Tomato fruit set...post your results Part II

Here\'s a quick link back to Part I

I wanted to share a picture of my German queen Heirloom tomato I planted May 26th. This was one week ago and now it's over 7' tall! My other tomatoes are Goliath Bush and Husky Cherry. They are exceeding their bush name as they are at the tops of their cages already.

Welcome! Great looking plant there.

Beautiful plant!

I decided to create a new garden area this year and cleared three dozen trees in the back acre woods. My new garden is 55' x 30' and the plants have been thriving. So have the animals- numerous deer, squirrells and raccoons.

Here's a harvest I took in this morning:



There's Sungold, Juliet, Supersteak and Champion in there. The largest was a 15oz Champion.

Ohhhhhhh YUM!

I am headin' to MrClints' house
for dinner..

Teasin' me with those mater's..
Geeeeeeeesh, you're not allowed to do that
to us Northerners...
But gosh, they loooooooooook sooooooooo goooooooood!!

I agree weezie, my tomatoes are hanging heavy but no ripe ones yet.

What a picture MrClint, thanks for sharing with us.

Weezie I almost hate to say this, but....

I picked about 40 Lbs tonight. I use a 5 gal bucket and I picked until it was full, and I still had some left. I probably have close to another bucket full in the house to do something with. I will probably start giving them away.

I filled the bucket twice last weekend and made Tomato sauce and Juice. This weekend I plan to make more juice and can up some tomato wedges.

I think it was that 6 'feet' of compost.

No seriously this is the first year I have any luck at all with tomatoes. Everything else is dying.

I think it was!!!

It's been over a hundred last 3 or 4 days, been running the high 90's for over a week. The only thing growing good is the weeds and it's hot to get out and mow 'em down.

It has been blast furnace hot here for weeks. The juliet and Sun Golds are still setting fruit, most everything else is just ripening what is already on the vine and focusing on growth. Big Beef looks like it has adapted to the heat a little and is setting nice flower clusters. I'm hoping for a few days of relief and a nice fall crop.

Ciao MrClint,

Those Sungolds look great. John and I are both growing them. I'm sure he'll chime in soon with how his plants are doing. So far the only plants in my garden with any sort of blush going on are Sungold F1 (seeds from John), Kimberley in a 15 gal IKEA bucket on my driveway, and Whippersnapper in Munchkin's garden. Everything's got fruit set now including the Opalka that I rooted from a sucker because I didn't have enough for that row. Opalka is my sauce machine, the only variety I grow more than one plant of...6 to be exact. The other pokey ones are Earl's Faux Faux (supposed to be Potato Leaf but mine are Regular Leaf) and Berkeley Tie Dye (I accidentally beheaded it while transplanting it so I had to root what was left). Both of those are about 3' tall now with lots of flowers and a few fruits. The real Aunt Gertie's Gold (the other one in that growing hole is a Regular Leaf cherry..the real deal is a Potato Leaf golden beefsteak) also has a few small fruits on it. Driveway plants (Kimberley, Mountain Princess, and Golden Dwarf Champion) all have wilt and probably won't survive much longer. Patio Orange and Silvery Fir Tree are holding their own on the front patio. Blossom drop is running rampant due to the high heat and humidity we've been having the last few weeks, but forecast is for cooler weather and some rain this weekend, yay.

Cheers,
Julianna

IM SO JEALOUS!! Mine are STILL green...oh to have the sweet succulant taste of a fresh RED garden tomato!! :p

Mine well mostly be dead in a week or two. It hit 103 today and will be that hot for the rest of the week. This weekend it is supposed to cool down to 91. That may save what's left.

Pat,
Do you ever put a shade cloth of some sort
over them to give them a wee~bit o'shade like this time???

I never even thought about it. I do have some screening I put over the top.

One summer I had to do that here..
It was soooooo hot... and mine are in a raised bed,
so that makes it sooooo much warmer than the ground,
and those things were bakin'!!!!
*curling up and pulling thier branches down...*

I found a couple pieces of my landscaping fabric
and slung it over the tops of my posts/poles that are on each corner of the beds..
It helped a wee~bit, but I felt soooooo bad for them...
It's not like they could pull up their roots and head to the beach or anything...

Ciao all,

Well, it finally happened..last night, we ate our first 2 Kimberleys and all I have to say is: ambrosia. After more than a year since our last garden tomatoes, these were a gift from God. Sweet, juicy, Heaven. Those Sungolds should be ready tomorrow.

