Throw out this brandywine? (pic heavy)

tnkrer · June 26, 2013

So I have had some trouble with the plants in this particular earth-tainer. Between 2-3 weeks after plant out, the plants growth slowed down for a week or so. I speculated the cause to be herbicide drift or heat stress. All the flower trusses on the plants that formed during that time look pitiful and it does not look like they will do anything.
some examples on early girl

This one aborted being a fruit truss and started being a branch!

Both plants recovered and are growing well now. (Though behind my other plants by 6 inches to a foot due to the lost week)

The newer trusses on early girl have nice flowers and they are setting fruit just fine. However the newer trusses on the brandywine (especially the main stem) are still pitiful. Also, there are only three fruit trusses in those 5 feet of the plant.
truss 1

truss 2

truss 3

Other stems started from suckers are doing slightly better.

Compared to that my other brandywine has this nice truss. (And few more like this)

and my first brandywine fruit

So does it look like the first brandywine had some irreparable damage and will not give meaningful produce? I have told the brandywine that it better shape up or else! .. but I don't think it responds well to threats

And what can I plant there this late to get some good yield? (doesn't have to be tomato). I thought of diva cucumbers .. but finding those plants in local nurseries might be difficult.

TightenUp · June 26, 2013

i put up a post last season demonstrating the small flowers that just turned yellow and fell off. the responses i got was that it was normal especially on plants like brandywine

dice · June 28, 2013

You might use it for an experiment. Foliage feed it (not in full sun)
with a high-phosphate "Blossom Booster" of some kind, and
see if you get more flower trusses, more flowers on a truss,
and big, healthy looking flowers on the trusses that are there
now.

Redbaron · June 28, 2013

Everyone here will say I am both wrong and crazy. (they would be right) And certainly it is not an "approved" organic method, but give em a Coke and a smile. Just might snap them out of it. Since you are near pulling them anyway, can't hurt. But not on the plant that managed to set fruit anyway.

I stumbled on it accidently years ago. Was cleaning up after a late grill out the night before. Someone had left a coke outside 1/2 finished and flat. Since one lame plant nearby looked like it needed water, I dumped the coke on it's base to "water" it. That plant then set a bunch of fruit a week later. Totally non scientific and anecdotal, but as I said, if you are considering pulling it anyway, nothing to loose.

A Coke has phosphoric acid. It will startle the plant, normally does no lasting harm, and in the end the shock combined with the phosphorous can sometimes trigger fruiting.

tnkrer · June 28, 2013

Thanks Dice. I will buy whatever high Phosphate / bloom buster I find at HD over the weekend. (most probably MG. They seem to stock only those) and try it out. I am all for stimulating the plant for doing better instead of throwing it away. It looks very healthy and is growing vigorously.
Redbaron, thanks for the tip. If bloom buster doesn't work, will try coke.

dice · June 28, 2013

If it does not work, you can always save the Blossom Booster
and use it to foliar feed raspberries or blueberries that are
about to flower. I have a patch of raspberries, some years
that is all the plant food that they get, a one-time spray with
blossom booster as they are starting to flower.

edit:
(Works ok on tulips and other bulbs that you do not
want to dig up, too.)

tnkrer · June 30, 2013

sprayed MG blossom booster (15-30-15) on the leaves of the brandywine. (instructions were 1/2 tsp in 250 ml, I put 1 tsp in 750 ml (a little more diluted) and sprayed all of it on the brandywine today evening. How many days to expect any results? 4 to 5?

dice · July 1, 2013

I would guess that if you have not seen any change in the flower
trusses by then, it is not going to have any effect. 15-30-15, that
sound like regular, traditional, multi-purplese Miracle Gro. Good
thing you diluted it more, you will probably get a blast of new
leaves, too. (Substantially more nitrogen is not something you
necessarily wan when plants are trying to set fruit. A little more
is fine; a lot more can reduce fruitset, increase BER, etc.)

tnkrer · July 8, 2013

Looks like high P fertilizer has spurred the plant to set out some decent buds on two stems. Thanks Dice!

Now the problem is, all these buds are about 6 ft high. How is this plan? I cut all the tall stems and leave suckers that are about 2-3 ft tall. (There are 3-4 of those) and let those grow out. (I will leave one or two tall stems that have developed these good buds though)

dpurdy · July 8, 2013

tnkrer,
Earlier this season I was questioning whether or not my Brandywines were worth growing or not. They were lagging behind my other tomato plants as far as fruit setting and growth was concerned. Today I was looking at the Brandywines and they are now the tallest plants of all my tomatoes. Some are over 7 feet tall and now have a good amount of fruit on them. A couple of weeks ago I started using a bloom type fertilizer and that did the trick. The NPK on the fertilizer that I'm using is 12-55-6. I'm glad that I'm growing them now and didn't pull them.
dpurdy

