Well last year was a bust. I learned a lot about growing tomatoes in general but had blossom end rot on my big beef steaks and never actually got one off the vine. This year I was able to upgrade my indoor grow set up with more space and better lighting.

I started the tomatoes at the end of February about 2 months later than last year. I used a home made Tupperware rig to sprout the seeds

Then transferred to a larger cup seedling tray

I picked the best plants and then transferred those to larger 4" pots

While those were growing in the basement I started building the garden outside. I was able to carve out the hill a bit using the tiller attachment on my weed whip.

In the future I intend to tier the hill and have a much wider space to walk and plant.
I transferred the plants outside the weekend of mothers day

I let the grass on the hill grow until it was overwhelming and decided I needed to put down some fabric to control the weeds. I used some extra lumber to make a 8'x20' trellis, and stakes and string for the plants to climb up. I got a bunch of string clips to hold the plants in place.

Since then I've been fertilizing about once a week usually before a big rain. Trimming each plant in a different way to see how it affects the growth and production. I have mostly single leader plants but tried a double and triple leader plant as well. These pictures were taken this morning and the quantity and size of the cherries blows me away. My beef steaks are looking very healthy and large. I've been using more aggressive trimming methods with these to try and maximize size and weight.






As of today my cherries are over 8' tall and have already out grown the trellis. Not really sure what I'm going to do about it yet. Its a good problem to have though. If you are interested in joining my largest tomato contest feel free to post pictures in the thread. Heaviest/largest wins bragging rights.

My goodness. Are those supposed to be cherry tomatoes? Amazing.
How much sunlight do you get up there?

I am not getting in a contest with you.
Good job.

Pitimpinai, the plants get very early morning direct sun light until around 8am. Indirect until around 9:30, then direct until around 5:00 pm. The last picture is of my large beef steak tomatos for the contest. The second to last pic is of the cherry plants.

tjrider03 Your systematic method is impressive! I look forward to updates.

I'm curious to know what you've observed so far about the different outcomes of pruning to one, two, and three leaders.

tjrider03 said:Pitimpinai, the plants get very early morning direct sun light until around 8am. Indirect until around 9:30, then direct until around 5:00 pm. The last picture is of my large beef steak tomatos for the contest. The second to last pic is of the cherry plants.

Very impressive, tjrider.
Seeing your tomatoes, I had to show off mine.

This is 'Bychok' that a friend kindly gave me. Each fruit is so big and heavy one peeled off the main stem during a storm.
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum 'Bychok')
My friend sowed the seeds in March. I transplanted the seedlings in April and surrounded them with wall-o-water to protect them from snow and ice.

WOW that tomato is huge, looks very healthy as well. You are definitely in the contest and I'm pretty sure you are winning!

nmoasis said:tjrider03 Your systematic method is impressive! I look forward to updates.

I'm curious to know what you've observed so far about the different outcomes of pruning to one, two, and three leaders.

The single leader plants are easily a foot taller than the tripple leader. The vine width is a little bigger on the single leaders. The triple leader plant is more likely to have a single fruit cluster like below.


The single leader plants tend to have multiple fruiting clusters.


I think regardless of number of leaders the plants will produce as much as the roots are capable of supporting. Whether its single leader with multiple fruit clusters, or multiple leaders with single clusters.

Good job. Your tomatoes look great.

This year I grew 'Mortgage Lifter: An heirloom tomato from from depression era.

It did well this year and the largest so far was 1.7 pounds. And, most important, it is delicious:)

roseywile said:I've met and talked to Dan(the world record tomato grower) a couple of times. I think he started with giant pumpkins before he started growing giant tomatoes. Many giant tomato growers grow other giant vegetables as well.

Well what tips did he have? I bought some large pumpkin seeds but don't really have the room or determination at the moment for something that big.

frankrichards16 said:Good job. Your tomatoes look great.

This year I grew 'Mortgage Lifter: An heirloom tomato from from depression era.

It did well this year and the largest so far was 1.7 pounds. And, most important, it is delicious:)

Wow those look great! I've had a few ripen up but they were too close to the ground and got eaten by critters.

Little update on the garden.
The cherries got tall enough to fold over on themselves. I added a little brace to help support them. One plant was a too heavy and broke near the top, however it didn't seem to matter. The plant after the break is still healthy and producing fruit.





I had a few of the beefsteaks ripen up but they were close to the ground and bugs/critters got to them. I wasn't able to eat them but I did weigh the largest one (12oz)





I've got a bunch more on the vine that are looking healthy. I'm hoping they can break the 1 pound mark.

On the beef steaks I found the plants I had aggressively trimmed did not do as well. The best of the bunch was the double leader plant I just let grow. I did some minor clean up to the leaves and suckers but never topped it.



Side note, I grossly underestimated the weight of my cucumbers. They pulled my fence to the ground
So I guess next year i will need to beef that up a bit. I was able to get a lot of delicious cucs from the plants and tried my hand at making some pickles.





I added some Reaper, Scorpion, Habenaro, Hot lemon, and Jalapeños to spice up different jars.

Current standings for the contest

1st: 1.7lbs, frankrichards16
2nd: 1.6lbs, Kristen
3rd: 12oz, me
4th: 9oz, My mom

If you have a weight and wanna be on the list let me know! Happy gardening

I've had several tomatoes (black krim) that were over a pound this year. 1.56 lbs was the biggest I actually weighed. 1.4 lbs was a close second. They were easily double the size of my typical black trims. I guess they liked the wet spring followed by hot summer.