and ended up on the MM/mulch. The rope technique worked well last year, but the plants with huge tomatoes were just too much for the stalks to stay on the ropes, especially once the ground got too wet for the rebar supporting the trellis to stay upright (I never got to pipe strapping it to the bed, oops.) (*How cold? - Cold enough that the too-late spring cabbages are heading instead of bolting like they did last summer, and some of the onions-started-from-seed that I transplanted in mid-April thought they'd gone through winter and they did bolt - i.e. a bunch of the time it's been too cold for more tomato flowers.)

I guess the silver lining is that I get to see which types of tomatoes cope better in my garden under bad conditions.

In spite of this, I got one pretty awesome tomato. Zippered, but huge - and tasty! I think it's a Purple Cherokee (thanks, SR!), but the Black Krim were adjacent and the stems have crossed, so I might be wrong. (Plus I can't find the labels I went through the effort of using!) The scale says 1lb 14oz and a smidge.
 

I ate it on BLTs with some leaves from my first attempt at iceburg lettuce - it didn't head, but the leaves were still nice for sandwiches.

Whoa mama...that's one big tomato!!! My Purple Cherokees were similarly cat faced, and not the Black Krim, so I'd guess it's a PC. I had the same problem with tomato vines crossing and draping over others. My labels are still in place at the bases of the plants, but the problem comes in trying to follow any particular tomato back to its parent stem. Enjoy that big, fat, juicy tomato, Beetles. It won't be long now, til we're only dreaming of such things.

BeetlesPerSqFt wrote:It has been a horrible year for me for tomatoes. Even though I got them out later than I meant to they started out vigorous, with thick trunks and huge leaves... but it's been too wet, too cold*, not enough sun, leaf spot disease... The tomatoes are splitting, not ripening well, and being attacked by slugs - especially those on the plants that came off their ropes and ended up on the MM/mulch. The rope technique worked well last year, but the plants with huge tomatoes were just too much for the stalks to stay on the ropes, especially once the ground got too wet for the rebar supporting the trellis to stay upright (I never got to pipe strapping it to the bed, oops.) (*How cold? - Cold enough that the too-late spring cabbages are heading instead of bolting like they did last summer, and some of the onions-started-from-seed that I transplanted in mid-April thought they'd gone through winter and they did bolt - i.e. a bunch of the time it's been too cold for more tomato flowers.)

I guess the silver lining is that I get to see which types of tomatoes cope better in my garden under bad conditions.

In spite of this, I got one pretty awesome tomato. Zippered, but huge - and tasty! I think it's a Purple Cherokee (thanks, SR!), but the Black Krim were adjacent and the stems have crossed, so I might be wrong. (Plus I can't find the labels I went through the effort of using!) The scale says 1lb 14oz and a smidge.
 

I ate it on BLTs with some leaves from my first attempt at iceburg lettuce - it didn't head, but the leaves were still nice for sandwiches.

That top one is beautiful! Great Work! You mentioned that your vines were crossing and the trellis wouldn't hold properly due to several circumstances. I have bamboo stakes in my bed right now (6' so they stick up 5' from the soil) and am debating on whether or not to set up a trellis system for next year or to continue using stakes. I'm just curious, Do you think that stakes would have worked better? I don't want to get off topic here, but I wanted to ask that question. I will start or try to find a thread about stakes vs. trellis. Maybe if you get a chance, you could reply there. I would appreciate your feedback.

brianj555 wrote:

That top one is beautiful!  Great Work!  You mentioned that your vines were crossing and the trellis wouldn't hold properly due to several circumstances.   I have bamboo stakes in my bed right now (6' so they stick up 5' from the soil) and am debating on whether or not to set up a trellis system for next year or to continue using stakes.  I'm just curious, Do you think that stakes would have worked better?  I don't want to get off topic here, but I wanted to ask that question.  I will start or try to find a thread about stakes vs. trellis.  Maybe if you get a chance, you could reply there.  I would appreciate your feedback.  

