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Home of happy lil plants

WHY! Has the wr stood as long at it has with tomatoes with only only 2 or 3 coming within a lb of the 7.75lb grown so so long ago. Basically i am no where near old enough to remember when this was set. But with as many people growing and such good growers growing the same genetics what is missing from the equation? Shure luck? I know their is alot of controversy surrounding that tomato and how it was grown but lets all together avoid the negative aspects of that.

Tomatos dont seem to be moving forward like ag squash and all the others even though it is probably the most grown fruit around the world. Just wonder from those who are old enough to remember or know beyond the secrecy of this tomato why has this record stood for 30 years!

1/7/2013 2:48:26 AM

ShagHarbour n,s canada

he must have been a hell of a grower haaha

1/7/2013 8:55:29 AM

Home of happy lil plants

Thats what im wondering!?!

1/7/2013 10:28:37 AM

United Kingdom

I am very much afraid that it was a freak happening, which he was never able to repeat either before or after the event ?? even genuine seeds saved out of that same tomato never produced anything other than a few ounces to a pound.

All persons currently trying for the new record have genuinely fought their way up the ladder and improving their size and efforts year after year to date, and anything produced of 7lb + plus, they well deserve heaped praise for their efforts and have won their way there by sheer effort of tring rather than a freak happening that may never be repeated again in our lifetime.

1/8/2013 12:39:02 AM

Mercersburg, PA

maybe we need some incentive for others to try growing them--every other GPC category WR has been broken several times in the past 10 years. I remember marv coining a post at some time that was titled "are tomatoes small potatoes?" In my opinion the answer is yes, no question, but if records are broken, they may be a little bigger for a time, but then back to being the redheaded stepchild.
do we need to think outside the box with our growing, or will it come?

1/10/2013 11:52:50 AM

East Carbon, Utah

Look at the prize structures of the various contests for 1st place for giant pumpkins vs. giant tomatoes. Typically the discrepencies are HUGE! If prizes for tomatoes were thousands or tens of thousands of $'s, I'm guessing more people would try and try harder.

Gordon Graham certainly had some serious luck on his side, but his WR was no fluke! Gordon put a lot of effort into that plant with the serious intention of producing a world record. In my opinion, one of the greatest "secrets" to his WR is one that's rarely mentioned:

His plant fell over in mid-summer and sprawled all over the ground, presumably putting down fresh, hungry roots wherever stems touched dirt. Maybe growing tomatoes vertically is not the answer!

Imagine if pumpkin growers tried to grow their vines up off the ground along trellises. Somebody please try it and then call me an idiot when you manage to grow even a 1,000 pounder with only the stump in contact with the soil!

Tomato plants naturally have a sprawling growth pattern with tremendous potential to grow roots all along their stems. For pumpkins, huge root mass = huge nutrient uptake = huge pumpkins. Is there good evidence why this should not be the case with tomatoes as well?

1/18/2013 10:05:52 PM

East Carbon, Utah

Have giant tomato genetics improved much over the years? Clarence Dailey grew a 6.5 lb. tomato back in 1976. That was 37 years ago.

Giant tomato growers, apparently, don't do very many crosses - Minnie Zaccaria being the most notable exception of recent years.

What would the WR be for giant pumpkins if growers had only self-pollinated all of their blossoms for the past 37 years?

The high end of giant tomatoes has been static for so long, in my opinion, because the genetics are static. We keep growing the same things over and over, hoping that techniques alone will push the envelope.

I think careful crossing of distantly related, documented giant tomato varieties is the key to improving genetics. It may take a few years yet, some good coordination, and seed sharing; but I fully expect to see a 10 lb. tomato in my lifetime. And I'm not a youngster!

1/18/2013 10:06:58 PM

valparaiso, in

A 10 lb. tomato would be huge.

1/19/2013 1:18:44 PM

Baltimore

there was the $100,000 prize to beat world record in 1992-94

1/27/2013 10:03:39 PM

Menomonie, WI (mail@gr8pumpkin.net)

seamsfaster...I have yet to see a giant tomato plant that is disease resistant enough to avoid blight to grow sprawled across the ground..

1/27/2013 10:37:20 PM

Muddy Waters

It will be broken in the next 5 years IMHHO.The numbers of growers is just starting to take off.It will happen.

1/28/2013 8:04:17 AM

East Carbon, Utah

It should not be that difficult to bury stems in good, rich soil, apply a good layer of organic mulch on the surface (or even landscape fabric) to keep leaves from direct contact with the soil, devise a setup for preventing leaves from laying on soil, and removing leaves which don't cooperate.

If nothing else, one could resort to fungicides.

But I agree that it would not work to just allow leaves to stay in continual direct contact with soil - at least not the native soil I deal with.

1/30/2013 8:08:33 AM