Tomato Harvest 2006 has officially begun in Toronto..YAY!

Ciao Julianna. My Faux Earl's faux has about six good sized fruit on it and is setting more and more every day. It's a compact plant. I have it right next to ARGG and it is only half the size of it. You were right about Aunt Ruby's! Man! It's already reached the top of a 6 foot cage with no sign of stopping. Just set it's first fruit the other day also.

You've got wilt in potted plants? That's strange. My kimberly gave me my first fruit at 52 or 53 dtm. I've had 5 so far and it's ripening new ones almost every day. They are delicious! Sungold is FINALLY ripening. It's got over 50 fruit on it right now. Black cherry is close and I've got three new big dwarf fruit showing good color. SFT is taking forever to start ripening. Six good sized fruit but not even a blush of color.

Here's my first Kimberly...note the crack.



Happy tomatoes to all!!

Gosh that tomato looks gooooooooood!!!
*I need a gremalin lickin' it's lips for this post*

YUM! (Here ya go Weezie)

Ciao John,

I think it could possibly be soil-borne viruses or fungi causing my container plants to bite the bullet so early. It's recycled Pro-Mix from last year. We thoroughly dried it out, but who knows..I won't use it for any tomato plants in the future, but the peppers, eggplant, and tomatillo seem to be doing fine in it so far.

I had my first Sungold F1 this morning...dee-lish! Mountain Princess and Kotlas are now showing blush.

Cheers,
Julianna

PS...John, did you treat your container tomatoes any differently in terms of when you started hardening them off? I'm considering potting them up into 1/2 gal containers for the hardening off process or maybe using walls o' water in the containers and shoot for maybe a May 1 outside all the time date. Is your Kimberley in a pot or in the ground? And how is your Lime Green Salad doing? You've got Yellow Canary as well, don't you? Trade you some Sophie's seeds for that one straight away if you're keen. I want to see if I can grow it inside along with Red Robin over the Winter.

WIPPPPEEEEEEEEE!!!! FINALLY! 2 Red ripe tomatoes! yummie!! And I did it all myself!!

CONGRAT'S Mandi..
That is a feeling you will take from year to year
and it'll never go away...for every garden you plant...
(I still get excited at every ripened fruit)

Congrats to you Mandi!

I just picked my first new big dwarf and two sungolds last night before the thunderstorms came. They are not quite ripe yet, but I didn't want them to split.

Julianna, Kimberly's in the ground. I am definitely gonna get my containers out earlier next year. I potted them up the same time I put Kimberly in the ground which was 5/20. LGS is doing good. It's also in the garden, albeit not a great spot, and has about 8-9 fruit. One is finally starting to darken up now. I don't have yellow canary. Haven't heard of that one, but I'd be happy to share any others I have.

What about mater? How's he doing? And has anyone seen Comfrey around?

Sure wish I new how to grow tomatos like that mine are just green and have been that wat sence June. I feed them they have lot's of sun don't know what I am doing wrong Good job guys

Mine just turned..and only 2 Im still frustrated, just not as badly..lol

I still talk to her on a daily basis on MSN..she just hasn't been posting much lately..she'll be back. She's been picking ripe tomatoes for a good week now...has lots of cukes and has already started her canning.

I should post this under Christina's "My Mess" topic, or a new topic titled "no progress report." I've had tons of fruit set, but limited harvest. Disease and insects have been rampant this year, and the heat has been horrid. Amazingly, many tom's have set fruit right through the 100 plus temps here...better than they did through the 90's, if you can believe it. My problem now is sunscald, and insects. If I try to leave fruit on the vine until fully ripe, they're ruined. I can give a 100% reccommendation for Black Plum tomato, though...totally resistant to disease, although very prone to BER...consistant watering is imperative...but talk about a delicious little tomato! Mortgage Lifter seems to be a magnet for fruitworms and every pest in the books! Huge beefsteak type tomatoes that get eaten before they can ripen. Bloody Butcher is the most prolific producer I've ever seen, but I have to harvest early so they don't rot on the vine...a heat issue? I can't say. Mostly the same with Arkansas Traveler. It's hard to compare tastes when the fruit is harvested early, but Ark. Traveler is pretty good. Watching other varieties...I liked the few Yellow Pear I harvested...they never seem to ripen? Had two German Red Strawberry, harvested early also, good flavor. Watching Rutgers, BW,others...I'm very disappointed. Sorry to be so long-winded, but I've not posted lately. Wishing luck to others. I should change my sig line to "Kill Me Now."

