Thursday, September 29, 2016
2 lbs?
Just 17 grams shy of 2 lbs, this one would be 2 lbs if rounded to 2 decimal places. A nice, dense Domingo for a change, this one was above the curve. Way to go, Ted! Will anyone else step up to the podium this year?
Friday, September 23, 2016
New Second Place
Greg brought in a nice Big Zac, good enough for second place. He removed it before I could get a picture:
Aaron said he and the wife have been eating tomatoes bigger than Greg's. A lot of guys who don't produce any tomatoes talk about how big their un-weighed specimens are.
Here's the new leaderboard:
Thursday, September 22, 2016
Not quite 3
2.994 lbs. Next time, I'm going to leave more stem! This one's a Domingo and feels dense for a change.
Sunday, September 18, 2016
Blue ribbon tomato
My latest lunker weighed in at 3.35#. Yeah, I took it to the King Soopers deli to make it official.
On Saturday, I took it down to Denver to enter a tomato contest. I have to admit, I felt a little awkward bringing such a beast to a friendly tomato contest. A bit like spiking a volleyball on a badminton net at a family picnic, or wearing cleats and batting gloves to a game of whiffle ball, or challenging Fred to a tomato growing contest. First prize was a $100 gift card, which I promptly spent on fertilizer and shade cloth - my new secret weapons for 2017!
On Saturday, I took it down to Denver to enter a tomato contest. I have to admit, I felt a little awkward bringing such a beast to a friendly tomato contest. A bit like spiking a volleyball on a badminton net at a family picnic, or wearing cleats and batting gloves to a game of whiffle ball, or challenging Fred to a tomato growing contest. First prize was a $100 gift card, which I promptly spent on fertilizer and shade cloth - my new secret weapons for 2017!
Saturday, September 17, 2016
New World Record
The world record for tomatoes stood for 28 years, before it was broken in 2014. Now it's been broken for the second time in 3 years. (And the largest tomato in 2015 narrowly missed becoming a new world record.)
http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=265138
Clearly, a 9 lb tomato is coming. How many years until we have a 10 lb tomato?
http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=265138
Clearly, a 9 lb tomato is coming. How many years until we have a 10 lb tomato?
Friday, September 16, 2016
Bob Wham is in the house
Seeing an opening on the podium, Bob stepped up with this gnarly 3/4# tomato. He believes it's a Domingo from my 2015 champ. Way to go, Bob!
Sunday, September 11, 2016
Guess the Weight
2016 was a slow year for the FGTC, and low-balling turned out to be a good strategy. Adding to the riches of his current 2nd place tomato, Ted's guess of 3.0 lbs stands to win him the coveted Guess-the-Weight contest.
And in second place...
Ted was about to enjoy a tasty snack the other day, when he inquired as to what the 2nd and 3rd place weights were. The answer? Nobody else had weighed a tomato, so 2nd and 3rd place were wide open! Ted alertly weighed this nice 5 7/8 ounce tomato, and now sits squarely in the money. Third place is still wide open, so Fred could weigh one of his cherry tomatoes and get on the podium.
Thursday, August 25, 2016
Monday, August 22, 2016
The Hrenchir Big Zac delivers
Just a shade over 1kg, and shaped like a normal tomato. This baby is solid as a brick. 2.23 lbs, grown from seeds from Paul's 2015 1.64 lb tomato.
Looking at the dates of tomatoes over 1.5 lbs from last year, over 70% were weighed in September or later, so there's plenty of season left!
Looking at the dates of tomatoes over 1.5 lbs from last year, over 70% were weighed in September or later, so there's plenty of season left!
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
Thursday, August 4, 2016
Let's get this party started
First tomato to the scale this year, .919 lbs. If the hailstorm of the century decimates everyone's plants, then I will claim 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. This is a BrandyBoy, and it is destined for a tomato sammy.
Sunday, July 31, 2016
Tomato patch update
All my giant tomato plants now have 2 to 3 megablooms per plant with fruit set on them. The varieties that I'm growing (Domingo and Big Zac) are megabloom popping machines! I have lots of greenies like these. 12-14 sepals per bloom, and a stem like the base of a giant sequioa. Which do I keep?
In some cases, the megablooms with fruit are right at the top of the stakes, which will make it interesting trying to support them. I've got a plan. We'll see if it works!
All other things being equal, I would have thought that more sepals = more size, but some of the highest sepal counts have produced funky tomatoes, like this one, which I think had 18 sepals. The ones that look like this, where the skin splits and the guts start spilling out, haven't done that well for me in the past. This one looks like a green pregnant woman is trying to escape.
