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Joliet, IL

i am going to try my hand at giant tomatoes this year.

question 1. what date to you start the seeds?
question 2. about when do you transplant them to the patch?
question 3. how much spacing is best in between plants?
question 4. what is the best pruning methods out there?
question 5. how tall do you let the plant get?
question 6. how many tomatoes is too many for one plant of the ideal full plant size?
question 7. what is the best sling or tomato hammock, nylons?
question 8. is it best for the tomato itself to be shaded from direct sunlight? do you just move some leaves or branches over for shading if necessary?
question 9. how much or what portion of the stem is allowed on the tomato when weighing?
question 10. what are the tricks to get the big ones?

12/20/2009 3:12:42 PM

Wv

MARV is the man for ?

12/20/2009 5:49:55 PM

ExtremeVegetables.com

1. Many different factors determine when you would start your seeds. Some would include which variety you are growing, timing of pollenation and fruit set. Weigh-Off date etc. That being said, most growers seem to start seeds around the end of Feb.

2. Depends of some of the factors above and your last frost date. Some growers put them out early with protection, soil heating cables, greenhouses, the works. I have been putting mine out Early enough to where I can cover them with a bucket at night and they won't freeze. With an early October weigh-off date I don't see a problem with transplanting after all danger of frost has passed.

3. Preferable at least four feet. I've been planting mine four feet apart but have been following roots at season's end that have gone up to 12 feet from the base of the plant. This season I will plant most of mine 6 feet apart.

4. The one which produces the biggest tomatoes. Most growers keep plants pruned to one or two vines.

5. I normally allow mine to grow until I get a fruit set and want to terminate plsnt growth to focus on fruit growth.

6. Every tomato except for the laregst and fastest growing fruit is too many.

7. Whatever is available. I've been using and old T-Shirt.

8. I shade my fruit by covering with an old T-Shirt.

9. One inch.

10. MegaBloom aka fused bloom.

There are as many variables and "tricks" to growing Giant Tomatoes as there are Giant Pumpkins. It certainly can not be covered in a single post or by a single person.
I've been following the same basic principles used to produce Giant pumpkins, I think if you do that, you'll do fine.

12/20/2009 7:36:55 PM

Joliet, IL

duane, that is awesome info. thanks for taking the time.
shazzy

12/20/2009 9:08:34 PM

Baltimore

1. dec 15
2. feb 15
3 2 ft
5 gordon graham's got 53 ft
9 1 inch

12/20/2009 9:22:34 PM

Massillon, Ohio

With the Ohio Weighoff being Oct 3, Nick doesn't start his tomatoes until mid-June. We had one too many years of ripe tomatoes in August / Sept that couldn't go to weighoff. Timing is everything and 'wait wait wait' is our strategy for competitive tomatoes and cantalopes. They weren't even transplanted into the patch until July.

12/21/2009 9:53:19 AM

Wv

also duane is tops, info and his seeds are second to non.nuff said ,treetop

12/21/2009 10:45:23 AM

Belgium

I started my tomatoes in March this year and got it offical weighted at the store: 5.00 lbs

12/21/2009 12:45:05 PM

ExtremeVegetables.com

Good info Christy!!
Thank You!!
I had that problem this year. This season I plan on starting later and staggering my plantings.

12/21/2009 1:56:27 PM

Bethlehem CT

If you are unsure about when to start for a certain weigh off date, and have only a couple of good seeds, you can try this method I used this past year.
I planted two 5.58 Timm seeds in March. This was way too early for a September weighoff. So what I did is, I took the suckers off the plant and rooted them. (The sucker is the new branch that comes out of each and every leaf axil.) Tomatoes root very, very easily just dip a cut sucker in a little rooting powder stick in moist potting soil and keep out of the sun. I set mine under a potting bench. You should get fairly high rooting percentages without any fancy set-up. Because of this method, I was able to propagate a dozen plants and stagger the plantiing over the course of the season. I would agree with a late June through early July transplant date to have them ready for a late September weighoff. In a very cool year it might take longer but you will have your bases covered.

12/23/2009 9:01:44 AM