Aw Dave,

So sorry you've had so many challenges this year, but I'm glad that Black Plum has been a winner for you! Paste varieties, and Black Plum is definitely in that category, are more prone to BER. I remember last year, my Black Plum plants had some BER, especially in the early part of the growing season. It's so prolific, it's hardly noticeable as the season wears on. I dried 2 very full quart freezer bags of Black Plums last year and despite using them liberally on Winter pizzas and salads, as well as giving many away as gifts, I still have quite a few of them left. I hope you were able to save some seeds from yours for next year.

Cheers,
Julianna

Julianna, I bow to you, thanks so much for introducing me to Black Plum. What a delicious, wonderful, incredible and prolific tomato. I'm not sure if i've even had a ripe one, they don't fair well if left too long on the vine, but as of this year, they're the most excellent tomato by far. These are not paste tomatoes, well, too good to not eat fresh.

Dave, sounds like some real tough conditions to grow tomatoes in. Nothing you could do but the best you can I guess. I hope things improve for you and you get to try a bunch of good tomatoes. Do you pick the fruit at the first blushing of color and let them ripen inside? They'll ripen just as well that way as they would on the vine. You just need to wait for that first sign of color.

I have a few other pastes you can try next year. One variety called Heidi that is producing like crazy right now. Even through the heat and humidity we've had lately. I'll be saving seed from it as I promised Carolyn I would due to her medical situation, so I'd be glad to send you some. There's also Opalka, which is supposedly an excellent paste, San Marzano, Amish Paste, Mama Leone and Wuhib that I have seed of. Good luck.

My latest report...

Finally picked my first sungolds. They are ripening on my kitchen window. Most likely will have them tonight! I counted 56 of them on the one plant. Also picked two more NBD and my first lucky leprechaun. Lime green salad is ripening nicely(I guess) and will be ready to pick in a few days. My first time growing green-when-ripe fruit so we'll see. I finally had fruit set on Earl's Faux and Prue as of last night and the last stubborn plant that has yet to set is Lillian's Yellow.

Happy tomatoes to all!

John, do you really think they would taste just as good ripened inside? That would be great, but I have the impression that they don't develop as much flavor. I wouldn't lose much fruit if I snagged them early, darned bugs like them as much as I do, and sunscald hits a lot, too.

Dave, honestly I have no first-hand experience to back that up, but from what I've read is what I posted. I'm sure they won't be 100% the same, but the trade-off is lost fruit. That first Kimberly was ripened for two days in my kitchen and man was it deelish!

I've been eating New Girls for about a month now. I've also picked a few of my Moscvitch and Oregon Spring. Today I picked my first Brandywine and a couple of what I think are Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifter. It was a seedling in a pot labelled "serrano"

All of my tomatoes now have fruit on. My first Red Grapes and Orange Sungolds are almost ripe!

I've had to top my New Girl and first Brandyine plants as they are at the tops of their 9 foot stakes.

Ciao all,

Kotlas now has 3 blushers. I've picked 5 Sungold F1's so far and all have been fantastic as well as 4 Kimberleys. I most likely won't be saving seeds from the Kimberleys because there are only about 10 more fruit on the plant and I didn't bag blossoms. It's a great-tasting tomato for sure and I'll definitely try it again..I just have to either figure out how to solve my container issue or find a spot for it in the ground.

Obywan, I'm growing Moskvich too, but mine are all green still. I try not to obsess, but you know how that can be..I go out there several times a day to see if anything's changed..I need help, lol.

John, personally, I don't do the inside ripening thing until Fall when it's highly doubtful that they'll ripen outside with the low temps, particularly at night, not to mention the shortened day length. At that point, I pull them out, cut the vines into reasonable lengths with the tomatoes on them, and bring them all inside on a big towel to ripen on my floor. I'm such a nutbar that what should be my livingroom is actually my grow-op in the Spring and my canning warehouse/manufacturing/seed-saving/dehydrator area in the Fall. I get about 90% of those tomatoes to ripen and I can them, I don't use them for fresh eating, except for the cherries or something a tad larger like Jaune Flammee.

Cheers,
Julianna, who waits anxiously for Heidi tasting notes from John as well as notes on Wuhib's growth habit....tap tap tap....

I'm convinced that one problem with ripening fruit indoors is that one tends to eat them before they're fully ripe! Patience, patience.

Just wondering about the ripening in the house thing...do you need to keep them attached to the vine or pick them like you do when they are red and ready? Also, do they need to be put in a sunny area in the house?? Thanks all.