Back about a month ago, I posted this picture of the biggest megabloom I had ever seen (22 sepals).
I coated the stigma with a thick layer of pollen, and I thought I got it to take. Well, 1 month later, it's finally starting to grow! This one is just a mess of fused scar tissue, sepals, and lobes. I can't wait to see how it turns out!
This tomato, on the same plant as the previous one, looks more like what I want to see. 5 big, fat lobes, all growing very well. (Domingo, from last year's champ.)
Here's a Big Zac in a container. It's starting to show some color, so its days are numbered. It should go about 1.5 lbs. 18 sepals and only 1.5 lbs. I don't think I have the watering and feeding discipline to grow giants in containers.
Here's another Big Zac, that should be over 2 lbs.
The Hrenchir Big Zac is finally getting into the swing of things, with a nice 14-sepal 3-lobed 'mater.
The biggest tomato in my patch has suffered a huge setback. The plant has contracted some kind of disease, and it's dying. I cut the top 1/4 of the plant off, to get rid of leaves with black, mold-like leaves, and stems with necrotic tissue. The rest of the plant is wilting, even in the cool early morning hours. I don't think it's going to reach its full potential, but I think it will still be over 3 lbs. I've got triple layers of protection, to keep it safe from Ted's critters.
That's all for now. Hopefully, you've got your table set, because fruit set this week will ripen in late September, when cool nights and the threat of frost will make things more difficult.
All other things being equal, I would have thought that more sepals = more size, but some of the highest sepal counts have produced funky tomatoes, like this one, which I think had 18 sepals. The ones that look like this, where the skin splits and the guts start spilling out, haven't done that well for me in the past. This one looks like a green pregnant woman is trying to escape.
Back about a month ago, I posted this picture of the biggest megabloom I had ever seen (22 sepals).
I coated the stigma with a thick layer of pollen, and I thought I got it to take. Well, 1 month later, it's finally starting to grow! This one is just a mess of fused scar tissue, sepals, and lobes. I can't wait to see how it turns out!
This tomato, on the same plant as the previous one, looks more like what I want to see. 5 big, fat lobes, all growing very well. (Domingo, from last year's champ.)
Here's a Big Zac in a container. It's starting to show some color, so its days are numbered. It should go about 1.5 lbs. 18 sepals and only 1.5 lbs. I don't think I have the watering and feeding discipline to grow giants in containers.
Here's another Big Zac, that should be over 2 lbs.
The Hrenchir Big Zac is finally getting into the swing of things, with a nice 14-sepal 3-lobed 'mater.
The biggest tomato in my patch has suffered a huge setback. The plant has contracted some kind of disease, and it's dying. I cut the top 1/4 of the plant off, to get rid of leaves with black, mold-like leaves, and stems with necrotic tissue. The rest of the plant is wilting, even in the cool early morning hours. I don't think it's going to reach its full potential, but I think it will still be over 3 lbs. I've got triple layers of protection, to keep it safe from Ted's critters.
That's all for now. Hopefully, you've got your table set, because fruit set this week will ripen in late September, when cool nights and the threat of frost will make things more difficult.
Monday, July 18, 2016
Sling Shot
Before putting this baby in its stork bundle I made some measurements - 16.75" circumference. According to last year's curve fit, it should be at 1.8 lbs now. I suspect it's a little lighter than that, because it's a Domingo, which run light, and it has some gaps. But still, I'm glad it didn't peel itself off the vine before I got it in a hammock! I didn't keep good records of when I pollinated it, but I think it has ~3 weeks to go, so I expect it will be well over 2 lbs before it's done.
Somehow, the sling picture showed up in Chrome but not IE, so here's a repost.
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Baby Pictures
Still just babies, but starting to put on some weight...
Big Zac in a container
Another Big Zac
Domingo from last year's 3.69#
Another Big Zac
Domingo from last year's 3.69#
Friday, July 1, 2016
Pollinated MB
I know you guys don't need any proof that my pollinating methods work, but here is some anyway.
The megabloom is the left-most tomato in this picture, but all the other blossoms have tomatoes set as well. I did the full pollination method on the megabloom, but the electric toothbrush on the others was enough to get them to set. Pretty much every megabloom in my garden now has a tomato started, which was not the case last year when I let nature take its course. The only one that hasn't set fruit is the Hrenchir Big Zac, which somehow couldn't finish the job. All of the plants from Johnston-grown tomatoes have large offspring on the way. Heh. Heh.
