Megablooms!!!
 

[FONT="Georgia"][SIZE="3"]The first three major blooms on any of my plants are all megablooms...

Cherokee Purple Plant #1

[ATTACH]47733[/ATTACH]

Better Boy

[ATTACH]47734[/ATTACH]

Cherokee Purple Plant #2[/SIZE][/FONT]

[ATTACH]47735[/ATTACH]

I find Megablooms to be annoying and pull them off. They seem to take forever to ripen, create ugly looking toms and also seem to hold the plant back, as if all the growth is concentrated in that one blossom. Yuck!!!

Respect your opinion, but to me they are kinda fun. Obviously if it becomes apparent they are not going to produce an edible tomato I will pull them, but they're interesting to me.

I am not really one to aggressively alter my plants. My dad was certainly no horticulturist, but he grew lots of tomatoes over 60 years of gardening and he was always very hesitant to pull anything off a plant that had a chance of making a mater.

I agree, they are fun and interesting to watch them develop.

I think mega blossoms are beautiful! As far as the catfacing, you only look at a tomato before you eat it. Once you dice it for salsa, or cook it into sauce your stomach doesn't know the difference. Not every tomato is going to be sliced for perfect presentation on a platter. :roll:

And those few who grow competition sized giant tomatoes only want megablossums on their plants. :cute:

My main focus is giant tomato growing. You can't have tomatoes of any decent size without megablooms. Here is my largest mega bloom from last season. Using a magnifying glass I counted a total of seven fused blooms. This is on a particular strain of Delicious called Hunts Strain. The seed was a descendant of the tomato that holds the Pennsylvania state record at 6.51 LBS. This grew into a 4.37 LB tomato. Not my personal best but of decent size nonetheless.. This year I have seeds from my friend and fellow giant grower Dan Mac Coy out of Minnesota. Last year he shattered the world record for tomato weight with a Big Zac that produced an eight bloom mega bloom. It grew to 8.41 LBS.
[IMG]http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/o716/genevieve_66/017_zps9bf6e14c.jpg[/IMG]

[QUOTE=PA_Julia;462037]My main focus is giant tomato growing. You can't have tomatoes of any decent size without megablooms. Here is my largest mega bloom from last season. Using a magnifying glass I counted a total of seven fused blooms. This is on a particular strain of Delicious called Hunts Strain. The seed was a descendant of the tomato that holds the Pennsylvania state record at 6.51 LBS. This grew into a 4.37 LB tomato. Not my personal best but of decent size nonetheless.. This year I have seeds from my friend and fellow giant grower Dan Mac Coy out of Minnesota. Last year he shattered the world record for tomato weight with a Big Zac that produced an eight bloom mega bloom. It grew to 8.41 LBS.
[/QUOTE]
Julia,

That bloom is massive. Do you have a pic of the final tomato?

Once you get a bloom like that what kind of pruning do you do to the plant?

[QUOTE=PA_Julia;462037]My main focus is giant tomato growing. You can't have tomatoes of any decent size without megablooms. Here is my largest mega bloom from last season. Using a magnifying glass I counted a total of seven fused blooms. This is on a particular strain of Delicious called Hunts Strain. The seed was a descendant of the tomato that holds the Pennsylvania state record at 6.51 LBS. This grew into a 4.37 LB tomato. Not my personal best but of decent size nonetheless.. This year I have seeds from my friend and fellow giant grower Dan Mac Coy out of Minnesota. Last year he shattered the world record for tomato weight with a Big Zac that produced an eight bloom mega bloom. It grew to 8.41 LBS.
[IMG]http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/o716/genevieve_66/017_zps9bf6e14c.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE]

Oh my god, please dont post a picture of whatever that grew up to be! Yuck, Yuck, quintuple yuck!

Some mega blooms do not survive. Of the ones that do, become cat faced. In my experience those won't ripened properly.
Cherokee purple had been the first with mega bloom in my garden.

Though an interesting thing to observe, I would remove them, as I consider them mishaps.

Gardeneer

[QUOTE=JohnJones;462051]Julia,

That bloom is massive. Do you have a pic of the final tomato?