June 26, 2013	#1
tnkrer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: MA 6a/b Posts: 352	Throw out this brandywine? (pic heavy) So I have had some trouble with the plants in this particular earth-tainer. Between 2-3 weeks after plant out, the plants growth slowed down for a week or so. I speculated the cause to be herbicide drift or heat stress. All the flower trusses on the plants that formed during that time look pitiful and it does not look like they will do anything. some examples on early girl This one aborted being a fruit truss and started being a branch! Both plants recovered and are growing well now. (Though behind my other plants by 6 inches to a foot due to the lost week) The newer trusses on early girl have nice flowers and they are setting fruit just fine. However the newer trusses on the brandywine (especially the main stem) are still pitiful. Also, there are only three fruit trusses in those 5 feet of the plant. truss 1 truss 2 truss 3 Other stems started from suckers are doing slightly better. Compared to that my other brandywine has this nice truss. (And few more like this) and my first brandywine fruit So does it look like the first brandywine had some irreparable damage and will not give meaningful produce? I have told the brandywine that it better shape up or else! .. but I don't think it responds well to threats And what can I plant there this late to get some good yield? (doesn't have to be tomato). I thought of diva cucumbers .. but finding those plants in local nurseries might be difficult.

June 26, 2013	#2
TightenUp Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Jersey Posts: 1,183	i put up a post last season demonstrating the small flowers that just turned yellow and fell off. the responses i got was that it was normal especially on plants like brandywine __________________

June 28, 2013	#3
dice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: PNW Posts: 4,743	You might use it for an experiment. Foliage feed it (not in full sun) with a high-phosphate "Blossom Booster" of some kind, and see if you get more flower trusses, more flowers on a truss, and big, healthy looking flowers on the trusses that are there now. __________________ -- alias Last edited by dice; June 28, 2013 at 10:45 AM. Reason: clarity

June 28, 2013	#4
Redbaron Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 4,488	Everyone here will say I am both wrong and crazy. (they would be right) And certainly it is not an "approved" organic method, but give em a Coke and a smile. Just might snap them out of it. Since you are near pulling them anyway, can't hurt. But not on the plant that managed to set fruit anyway. I stumbled on it accidently years ago. Was cleaning up after a late grill out the night before. Someone had left a coke outside 1/2 finished and flat. Since one lame plant nearby looked like it needed water, I dumped the coke on it's base to "water" it. That plant then set a bunch of fruit a week later. Totally non scientific and anecdotal, but as I said, if you are considering pulling it anyway, nothing to loose. A Coke has phosphoric acid. It will startle the plant, normally does no lasting harm, and in the end the shock combined with the phosphorous can sometimes trigger fruiting. __________________ Scott AKA The Redbaron "Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted & thoughtful observation rather than protracted & thoughtless labour; & of looking at plants & animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single-product system." Bill Mollison co-founder of permaculture

June 28, 2013	#6
dice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: PNW Posts: 4,743	If it does not work, you can always save the Blossom Booster and use it to foliar feed raspberries or blueberries that are about to flower. I have a patch of raspberries, some years that is all the plant food that they get, a one-time spray with blossom booster as they are starting to flower. edit: (Works ok on tulips and other bulbs that you do not want to dig up, too.) __________________ -- alias

June 30, 2013	#7
tnkrer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: MA 6a/b Posts: 352	sprayed MG blossom booster (15-30-15) on the leaves of the brandywine. (instructions were 1/2 tsp in 250 ml, I put 1 tsp in 750 ml (a little more diluted) and sprayed all of it on the brandywine today evening. How many days to expect any results? 4 to 5?

July 1, 2013	#8
dice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: PNW Posts: 4,743	I would guess that if you have not seen any change in the flower trusses by then, it is not going to have any effect. 15-30-15, that sound like regular, traditional, multi-purplese Miracle Gro. Good thing you diluted it more, you will probably get a blast of new leaves, too. (Substantially more nitrogen is not something you necessarily wan when plants are trying to set fruit. A little more is fine; a lot more can reduce fruitset, increase BER, etc.) __________________ -- alias

July 8, 2013	#9
tnkrer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: MA 6a/b Posts: 352	Looks like high P fertilizer has spurred the plant to set out some decent buds on two stems. Thanks Dice! Now the problem is, all these buds are about 6 ft high. How is this plan? I cut all the tall stems and leave suckers that are about 2-3 ft tall. (There are 3-4 of those) and let those grow out. (I will leave one or two tall stems that have developed these good buds though) Last edited by tnkrer; July 8, 2013 at 12:34 PM.

July 8, 2013	#10
dpurdy Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Norwich, New York Posts: 255	tnkrer, Earlier this season I was questioning whether or not my Brandywines were worth growing or not. They were lagging behind my other tomato plants as far as fruit setting and growth was concerned. Today I was looking at the Brandywines and they are now the tallest plants of all my tomatoes. Some are over 7 feet tall and now have a good amount of fruit on them. A couple of weeks ago I started using a bloom type fertilizer and that did the trick. The NPK on the fertilizer that I'm using is 12-55-6. I'm glad that I'm growing them now and didn't pull them. dpurdy