tomato question

tegaan 8/27/2011, 9:26 pm

I have brandywine tomatoes they have some tomatoes still green and lots more flowers. Should I do anything to stop it making more flowers so the tomatoes will ripen. The average frost date here is 9/20.

thanks, kari

Chopper 8/27/2011, 11:08 pm

I don't think you can stop it from making flowers, but you can pinch them off as they appear. Hopefully they will at least be pink before you have to bring them in.

tegaan 8/27/2011, 11:46 pm

Pinching off the new flowers will put the energy into finishing the fruit already there is that right?

Kari

Chopper 8/27/2011, 11:47 pm

Supposedly. I have not seen any studies that confirm that, but that is the popular assumption.

Goosegirl 8/28/2011, 8:21 am

Thanks for the reminder! I think it is time to start whacking off blossoms here - my first frost date is less than a month away and I have only one tomato that has ripened (but it is the CUTEST little Banana Legs!)

GG

quiltbea 8/28/2011, 9:30 am

Brandywines are sooooo large they take lots of time to ripen.

Yes, you can pinch off new blossoms but you can also pinch off the top of your vine so it stops growing upwards. More energy will go to the present fruits.

floyd1440 8/28/2011, 7:02 pm

I am looking for a good grape tomato which is a vining not bush variety. Do chery or grape tomatoes come in a vining variety? :?:

paulpaluszak 8/28/2011, 8:14 pm

I got 4 vining grape tomatoes on 6 foot trellis and they actually about 9 foot at this time (half way back down). I have them planted in 12" deep MM (Mel's Mix) and I give them a half gallon of water every 3 days. I've been getting about 60 grapes per week for the last 2 months. Very tasty. Earliest frost in history here is Oct 21 so I'm hoping this keeps going another 6 weeks. I bought 2 of them at a local nursery (Still Lake Nursery) and 2 at Lowes.

I'm also having good luck with my Roma tomatoes (like plums) but my Big Boys just 3 or 4 per vine and they just stay green. And not very big.

Now, if somebody can just teach me the secret to getting pictures on this message board I would be real happy. I can go through the "Image" icon and find the photo I want but I have not found how to get it to post.

boffer 8/28/2011, 8:38 pm

paulpaluszak wrote:Now, if somebody can just teach me the secret to getting pictures on this message board I would be real happy. I can go through the "Image" icon and find the photo I want but I have not found how to get it to post.

Let me know if this doesn't work.
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t129-how-to-post-a-picture-located-on-your-computer

paulpaluszak 8/28/2011, 9:04 pm

Thanks Boffer, I've print the instruction and will try tomorrow. I'll try to post some photos of my makeshift SFG in the suburs of Atlanta. I did what my space and my homeowners association allowed me. Smile

unmadecastle 8/28/2011, 9:12 pm

My father-in-law says that when you trim the tomato plants (he hacks the tops and any branch with little tomatoes) it stresses them and they do what mother nature intended. That is they ripen so they can produce seeds. We just did this to our tomatoes on Friday. I already have 3 tomatoes starting to turn red.

I have to tell you I was proud of my tomato plants. Nice and healthy. Lots of tomatoes and blooms. It was hard to hack at them but it seems to be working. We needed to do something as our first frost can be as early Sept 12th.

paulpaluszak 8/28/2011, 9:22 pm

I'll try that tomorrow on my Big Boys. I got nothing to lose with them.

floyd1440 8/29/2011, 6:50 pm

I am glad that there is a vining grape tomato. I got some bush grape tomatoes and they took over my garden so if anyone knows some seeds or a link I would like to get some for next year..

Floyd

**camprn** 8/29/2011, 9:20 pm

floyd1440 wrote:I am glad that there is a vining grape tomato. I got some bush grape tomatoes and they took over my garden so if anyone knows some seeds or a link I would like to get some for next year..

Floyd

Floyd, if I may suggest, if you were pleased with the tomatoes you grew, you can contain them quite well using the Florida weave trellis system. I was very happy with the results this year.

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