Once you get a bloom like that what kind of pruning do you do to the plant?[/QUOTE]


Yes I do have a photo of that tomato and here it is;
It is flashing color on the bottom portion of the tomato so it was done growing.

[IMG]http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/o716/genevieve_66/001_zpskzji7ajv.jpg[/IMG]

[QUOTE=Stvrob;462064]Oh my god, please dont post a picture of whatever that grew up to be! Yuck, Yuck, quintuple yuck![/QUOTE]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Growing giants for competition requires a different mindset than perfectly round tomatoes that are eaten. These are not eaten and only one tomato is grown per plant. The seed is then saved and shared with other giant growers.

For my friend Dan Mac Coy who grow the world record last season at 8.41 LBS, not only is he holding that record , after all prize money and continuing endorsements he's sitting at over ten thousand dollars from growing that tomato.

That's certainly not a "" Yucky"" payoff to coin your word. :P

I don't mind the mega-blooms too much but they tend to ripen very unevenly most of the time so that part of the fruit is overripe while other parts are still green. Since I'm not growing for size I try to cull most of them out.

Bill

[QUOTE=PA_Julia;462186]Yes I do have a photo of that tomato and here it is;
It is flashing color on the bottom portion of the tomato so it was done growing.

[IMG]http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/o716/genevieve_66/001_zpskzji7ajv.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE]

That thing is a beast. Do you grow them organically or with a whole lot of super thrive?

What is the difference between a regular bloom and a megabloom and how do you know what to look for or if you happen to have one?

Nice looking plants there John Jones.

Pa_Julie... That's one big tomato!!!!!!!!! Whew!

Thanks Starlight!

A megabloom is just a popular name for a fused blossom of 2 or more blossoms. It will result in a typically odd looking combination of two or more tomatoes into one, often larger than average, tomato.

The blossom will likely appear abnormally large next to the others in the cluster (See Cherokee Purple #2 above). Once the tomato shows itself, if the pistils (the tubes extending from the blossom end of the tomato) are still present there may be more than one as in the Better Boy pic above.

Look for large blossoms and then watch their development closely.

Growing my first Big Zac this year and already have a mega blossom...can't wait to see what forms!

[QUOTE=heirloomtomaguy;462241]That thing is a beast. Do you grow them organically or with a whole lot of super thrive?[/QUOTE]


Hi, sorry about the delay in answering.

In order to get to sizes considered giant, 4.00 LBS or above one simply cannot use a strictly organic approach.

I use very large amounts of synthetic and natural fertilizers in which to boost the overall weight of a large tomato.

Since these tomatoes are not for eating there is no fear of consuming pesticides or other products that one might find in trace amounts in the tomatoes.

[QUOTE=motheralb;462538]Growing my first Big Zac this year and already have a mega blossom...can't wait to see what forms![/QUOTE]


Excellent!! Remember to pick your one tomato then remove all others and prevent any other tomatoes from forming on the plant.

I have 3 Big Zac's that are producing huge perfect blooms, and nice tomatoes, but no darn megablooms yet, I finally got a double from Delicious though. One thing for sure, those big Zac's are vigorous, and really produce the tomatoes, nice ones, but for this adventure, I want a big ugly tomato.
I will be patient Julia, maybe it will be perfect timing for a fall display at the State fair.

Julia, would you be able to suggest a feeding schedule and advice on frets to achieve large tomatoes? I haven't gardened in 15 years, and as such, I'm quite rusty, and am looking for some kind if process for achieving tge maximum yield for each of my 92 plants this year. Thanks!

Julia- Wow what a beautiful tomato! I think the more ruffled and ugly they, the prettier and more yummy they taste. Yum!! I definitely understand the method behind your madness and I can appreciate growing those babies for size. Tomorrow morning I am going to inspect my tomato plants for this megabloom everyone is speaking of! I have a huge Cherokee Purple forming and it could have definitely been a megabloom bc its huge!!

Is there a record for largest edible tomato from a single blossom?

I like pretty things that I can eat!

[QUOTE=PA_Julia;463088]Hi, sorry about the delay in answering.

In order to get to sizes considered giant, 4.00 LBS or above one simply cannot use a strictly organic approach.

