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Megablooms happen on my, and lots of other tomato growers, plants almost every year. This year one has shown up on my Brandywine Pink, which is a first for me since I've never had one show on that variety before.
Megablooms aren't anything to panic over. Though the resulting fruit will be deformed and look rather ugly, it could end up weighing over 5 pounds and have a terrific flavor.
There is some argument about whether it strains the plant to produce such a mutant and that it might be better for the plant to just snip off the bloom and divert more of the plants energy to making more of the normal fruit, but ultimately, the choice is yours. No one knows exactly why these blooms form (some say from cold weather, but I don't buy that theory as my weather is usually 80's to 90's F by day and 60's to 70's F at night when they form) but they won't really hurt the plant.
Fortunately, I grow enough plants that I can afford to let a few mutants grow to maturity just out of curiosity. usually, it's my Rutgers or Ace55's that give me the megablooms, so I'm quite curious to find out what will eventually come of the Brandywine.
Happy (mutant) Growing!
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5 comments:
That is interesting. I just started growing tomatoes. All I am getting are mega bugs!
I'm a megafailure at growing tomatoes lol. The first year I lived here, we grew some cherry tomatoes, and those did well. But then I tried growing some normal ones, and they did terribly.
I've never heard of Megablooms. Wild stuff! Last year I packed my tomatoes in too close to each other & didn't really get to see a lot of the transformations from flower to fruit. Maybe I'll spot one or two this year!
I've never heard of mega blooms before. That is really interesting!
Amy,
lol, tell 'em they can't have your toms and then squash 'em!
Kyna,
don't give up! Try again! If you can get cherries to grow, you can do regulars :)
Laura,
I bet you had a few last year and missed them. Keep an eye out this year, ya never know!
meemsnyc,
glad i could show you something that was new-to-you. There's always weird stuff going on in the garden, but most people just don't notice the sneaky stuff!
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