The megabloom is the left-most tomato in this picture, but all the other blossoms have tomatoes set as well. I did the full pollination method on the megabloom, but the electric toothbrush on the others was enough to get them to set. Pretty much every megabloom in my garden now has a tomato started, which was not the case last year when I let nature take its course. The only one that hasn't set fruit is the Hrenchir Big Zac, which somehow couldn't finish the job. All of the plants from Johnston-grown tomatoes have large offspring on the way. Heh. Heh.
Thursday, June 30, 2016
Game Over
The Champ finally has a bloom. Unfortunately it doesn't look like a Megabloom....IT LOOKS LIKE A GIGABLOOM!!! Honestly, it could be a terabloom. Unfortunately for the rest of you it also looks like GAME OVER. Although a little disturbing, I am glad The Big Dog posted his artificial tomato insemination technique...I will probably get my wife to the dirty work for me.
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
Pollinating megablooms
Giant tomatoes start with giant fused blossoms, or "megablooms". But the biggest megabloom won't do you any good if it doesn't get properly pollinated. Tomato blossoms normally self-pollinate without difficulty, but for some reason, big megablooms need a little help setting fruit. This is probably the most important thing that I learned last year, so pay attention...
Keep your eye out for larger than normal blossoms. A simple count of the green petals or "sepals" will give you an idea of how big your blossom is. Normal blossoms have 8. Anything with 12 or more sepals is good. I think last year's winner had 12 or 14. This is the biggest megabloom I've ever seen at 22 sepals.
The best time of day for pollinating is supposedly 10-4, but I've been successful doing this in the evening after work. First, you need to gather pollen from as many blossoms as you can find. With a vibrating electric toothbrush, gently vibrate the blossoms and catch the pollen as it falls out. Some people recommend using a lens from an old pair of sunglasses, but I've found with even the slightest breeze, the pollen tends to blow away. So I prefer a dark bowl to catch the pollen.
BTW, one person on a tomato forum said she gets about 75% success rate just vibrating the blossoms with the toothbrush, and not doing any of the following steps. I've been regularly vibrating the blossoms on all my eating tomatoes, and I seem to have set a larger than normal amount of green tomatoes.
Once you've collected the pollen, you need to prepare the blossom for pollination. The blossom should be receptive to pollinating as soon as the yellow part opens up. Don't wait too long, because the window of opportunity for pollination is only a few days. After vibrating off any pollen from the male yellow part, you want to remove the yellow to provide easy access to the female tip, or stigma. I just pinch them with my fingers, and they peel right off.
The emasculated blossom will look something like this. On a normal blossom, there will be a single pistil, and the stigma will be just a dot in the middle. But on a really good megabloom, it will form a long ridge, and may have multiple ridges, like this one.
With your finger, wipe the pollen out of the bowl until your finger tip is all chalked up.
Then gently dab the pollen onto the stigma. You don't have to push. The tip should be sticky, and just a gentle touch should coat it with pollen. If you look closely, you can see that the ridged tip of this one has been dusted with pollen.
If you do this correctly and the pollination takes, you'll see the tomato start growing after a few days to a week or so. Here's a nice megabloom that I apparently pollinated correctly, because it's growing.
This one was on a Big Zac that I had slated for growing eating tomatoes. But dang, that tomato is looking so good, I may need to repurpose this plant! It's already as big as anything that Fred grew last year, and it's only a few days old.
Keep your eye out for larger than normal blossoms. A simple count of the green petals or "sepals" will give you an idea of how big your blossom is. Normal blossoms have 8. Anything with 12 or more sepals is good. I think last year's winner had 12 or 14. This is the biggest megabloom I've ever seen at 22 sepals.
The best time of day for pollinating is supposedly 10-4, but I've been successful doing this in the evening after work. First, you need to gather pollen from as many blossoms as you can find. With a vibrating electric toothbrush, gently vibrate the blossoms and catch the pollen as it falls out. Some people recommend using a lens from an old pair of sunglasses, but I've found with even the slightest breeze, the pollen tends to blow away. So I prefer a dark bowl to catch the pollen.
BTW, one person on a tomato forum said she gets about 75% success rate just vibrating the blossoms with the toothbrush, and not doing any of the following steps. I've been regularly vibrating the blossoms on all my eating tomatoes, and I seem to have set a larger than normal amount of green tomatoes.
