Scary Big Tomatoes

[kath]

Originally Posted by Firstcrush

That is amazing, and crazy! Did the branches support them, or did you need to do some extra supporting?

They weren't given extra support, no. The vines were tied to a stake every foot or so and there were 2 plants/stake.

[kath]

Originally Posted by vegomatic

I had such a dismal season this year I'm forced to hit the markets or depend on friends in lower elevations. Seems like the big tomato craze hit here, too. Some real monsters at the market, but like yours, many were misshapen, deeply cracked with lots of bad spots to lop off on the cutting board. Handling, storing and boxing these monsters to market did little to help. Many were becoming spoiled or leaking. It's nearing end of season here, so granted I'm looking at the tail end of the production cycle. A few weeks ago, they were looking much better than today's offerings. But they'll do just fine in our salsa, so I was more than happy to have 'em!

Typically fickle Black Hills weather dumped hail and 2" of rain on those poor folks right when the toms were hitting their prime growing stage. So much sudden water with the hail injuries added up to a lot of unsaleable fruit. I caught the grower's disappointed glimpse at me as I passed on one after another unappetising but huge fruit. I had to honestly proclaim my jealousy at the same time. They actually had tomatoes, while my pitiful harvest would barely fill one flat in total.

One nice feature of a gh is moisture control. A deluge outdoors still means I need to water in the gh, but at least I'm in charge of that one thing, if not much else, and had very little cracking or spoilage.

But seeing all those lumpy toms today, looking for a good slicer or two, I think I have to agree that size isn't everything!

-Ed

Sorry to hear your season was so disappointing, Ed- you had problems despite having a greenhouse?

This year had it's challenges from beginning to end with regard to weather in my area as well and it's only because I grew so many plants this year that we had an abundance of tomatoes- and few of them were perfect.

kath

[vegomatic]

Thanks for commiserating, Kath. I don't want to sidetrack the thread with my growing problems. I think we've narrowed it down to my cover is too opaque. I blamed a lot of other things, but every year since we used the white corrugated sheeting, plants have been much smaller and maturation longer. We'll replace the roof with clear fiberglass next season and see where that gets us. I've had other issues too, not to mention wierd weather, but I think we're on top of that as well.

-Ed

[kath]

So I decided to add to last year's thread on big tomatoes. One goal this year was to focus on beefsteak and heart varieties with a tendency to stay in the 1 pound or less range in hopes of avoiding HUGE ugly fruits. Some biggies still happened, but only 8 fruits total and all weighed less than 3 lbs. On the other hand I was obsessed with removing all the fused and ugly fruits as soon as I spotted them until mid-July or so when I got too busy to care, so it's possible/probable that I removed some.

For those that like the supersize fruits, here are the 6 varieties that produced 'em without even trying:

Work Release Paste (pics 2 & 3)- Grew it last year and loved its taste and production from the first early fruit to the last. Yes, it produced huge fruits last year, too, but not all of them are gigantic with a range of 6 oz. to 2 lbs.,6.3 oz. Another plus is that the fruits don't split and rot as badly as most before ripening, but it doesn't keep all that long on the counter. This one will likely be a forever variety in my garden. It's great for eating fresh, drying or sauce. Maybe this and Sungold could satisfy all my tomato needs...

Hawaiian Pineapple (pic 4)- another regrow from last year which did well again. Its fruits are mostly in the 1 lb. range with the largest at 2 lb., 1.4 oz. Very beautiful color and sweet taste make these a special treat for, although the flavor was stronger last year for some reason and it is a bit juicy for me...and lumpy. I'm wondering if I really "need" a bicolor...

Hays' (last pic)- Ok, this is another repeat 'offender' but it tastes too good not to grow. I was hoping that by allowing more vines per plant this year that these first three varieties would produce smaller fruits, but the Hawaiian Pineapples are larger and the WRP and Hays' about the same size- the largest Hays' was just over 2 lbs. The Hays' resist splitting admirably, yet have beautiful clear thin skin, lovely color and they taste divine. It's definitely a keeper for me.

Eastham Pink Heirloom (pics 5 & 7)- This one from Tania is a real beauty and its large fruits (9.6 oz. to 2 lb., 6.4 oz.) taste great and have enough sweetness to make me smile. It resisted the splitting that plagued most varieties this year and wins the prize for prettiest huge fruit. It remains shiny and a beautiful pink with a hint of green on top- stunning!

Frank's Large Red (pic 6)- First time growing this one, it was true to its name in the size department as most of the fruits were over a pound- the largest was 2 lb., 6 oz. It is definitely a pink tomato, not red. I like the flavor but it had a problem with later, lower production and radial splitting as soon as we got rain after the drought and I think it's a bit wet for sandwiches. The bottom of the biggie shown might make it eligible for the Ugliest Tomato contest, no?

Alice's Egypt (pic 1)- Another one from Tania, AE is a wispy thing with an attractive plant habit that was very easy to stake and control. It's fruits were all over 12 oz. and the largest was 2 lb., 3.8 oz. The tops of its fruits have succumbed to radial cracking and the russeting that is very common in my garden now since we've been having regular showers and thunderstorms recently. This one didn't seem to like my conditions I guess because it was rather dry and mealy with a lot of white areas inside, which is not at all like the description.

So I guess the bottom line is that if you love the taste of a tomato enough, it's worth growing despite its short-comings!

kath

[lakelady]

Nice Job Kath! So would you recommend Work Release Paste as a good sauce tomato? Next year I'd like more sauce tomatoes on the bigger side so I have less skinning and seeding to do lol....the small ones take so long!

I have a giant tomato in my garden right now that I originally thought was TWO tomatoes, deeply planted in the center of all the foliage. Today I thought, wow, two of those and I could have a pot of sauce lol...

[kath]

Thanks, Antoniette! I've only made sauce a few times and I used a mix of all kinds of tomatoes so I have no idea what WRP sauce would taste like. It's a sweet tomato to my taste when eaten fresh. Also, to make sauce I freeze tomatoes first and when I get enough tomatoes and have the time, I thaw and drain them and put them through a food mill before canning the puree. But they are nice and big and not too seedy and the skin peels fairly easily so prepping them for drying was pretty quick.

P.S. Just saw your post about preferring assertive flavors- this one may be too mild for you.

kath