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Honesdale, Pennsylvania

I thought the standard idea was to get your mater set and if happy with it do the McCoy method of sawing the plant down to let the energy push into the chosen gem. It now is looking like the plants are bigger while looking for mega blooms up higher. Is it safe to say that both methods work and try both to see what works for you. And on a bigger plant can you go ahead and let more than one grow. Team 24 will need all the help we can get :)

8/1/2018 12:05:53 PM

Central NY

Yup...although master p is not sawing plants down ...just nipping the tops because the plants aren’t that big when he’s set ...(and he cheats and uses magic)...I usally group my plants into threes, and try something a little different with each one ...last year I think I saw the benefit of narrowing down to one but everyone’s conditions are different ...yers look good ned...be patient

8/1/2018 12:45:57 PM

Oak Grove, Mn

I am not seeing how you guys are getting the higher megas. All my best blossoms are on first truss. I have 100+ plants growing and I have nothing better above the first truss than a double..and that is even rare. First truss, I have 4,5 and 6 fused. I will have to stay with the maccoy method unless i get the good blossoms to form higher.

8/1/2018 12:51:43 PM

Lebanon, Oregon

I've agree with Porkchop trying different things with groups of plants. This year I planted rows of the same seed, trying different methods on several in the row. This year I made it a point to leave the first suckers on. I now have "three main stalks" if you will. First truss megablooms occur on the suckers also. Many of these plants had 2-4 first truss big flowers at the same time. Ned, you asked about multiple tomatoes on a plant. I am in this situation right now and they all look like keepers! What to do, I don't know, but like pulling off a bandaid I will have to listen to which one speaks to me and quickly cut off the others with scissors! It's one tomato on a plant for me.

8/1/2018 1:27:19 PM

Wixom MI.

Im like bnot my best mega's are on the first truss and garden rebel saw this too but ended up doing better higher up like porkchop. You jave to find out what works best for you. Just because i like the first truss and it works for me it may not work for you. Now i think the domingo plant may do better on a higher set as the plant and flowers slowely get larger and stronger higher up. Im also finding only with my Megazacs that after i have pruned it to death that many of the suckers will begin turning into ribbon vines with gaint megablooms on them. Unfortunately this tends to happen to late into the season and i can't get to much before blight wipes me out on September but i see alot of potential in this characteristic that it has !!! Im actually getting ribbon vining earlyer this year.

8/1/2018 2:21:11 PM

Ontario, Canada

We are seeing some interesting blooms @ 5' high. Our greenhouse tomatoes had their 1st & 2nd truss blooms burnt up in the high temps, so now we are looking at blooms at the 3 & 4th truss. Some nice blooms (2-4) fused together up higher, but not quite as big as the megas seen earlier on the 1st truss. Time will tell if they get to a decent size, but we still have lots of time before the weigh offs. I'm confident that we can get them close to 4#, if not bigger.

Our 7.33 tomato was off a small plant. 1st truss mater. We kept the plant trimmed of any blooms & only let some extra leaves grow up from the main stalk until it had enough to help support the growth of the mater. About 3.5-4' high. After that, the plant was terminated.

Last year just for kicks, we left 2 tomatoes on one plant. One mega bloom on the 1st truss & one on the second truss. Both fruit looked identical, so we couldn't make up our mind & left both on. Both tomatoes ended up maturing a week apart & weighing just over 5# each.

Good luck to our fellow Mater Maniacs!!

Phil & Jane

8/2/2018 7:54:12 AM