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="COMIC SANS MS, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="3" face="COMIC SANS MS, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Mandi:
<strong> Just wondering about the ripening in the house thing...do you need to keep them attached to the vine or pick them like you do when they are red and ready? Also, do they need to be put in a sunny area in the house?? Thanks all.

My tomatoes are doing good. I picked a 3 gallon bucket full Sunday and so far we have been able to eat them and keep up with the harvest, but each day there are more and more ripe ones, So I will be making mator juice soon.

Hey Comfry!!!
jfredt was lookin' for a Tomato Juice Recipe..
Do you happen to have one???
here\'s his post inquiring about one..

Here is a picture of todays tomato picking...These are are Brandywine and are not perfect shaped tomatoes, but that doesn't take away from the taste.

Holy shnikeys!!!!

Comfrey, I'll take those treasures over a perfect looking store tomato anytime !

Oh, man, my lips are smackin' right now!!!
(insert lip smackin' gremalin here)

Hi, it's been a long time since I have posted..Everyone's tomatos look delicious! I picked my first Early girl today. My Pink Brandywine are green, patiently wating I am!

Werd!

Ciao all,

I picked my first 2 Kotlas today, but waiting for Duane to get home to take a pic and taste them. Mountain Princess started blushing last week but still hasn't fully ripened. Picked 2 more Kimberleys and 4 Sungold F1's. Anna Russian, Borgo Cellano, and Not Aunt Gertie's Gold all have blush now. Not Aunt Gertie's Gold is definitely some kind of cherry. I'll have no clue what our buddy planted near them last year until they ripen, but I'm sure they'll be tasty.

Cheers,
Julianna

Well, for all of my griping about this years harvest, I do have a pretty picture to share...
They look somewhat better than they taste, but they taste pretty darn good.

Oh tasty tasty tasty.........
Lickin' my lips here in New York for those...
Those look soooooooo good!

*I did eat my first 2 cherry tomatoes today*
Woooooooo~hooooooooooooo!!!!

Ciao Dave,

I'm going to pre-empt John because I know he'll ask...German Red Strawberry, Black Plum, and..?

That would make a lovely Caprese Salad if you added some fresh mozzarella and basil...this is what I did with my Wonder Lights last year..they're kind of hollow so I made little boats out of them and stuffed them with mozzarella:



The wee basil is a globe variety called "Minette". I love it for salads and for tossing onto a pizza when you don't want huge leaves.

Cheers,
Julianna

Ohhhhhhh geeeeeeesh, those look great, Julianna!!!!
What is the "liquid" recipe besides those
tomatoes and mozz cheese???????
ohhhhhhh yummyyyyyyyyy!!

Julianna, you're so good! The third is Bloody Butcher. I'll send you $100 dollars for 5 lbs of that mozarella....

Both those plates look delicious! YUMMY!

Wow, great pics guys. No recipes for me yet. Just slicing and eating for me so far. Ate my first lucky leprechaun last night. Very good, but doesn't compare to the 5 or 6 sungolds I chased it with.

Ciao Weezie,

It's a splash of extra virgin olive oil (don't skimp here, use the dark green stuff) and a good quality balsamic vinegar, then just a sprinkling of sea salt and freshly ground pepper..that's it. Semplice (simple).

Buon appetito!
Julianna

PS Dave, don't you have fresh mozzarella in Oklahoma? No Italians there, eh? Door's open here, let me know if you're ever planning a trip to Toronto, we'll fix you up.

First Aunt Ruby's German Green today, oh great googlymooglys. I think it was even a day or 2 early. So sorry there are only a few fruits... Yummm.

Man I'm jealous!

Dave, great googlymooglies???
I'm adding that to my vocabulary ! Hilarious !

I've been inspired by some of the other nuts around here...not naming names!

Dave, what does that German Green taste like?

I want names !!!

I had my first 'Jet Star' the other night with my dinner and it was great!

Oh Dave, it's been many, many years since I've heard that expression. What a treat! It brings back a lot of memeories.

I finally get to post some pictures of my cherry tomatoes. I've been eating them off the vine as they ripe one at a time, and now they're finally ripening faster.

Boy Rosepetal, looking good.

I harvested my first and only tomato today. It is a Taxi.

Definitely a Taxi. Aren't they beautiful! Did you try it Triss?

Very pretty. Have not had it yet, it will be sliced for our dinner tonight and grace our campfire hamburgers! Should be delicious!

That is a nice looking tomato Triss!!!!

