Megablooms!!!

JohnJones · April 2, 2015

The first three major blooms on any of my plants are all megablooms...

Cherokee Purple Plant #1

Cherokee Purple #1 - MegaBlossom - 4 2 2015.jpg

Better Boy

Better Boy MegaBlossom - 4 2 2015.jpg

Cherokee Purple Plant #2

Cherokee Purple #2 - MegaBlossom - 4 2 2015.JPG

beeman · April 3, 2015

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!!!

JohnJones · April 3, 2015

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.

Stvrob · April 3, 2015

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

ddsack · April 3, 2015

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.

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

PA_Julia · April 3, 2015

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.

JohnJones · April 3, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by PA_Julia

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.

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?

PA_Julia · April 4, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnJones

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?

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.

heirloomtomaguy · April 4, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by PA_Julia

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.

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

PA_Julia · April 8, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by heirloomtomaguy

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

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.

Stvrob · April 3, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by PA_Julia

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.

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

PA_Julia · April 4, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stvrob

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

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.

b54red · April 4, 2015

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

Gardeneer · April 3, 2015

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

Starlight · April 5, 2015

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!

April 3, 2015	#5
ddsack Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Northern Minnesota - zone 3 Posts: 3,221	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. And those few who grow competition sized giant tomatoes only want megablossums on their plants. __________________ Dee **************

April 3, 2015	#6
PA_Julia Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Princeton, Ky Zone 7A Posts: 2,208	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. __________________ Personal Best- 4.46 LB Big Zac 2013 Last edited by PA_Julia; April 3, 2015 at 03:59 PM.

April 2, 2015	#1
JohnJones Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Mississippi Posts: 339	Megablooms!!! The first three major blooms on any of my plants are all megablooms... Cherokee Purple Plant #1 Cherokee Purple #1 - MegaBlossom - 4 2 2015.jpg Better Boy Better Boy MegaBlossom - 4 2 2015.jpg Cherokee Purple Plant #2 Cherokee Purple #2 - MegaBlossom - 4 2 2015.JPG

April 3, 2015	#2
beeman Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 692	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!!!

April 3, 2015	#4
Stvrob Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Jacksonville, FL Posts: 1,413	I agree, they are fun and interesting to watch them develop.

April 4, 2015	#13
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	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

April 3, 2015	#14
Gardeneer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: NC - zone 8a - heat zone 7 Posts: 4,915	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

April 5, 2015	#15
Starlight Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: AL Posts: 1,993	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!