OK - So I'm in this contest..Any Ideas?

franknmiss · May 23, 2017

Our county has a tomato contest every year.
This is my third year to participate.
How it works:
The County Extension Agent selects a tomato to be grown.
The local orphanage starts them in their greenhouse.
At the kickoff meeting we pay an entry fee and get two plants to grow.
We are given a two week window to bring in our best tomato to be weighed in
The heaviest tomato wins.
The Rules are: Don't Cheat!

This year we are growing Rocky Top, a determinate hybrid market type tomato.
75 DTM.
This is usually not a large tomato and being a determinate has thrown me on how to handle it.
So far:
I planted my two plants on April 20th.
The weigh in is between July 1st and July 15th.
As of today, one plant in a sunnier spot is 3 feet tall and the other 2 ft tall.
Both are covered with blooms.
Being a different kind of contest tomato, any ideas on what to do to grow a big one?
I'm open to any ideas -I usually don't grow hybrid determinate plants.
I've placed first and second in the past - I'll give the prize money to the orphanage.
I want my picture in the paper

Frank

Gardeneer · May 23, 2017

I have not done this but I have heard that you limit the number of tomatoes ( one ? or two ? per truss). Supposedly all the energy coming to that truss will go into the ones you keep.
Moore food/energy , bigger tomatoes.

Cole_Robbie · May 23, 2017

I agree to prune off almost all the blooms or small fruit. A fused blossom will give you your heaviest fruit, because they are multiple fruits stuck together. I'd make sure the plant was never water-stressed, and use a high potassium fertilizer, like 4-18-38.

AlittleSalt · May 23, 2017

The advise already given is what people do to grow the biggest tomatoes.

May 24, 2017

My biggest tomatoes were grown next to a sidewalk by our house (perhaps they like growing roots under the sidewalk or something). Some of my most productive tomatoes were also grown next to the sidewalk. It should be noted that sidewalks may contain heavy metals, though (due to fly ash); if true, I'm not sure why my plants seemed to like it so much.

May 24, 2017

If you want them to be heavy, more water may help. In addition to the benefits of potassium, copper can help fruits absorb water (I don't know if they end up heavier, but it seems like they may).

Excess nitrogen can lead to smaller, but more numerous, fruits, according to a sudy I found.

I think some people say they prune their plants (not just flowers) a certain way to get bigger and/or more fruits, but how they do it may depend on what kind of tomato. I'm not sure that their methods would help for determinates.

I don't know about weight, but I've found that tomatoes often shrink some after ripening more than a bit.

You might try putting images of plants with enormous tomatoes next to your plant.

I've found that plants often seem to look more like the plants next to them (even different species) than is generally the case. It could be coincidence, or natural selection, though (which may not help you here). I mean, if catnip coincidentally looks like a strawberry plant (in the middle of a bunch of strawberry plants), then you're less likely to notice that it's catnip and pull it up, and it may survive long enough to produce seeds for another generation of potentially strawberry-like catnip.

Worth1 · May 24, 2017

If I were the judge I would disqualify any fused bloom tomatoes.
Worth

Spike2 · May 24, 2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by Worth1

If I were the judge I would disqualify any fused bloom tomatoes.
Worth

How would you tell? Would they look different or something?

StrongPlant · May 24, 2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spike2

How would you tell? Would they look different or something?

Oh yeah.They're ugly,swollen,huge and have extremely thick petals ussualy with a large number of sepals.They're offten catfaced,too.Boy I can't wait for some of mine to ripen so I can post them in the ugly tomatoes thread.

Worth1 · May 24, 2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spike2

How would you tell? Would they look different or something?

Two types twin blooms and ugly fused blooms that have all kinds of green crap growing out of the center.
The former I might allow on a good bribe but the fused bloom no.
The twin bloom tomato looks like a fat canoe and is edible nothing wrong with it at all.