My first yellow variety was Citron Compact. Almost exactly the same. Small and bright yellow on a dwarf plant perfect for containers. It was very good too.

That is just beautiful, Triss! Is it fully ripe? Those true yellow types must be tricky to tell. I'm keeping a close eye on a Plum Lemon that's about that color.
I had my first Brandywine of the season...now I remember why it's my favorite tomato I've ever grown. I have grown them for 5 years, and will NEVER go a year without them.
Bestofour...the Aunt Rubies German Green has a very rich, intense flavor, a nice, sharp "acidy" flavor like a great red tomato, but a nice sweetness, too. Maybe the best tomato I've ever eaten with the exception of BW. I can't wait to plant a dozen of 'em next year...and the one I ate, I'm pretty sure, was a day or even 2 from being perfectly ripe! I think there may be something special about green-when-ripe tomatoes. I can't wait to try another...they are REFUSING to get ripe!

Dave, yes I believe it is fully ripe. Just a lil give when you push on it.

Nice looking tomato Triss, I've never tasted a yellow one, what does it taste like?

How do you know when that Taxi is ready to eat? And how do you know when a green tomato is ripe?

Green-when-ripe and yellows are hard to tell, you have to give 'em a gentle squeeze. Even then, it's hard to know if they're perfectly ripe. Some 'maters are pink when ripe, too, and that can be just as tricky, but you get the hang of it once you've picked one or two.

Well we had the tomato for dinner last night and it was SO GOOD!!! I will be growing more than one plant next season. Very good mello flavor!

I' going to plant some yellow ones next year too. I love that color.

OHHHH YUMMMM ..They all look great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love the fresh mozzerella too and not so easy to find here either, but...... I can live with feta or a little goat cheese, a nice crusty baguette, and the same 'liquid and basil I see on those lovely yellow? tomatoes.
What a way to start a day

There are a great many yellow varieties to choose from. You can see by the following link. I am growing Taxi, Citron Compact, and Lillian's Yellow.

http://www.tomatogrowers.com/yellows.htm

that lemon boy looks yummy

I am so excited. While I was out watering today I noticed lots of new tomatoes! Will take pics when it is not so hot out there. I may actually get more than a crop of ONE lonesome tomato this year!

Triss, seems like many people had late fruit set this year...if you're seeing tomatoes, you're good to go! Now it's just a waiting game... :rolleyes: Wish I could share some of mine!

Me too Dave, me too!! Gonna hit the fruit stand this weekend. If I cannot grow salsa fixings, then I will buy them.

My Taxi's


And Oregon Spring

Two Black from Tulas, a few Black Cherries and one Wes, a red heart-shaped fruit...they're not quite as dark as the picture shows.

Such a deep color! Very nice looking. How do they taste?

Those look yummy John!!! Great job

Start slicin' them up John, and sending them my way for petes'sake!!!
Goooooshhhhhhhhh those look so good!!!

*I'm still on my cherries, but they are tasty
lil'morsels in the garden*

Ciao John,

I've been away from the computer for the last few weeks we've had Munchkin here and I'm way behind on uploading pictures. It's on my list for this week. How are you loving BFT? It's one of my very favourites. I've harvested one, but it went straight away into a big batch of caponata I made with BFT, Cherokee Purple, Black Krim, and Purple Russian. I've got one I picked early today (it was caught inside a "cage" of vines, so I yanked it before it got soft) and a huge Cherokee Purple weighing 15 oz. to put on some bruschetta sandwiches later in the week.

Cheers,
Julianna

Weezie, it's certainly big enough to share with everyone! Julianna, I was wondering where you've been! Things have gotten complicated with the little munchkins here as well the last few evenings and I still have those BFTs on the counter. Tonight is BLT night though and those two BFTs will meet their maker inevitably. The larger fruit are starting to come in consistantly now. Last night I picked my second CP. A beautiful specimen that is probably a couple days from being dead ripe. GMG was excellent. Mortgage lifter was very good on our first BLTs of the season. The only fruits I really have not cared for are SFT and Lucky Leprechaun.

John, those tomatoes look YUMMY!!!!

I've got a little question by the way, it might sound silly - some of my tomato plants have formed 2 growing tips. Should I pinch out one of the tips or just leave them? And is there any reason for them to form in the first place?

Bamboo, that's just the natural habit of tomato plants. No real need to prune them. It's a personal choice.

Thanks John. This is the first time I have grown tomatoes, so I was quite concerned when they started going a bit mutant.