I use very large amounts of synthetic and natural fertilizers in which to boost the overall weight of a large tomato.

Since these tomatoes are not for eating there is no fear of consuming pesticides or other products that one might find in trace amounts in the tomatoes.[/QUOTE]

I am really glad you shared this.
So when see a pretty picture like this one... it is pure marketing fertilizer?
I guess that is a plastic tomato in the picture? The real tomato would look very different and maybe poisonous?

Parah, I think you are correct. The scale at less than a pound, it can only be plastic.

[QUOTE=parah;463290]I am really glad you shared this.
So when see a pretty picture like this one... it is pure marketing fertilizer?
I guess that is a plastic tomato in the picture? The real tomato would look very different and maybe poisonous?[/QUOTE]
This is Gordon Graham and a replica of the former world record tomato. This one was displaced by Julia's friend last year as she indicates in this thread.

Here is an interview with Gordon (who has passed away) from the 1990's...

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4GynGTDlpc[/url]

[QUOTE=Rfdillon;463258]Julia, would you be able to suggest a feeding schedule and advice on frets to achieve large tomatoes? I haven't gardened in 15 years, and as such, I'm quite rusty, and am looking for some kind if process for achieving tge maximum yield for each of my 92 plants this year. Thanks![/QUOTE]


Yes I can; After transplant into the ground and acclimation by the plant to it's new home I begin a weekly feeding of Miracle Grow's Bloom Booster. Not the Bloom Booster that is carried by big box stores like Home Depot, Lowes and Walmart but Miracle Grows bloom booster that is formulated as 10-52-10.
You can find this at most independent garden centers.

The large load of phosphorous pushes the plant to create notably more blooms at a faster rate than regularly formulated fertilizers.
Your concern is the formation of mega blooms and not the amount of salts that will be building up from the use of this product.

Since you won't be eating the tomato this frees you to apply products such as fungicides and pesticides in relatively large amounts to ensure that the tomato you have selected will grow to fruition.
After you have obtained a megabloom or two you would like to see produce a tomato the use of an electric toothbrush to move a sufficient amount of pollen in which to pollinate the bloom will be in order.

Once pollinated , remove all other blooms from the plant and switch your fertilizer to a more balanced 20-20-20 or similar in which to promote plant and root growth.
Use this for the amount of time your tomato is in the growth phase.

Remember to prune your plant to one or two main stems only and to top your plant at the time of successful pollination of the megabloom regardless of the height of the plant.

The world record of 8.41 LBS was grown on a plant that was only four feet in height.

The idea is to channel the plants energy into that one tomato growing on the plant and not to waist it's energy growing the plant itself.

[QUOTE=parah;463290]I am really glad you shared this.
So when see a pretty picture like this one... it is pure marketing fertilizer?
I guess that is a plastic tomato in the picture? The real tomato would look very different and maybe poisonous?[/QUOTE]


Miracle Grow sponsored Gordon Graham to act as an ambassador of sorts for the company. He traveled across the U.S. and Canada promoting Miracle Grow.

The tomato you see in the photograph is made out of resin.

The world record tomato was not perfectly round but extremely misshapen as are all tomatoes that are grown from very large multiple fused blooms.

[QUOTE=AZGardener;463272]Julia- Wow what a beautiful tomato! I think the more ruffled and ugly they, the prettier and more yummy they taste. Yum!! I definitely understand the method behind your madness and I can appreciate growing those babies for size. Tomorrow morning I am going to inspect my tomato plants for this megabloom everyone is speaking of! I have a huge Cherokee Purple forming and it could have definitely been a megabloom bc its huge!![/QUOTE]


Thank you!! :yes: I hope you grow one!!

[QUOTE=efisakov;463377]Parah, I think you are correct. The scale at less than a pound, it can only be plastic.[/QUOTE]


:yes::lol:
What happened to the original that they had to come up with a replica ?
Hmmmm

All the record tomato pictures that I have seen before have been fused cat faced.

Megabloom update pics
 

Cherokee Purple #2

[ATTACH]48013[/ATTACH]

Better Boy

[ATTACH]48014[/ATTACH]