Just like a twin squash.
Worth

Gardeneer · May 24, 2017

Lot of varieties never grow fused or cat face tomatoes. But double fused happen quite often.
I know Brandy Boy does that. I already have few of them in my garden. If you look at the blossom end you will see a stretched blossom mark. Otherwise the fruit is normal with a boat like shape.

franknmiss · May 24, 2017

I don't think these plants will have any fused blooms - haven't seen any so far. I'll jump on it if I do.
I've read just about all the post I could find concerning growing contest tomatoes on the forum.
Usually the tomatoes chosen are Big Zac or a similar plant groomed to put out big ugly fruits.
This plant grows red round tomatoes just like the ones in the grocery store it's like they are designed to put out lots of fruits to be all uniform and look the same.

I think that is right a low nitrogen fertilizer will be best- I will get some tomorrow.
Julia used to apply fertilizer weekly or very often for sure.

Since I have to meet a 2 week window in July for the weigh in, I'm thinking I will have as few tomatoes as possible on the plant to make them larger - but will need try to space each of them a few days or a week apart so I will be sure to have one ready when needed by pulling unneeded fruits and blooms along.
I glad we got two plants, that will help - this contest is harder than the indeterminate ones grown before and fractions of an ounce will probably make the difference between how they place unless someone gets lucky with a freaky plant.
This is serious stuff - county wide bragging rights for a whole year are on the line...

Rockporter · May 24, 2017

Texas tomato Food says they designed their product for competition growing.

http://theurbanfarm.com/legr1.html

StrongPlant · May 25, 2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by franknmiss

I don't think these plants will have any fused blooms - haven't seen any so far. I'll jump on it if I do.
I've read just about all the post I could find concerning growing contest tomatoes on the forum.
Usually the tomatoes chosen are Big Zac or a similar plant groomed to put out big ugly fruits.
This plant grows red round tomatoes just like the ones in the grocery store it's like they are designed to put out lots of fruits to be all uniform and look the same.

I think that is right a low nitrogen fertilizer will be best- I will get some tomorrow.
Julia used to apply fertilizer weekly or very often for sure.

Since I have to meet a 2 week window in July for the weigh in, I'm thinking I will have as few tomatoes as possible on the plant to make them larger - but will need try to space each of them a few days or a week apart so I will be sure to have one ready when needed by pulling unneeded fruits and blooms along.
I glad we got two plants, that will help - this contest is harder than the indeterminate ones grown before and fractions of an ounce will probably make the difference between how they place unless someone gets lucky with a freaky plant.
This is serious stuff - county wide bragging rights for a whole year are on the line...

You might also want to try a more risky approach...
Pick a healthy,large flower,collect a bunch of pollen from other flowers.Then dip the pistil so it is as I'd say "over-pollinated".Make sure the flower is the first one that opens in the chosen truss.Then...cut all other flowers off.Not just in the truss.I mean ALL of them on the entire plant except the chosen one.
Just 1 might be too risky but I think this is the absolute limit to what you can do to increase the size of a single tomato,aside from adequate watering and ferts.
More practical would be to do this with a couple of them,but not too many,I'd go with 4 max.

SteveP · May 25, 2017

Sounds like a fun contest. Before I began gardening they used to do this in town as part of the 4th of July celebration but I haven't seen them do it for several years, maybe from lack of interest. I don't think as many people grow a veg garden as they used to. I have 1 neighbor that has a small garden every year.

