Slow to start

My two Big Zac's have not really taken off at all.  I am hoping to get at least one decent tomato from each, but nothing is really taking off yet.  The plants themselves seem to have experience large transplant shock when I moved them into the beds. 

Next year I think I need to put them into a sunnier location and start them sooner.

Don't Count Your Tomatoes Before They Ripen

Alright fellas, don't get your hopes up too high cause I am about to show you why this is called "Fred's Giant Tomato Blog".  Check out this Big Zac megabloom.

Been on the vine for several weeks. It will soon take off.   No artificial pollination required for this guy...it was done the "old fashioned" way, all natural...the way nature intended.  Because this is being grown in Colorado it won't be ripe for some time.  If only I had a friend in florida growing tomatoes for me, maybe I too could have had a 1.5lb tomato already ;-)

Unlike Mark, who apparently has a dozen big zac plants, I only have one.  But, don't get too excited.  My Cherokee Purple plants want in on this action. Check out this Mega Cherokee Purple (MCP).

There are 3 tomatoes in a row in this picture...the MCP is in the center.  this one is probably destined for second place.  Right behind the big zac from above.

 

Time to set the table

Blossoms that set fruit this week will ripen sometime mid-September. That's starting to get late, but still manageable. So pick your winners and get rid of your losers!

Here is my previous favorite megabloom, and it's still just a blossom 2 weeks later. It hasn't turned brown and shriveled, but it hasn't started growing either. The last time I had one of these giant megablooms that was slow to get going, it never produced anything impressive.

Further up the same plant is another nice looking megabloom. I've had problems with these caterpillar-shaped megablooms. They start off looking great, but then tear themselves apart as they start growing.

Here are a couple of megablooms on the same truss. I like the one on the left better, but I'm going to keep the one on the right around for a few weeks, in case it's neighbor fizzles out.

Here's a big, round Big Zac that I previously missed.

It's big enough to make Fred envious, but it's got to go so the plant can focus its resources on this baby further up the plant. This is my new front runner.

I tried watering this Domingo back to health, but I don't think it's going to happen. When in doubt, rip 'em out!

There can be only one... These guys got snipped for being too ordinary.

Megablooms

My giants are now 2-3' tall and well into their second truss, or cluster of blossoms.

The majority of my plants have a megabloom. Here's a nice one. Note how much pollen there is in the bowl. The blossoms were really giving it up today when I buzzed them.

Here's the previous megabloom, post-emasculation and dusted with pollen. I tried using a Q-tip because I had pollen to waste, and I thought the soft cotton might get more pollen into uneven pistils.

If the definition of a megabloom is 10 or more sepals, then I have 2 megablooms on the same truss! I think this is a Big Zac.

The mega in back is the better of the two.

Here's the best mega of the bunch. I couldn't get a good frontal shot, so the posterior view will have to do. I love that thick fused stem. Thanks for bringing in the scale, Ted. I'm going to need it to weigh this brute.

New Kid on the Block

Today Tim told me he had a tomato to weigh. I chuckled, figuring he had a golf ball sized ripe tomato. Sure, why not? Take the top rung for a while because nobody else has anything close to ripe.

Not the case at all. This is a bona fide monster. It would have been good enough for a podium finish each of the last 2 years. Well done! It's definitely one of the gnarlier tomatoes we've seen on the scale. The variety is Berkeley Tie Dye, which Tim says is a mighty fine eating tomato as well.