Once you've collected the pollen, you need to prepare the blossom for pollination. The blossom should be receptive to pollinating as soon as the yellow part opens up. Don't wait too long, because the window of opportunity for pollination is only a few days. After vibrating off any pollen from the male yellow part, you want to remove the yellow to provide easy access to the female tip, or stigma. I just pinch them with my fingers, and they peel right off.
The emasculated blossom will look something like this. On a normal blossom, there will be a single pistil, and the stigma will be just a dot in the middle. But on a really good megabloom, it will form a long ridge, and may have multiple ridges, like this one.
With your finger, wipe the pollen out of the bowl until your finger tip is all chalked up.
Then gently dab the pollen onto the stigma. You don't have to push. The tip should be sticky, and just a gentle touch should coat it with pollen. If you look closely, you can see that the ridged tip of this one has been dusted with pollen.
If you do this correctly and the pollination takes, you'll see the tomato start growing after a few days to a week or so. Here's a nice megabloom that I apparently pollinated correctly, because it's growing.
This one was on a Big Zac that I had slated for growing eating tomatoes. But dang, that tomato is looking so good, I may need to repurpose this plant! It's already as big as anything that Fred grew last year, and it's only a few days old.
Friday, June 17, 2016
More MBs
The megablooms keep coming! Check out this bad boy on a Big Zac. I thought I had a dandelion growing in my tomato patch. I count about 18 sepals, with a wide fused pistil in the middle.
And check out the thick stem feeding this sucker. You know it'll be capable of supporting a monster in a couple of months.
I went out yesterday armed with my electric toothbrush and did my best to pollinate this beast. I left it dusted like a powdered donut, so hopefully it takes. The problem is it's growing in a container, which historically has produced small tomatoes for me. I intended this plant to produce eating tomatoes, but I may have to repurpose it now.
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
Blooming giants
My giants are getting their first trusses. Three of my five plants have big, fat blossoms. It's too early to say if they're true megablooms, but this one on the 1.64# Hrenchir Big Zac looks promising.
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Green Giant
Do not adjust the color on your monitor. These are the darkest green leaves I've ever seen on a tomato plant. I read on a gardening blog about a guy who added epsom salt to his containers and got crazy green growth. For this plant, I added 1 tbsp in an 18 gal container.
For reference, here is what I would consider a normal plant, with no added epsom salt.
The downside to epsom salt is supposedly increased blossom end rot. So my plan is to kick start the plants with epsom salt, get them all jacked up, then allow it to wash out by the time the plants start fruiting in a few weeks.
For reference, here is what I would consider a normal plant, with no added epsom salt.
The downside to epsom salt is supposedly increased blossom end rot. So my plan is to kick start the plants with epsom salt, get them all jacked up, then allow it to wash out by the time the plants start fruiting in a few weeks.
Friday, June 10, 2016
Early Megabloom
I just finished planting the last of my tomatoes, and already I've got a giant megabloom. This one is as big as I've ever seen. It's hard to say what is and what isn't a sepal on this gnarly beast, but I count about 20 (8 is normal). It's about as big as Fred's #2 and #3 plants, combined.
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
Goal setting
Aim for the sky...
Near-world record from late last year. Might have been a new world record if it
had stayed on the vine a bit longer.
http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=250090
http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=250091
http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=250403
http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=250090
http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=250091
http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=250403
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Oh hail
Yesterday's hailstorm was tough to watch. Good timing. I just finished planting the last of my tomatoes a day earlier, doh! With much trepidation, I checked on my babies last night. This was the worst of it, and it was no big deal. I just stood her back up. Did anybody lose any plants?
Wednesday, June 1, 2016
The Table is Set!
The baby giants are all in place and ready for warmer weather. The lettuce, etc. will all get cleared out once the tomato plants start doing their thing.
Thursday, May 26, 2016
Fred's Monster
For the past few years, I've told my wife that we don't make travel plans for the weeks before or after Memorial Day, because it's planting time. Fred didn't heed that advice, and he left for Hawaii with his seedlings entrusted to me. Let's take a look at Fred's giant tomato seedlings.
Here is his second-best plant:
Bummer. Oh well Fred, you can still win at the guess-the-winning-weight contest. But you've got to get your guesses in soon! Everyone else, too!
Here is his second-best plant:
Bummer. Oh well Fred, you can still win at the guess-the-winning-weight contest. But you've got to get your guesses in soon! Everyone else, too!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)