May 23, 2017	#1
franknmiss Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Columbus, MS Living on the Edge ( Of Zone 7b/8a that is..) Posts: 50	OK - So I'm in this contest..Any Ideas? Our county has a tomato contest every year. This is my third year to participate. How it works: The County Extension Agent selects a tomato to be grown. The local orphanage starts them in their greenhouse. At the kickoff meeting we pay an entry fee and get two plants to grow. We are given a two week window to bring in our best tomato to be weighed in The heaviest tomato wins. The Rules are: Don't Cheat! This year we are growing Rocky Top, a determinate hybrid market type tomato. 75 DTM. This is usually not a large tomato and being a determinate has thrown me on how to handle it. So far: I planted my two plants on April 20th. The weigh in is between July 1st and July 15th. As of today, one plant in a sunnier spot is 3 feet tall and the other 2 ft tall. Both are covered with blooms. Being a different kind of contest tomato, any ideas on what to do to grow a big one? I'm open to any ideas -I usually don't grow hybrid determinate plants. I've placed first and second in the past - I'll give the prize money to the orphanage. I want my picture in the paper Frank

May 23, 2017	#2
Gardeneer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: NC - zone 8a - heat zone 7 Posts: 4,915	I have not done this but I have heard that you limit the number of tomatoes ( one ? or two ? per truss). Supposedly all the energy coming to that truss will go into the ones you keep. Moore food/energy , bigger tomatoes. __________________ Gardeneer Happy Gardening !

May 24, 2017	#5
shule1 Guest Posts: n/a	My biggest tomatoes were grown next to a sidewalk by our house (perhaps they like growing roots under the sidewalk or something). Some of my most productive tomatoes were also grown next to the sidewalk. It should be noted that sidewalks may contain heavy metals, though (due to fly ash); if true, I'm not sure why my plants seemed to like it so much. Last edited by shule1; May 24, 2017 at 06:12 AM.

May 24, 2017	#6
shule1 Guest Posts: n/a	If you want them to be heavy, more water may help. In addition to the benefits of potassium, copper can help fruits absorb water (I don't know if they end up heavier, but it seems like they may). Excess nitrogen can lead to smaller, but more numerous, fruits, according to a sudy I found. I think some people say they prune their plants (not just flowers) a certain way to get bigger and/or more fruits, but how they do it may depend on what kind of tomato. I'm not sure that their methods would help for determinates. I don't know about weight, but I've found that tomatoes often shrink some after ripening more than a bit. You might try putting images of plants with enormous tomatoes next to your plant. I've found that plants often seem to look more like the plants next to them (even different species) than is generally the case. It could be coincidence, or natural selection, though (which may not help you here). I mean, if catnip coincidentally looks like a strawberry plant (in the middle of a bunch of strawberry plants), then you're less likely to notice that it's catnip and pull it up, and it may survive long enough to produce seeds for another generation of potentially strawberry-like catnip. Last edited by shule1; May 24, 2017 at 06:39 AM.

May 24, 2017	#11
Gardeneer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: NC - zone 8a - heat zone 7 Posts: 4,915	Lot of varieties never grow fused or cat face tomatoes. But double fused happen quite often. I know Brandy Boy does that. I already have few of them in my garden. If you look at the blossom end you will see a stretched blossom mark. Otherwise the fruit is normal with a boat like shape. __________________ Gardeneer Happy Gardening !

May 23, 2017	#3
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	I agree to prune off almost all the blooms or small fruit. A fused blossom will give you your heaviest fruit, because they are multiple fruits stuck together. I'd make sure the plant was never water-stressed, and use a high potassium fertilizer, like 4-18-38.

May 23, 2017	#4
AlittleSalt BANNED FOR LIFE Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 13,333	The advise already given is what people do to grow the biggest tomatoes.

May 24, 2017	#7
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	If I were the judge I would disqualify any fused bloom tomatoes. Worth

May 24, 2017	#13
Rockporter Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Texas Coastal Bend Posts: 3,205	Texas tomato Food says they designed their product for competition growing. http://theurbanfarm.com/legr1.html __________________ In the spring at the end of the day you should smell like dirt ~Margaret Atwood~

May 25, 2017	#15
SteveP Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Joplin MO Posts: 1,398	Sounds like a fun contest. Before I began gardening they used to do this in town as part of the 4th of July celebration but I haven't seen them do it for several years, maybe from lack of interest. I don't think as many people grow a veg garden as they used to. I have 1 neighbor that has a small garden every year.