I'm not Beetles, but I've been having the very same problem this summer, and giving it a lot of thought. I think my problem was due in large part to planting eight indeterminate tomatoes on the outside east to west rows. Too many tomatoes, not enough space. I used the trellises described in the book, electrical conduit, and netting, and that worked well. I'm really trying to keep my growing to one SFG, so next year, I'm thinking I will plant tomatoes on the four outside corners. As much as I hate to think of growing fewer tomatoes, I think they will benefit from better air circulation, and from not shading each other out, and that may make everything produce even better. I'll grow the cherry tomatoes in pots. Then, I'll be able to grow things like cukes and sugar snaps, between the tomatoes, on the sides with the netting, so that they can climb and things like peppers and zucchini in the center, and everything will benefit from more light and I won't end up losing tomatoes because I can't even see them for all the foliage!

brianj555 wrote:

BeetlesPerSqFt wrote:It has been a horrible year for me for tomatoes. Even though I got them out later than I meant to they started out vigorous, with thick trunks and huge leaves... but it's been too wet, too cold*, not enough sun, leaf spot disease... The tomatoes are splitting, not ripening well, and being attacked by slugs - especially those on the plants that came off their ropes and ended up on the MM/mulch. The rope technique worked well last year, but the plants with huge tomatoes were just too much for the stalks to stay on the ropes, especially once the ground got too wet for the rebar supporting the trellis to stay upright (I never got to pipe strapping it to the bed, oops.)

That top one is beautiful!  Great Work!  You mentioned that your vines were crossing and the trellis wouldn't hold properly due to several circumstances.   I have bamboo stakes in my bed right now (6' so they stick up 5' from the soil) and am debating on whether or not to set up a trellis system for next year or to continue using stakes.  I'm just curious, Do you think that stakes would have worked better?  I don't want to get off topic here, but I wanted to ask that question.  I will start or try to find a thread about stakes vs. trellis.  Maybe if you get a chance, you could reply there.  I would appreciate your feedback.  

It's all the same tomato - but I agree, it looks much prettier from the top!

We can keep it on topic by making it about supporting tomato plants that typically grow big tomatoes. I think the heavy fruit clusters I had would have tilted (or snapped wooden/bamboo) stakes - or bent/broken the vines. A cluster of three giant tomatoes needs more individualized support than I can get with the vertical string system on an electrical conduit trellis. I don't think a single stake system would provide that support either. A double stake system plus twine might, but I think the stakes would still fall over because at least 6" of the stake would be in MM which isn't, in my experience, very supportive.

I'd recommend a metal trellis instead of stakes. Measure twice, cut once (with a hack saw): Design it so that you can slip it over rebar pounded part way in the dirt just outside your raised bed, and use pipe straps (like this: https://www.lowes.com/pd/AMERICAN-VALVE-4-Pack-1-in-dia-Galvanized-2-Hole-Pipe-Straps/3223473 ) to further hold the vertical pieces upright by attaching them to the side of the bed. I got away with using guide-lines going from the top bar of the trellis tied to nails in the edge of the far side of the bed to stabilize things, but pipe straps would have been a better choice.

I've also used bamboo teepees to support vertical strings. I prefer the metal conduit, and I'm slowly switching over to that. The vertical string method worked for the plants with small and regular and even large sized tomatoes - it's these giant tomatoes that aren't compatible. ...Especially since I stuck Purple Cherokee, Black Krim, and Brandywine, and a particularly bountiful Green Zebra, all right next to each other. I haven't tried tomatoes with netting - it should work, and would provide a multitude of convenient places to distribute the weight of the fruits. Can anyone comment with how the Florida Weave method works with adjacent giant-fruited intermediate tomatoes?

I've tried the short conical tomato cages with normal tomato plants and decided they are only good for peppers and eggplants, not tomatoes. I have a 6ft-tall homemade heavy duty cylindrical tomato cage that I got off someone's curb -- I think the Purple Cherokees will get that next year, and I'll try netting on an metal electrical conduit trellis, instead of vertical strings, for the other giants. (And keep using the vertical strings for the <1lb/ fruit varieties.)

I agree, Beetles...this is my worst year ever for tomatoes.  

Mel's trellis works great for large tomatoes.  I put 5 in a row on a trellis in a 4 ft box.  If you are diligent about pruning the suckers and weaving each plant in and out of the net, they hold up just fine.

I didn't do that this year with my large ones and the twine from last year that I used instead broke so the plants are now laying all over the place.  I was lazy in spring and thinking more about hip replacement than large tomatoes.    I will certainly get serous next year and do it correctly.
CC

BeetlesPerSqFt wrote:
It's all the same tomato - but I agree, it looks much prettier from the top!

We can keep it on topic by making it about supporting tomato plants that typically grow big tomatoes.

I apologize if it was my post that was off topic. I'll try to be more directly on topic next time.

OMG, Beetles!  Nice mater! It is def a Cherokee Purple.  Mine had cat facing too....which is a nuisance.  The flavor ???? WOW!!!!!  Is that what your experience?  Only Brandywine comes close...and honestly not so much.  

I have literally gotten only cherries.....(maters) And a few others.  But the number of my plants, I am disappointed.  Some of the fruits even rotted on the vine????  

Just glad you got a great tasting tomato.  My family's first actual BLT is an annual thing!