Last Days of July

Post heat wave, the Lemon Boy is making good headway. There's one nice cluster of 4 tomatoes on one truss, 3 on another and 2 on one more.

Lemon Boy -- Next Crop

The plant hasn't gotten much taller, but plenty of new trusses are appearing with blooming buds. This is just a subset:

Lemon Boy -- Keep On Bloomin'

The largest fruit yet came off the vine and is just slightly smaller than a tennis ball. This is about the size I've seen mentioned most everywhere on the Internet regarding the Lemon Boy variety. Alas, I didn't get to enjoy it as I gave it to a good friend of mine; but there are more to come!

The second round of fruits on the Black Krim is just two tomatoes. They appear healthy, although one has a slightly peculiar shape. Hopefully they'll both grow into large sized fruits.

Black Krim -- Tomato #2

Black Krim -- Tomato #3

There are a number of "flowers in waiting."  I don't know if they're late abortions with thicker stems that won't easily let go of the blooms.

Black Krim -- Flowers with Potential?

In these two cases, the anther cone fell off and exposed a small ribbed pale green growth that looks like a proto-tomato. With each, the attached stems are thick and solid green, no yellowing. I'm hopeful that these will continue growing and mature into ripened fruits.

Black Krim -- Fruit or Unfertilized Ovary?

Black Krim -- Small Proto-Tomato

In this instance, you can see the "knuckle" (notch above the sepals) has yellowed a bit and has a slight crease with light browning. Tapping the flower doesn't cause it to fall off. The tips of some sepals browning isn't a good sign. I have a feeling this flower is doomed to fall, and simply hasn't because the stem was previously fortified when the plant was anticipating for this to grow into fruit. It's going to be a late abortion.

Black Krim -- Dying Flower

Black Krim -- Healthy Thick Flower Stem

Here is two examples of blossoms that have dropped. Pulling the anther cones revealed small proto-tomatoes, much like the ones still attached to the trusses (above). The bottom one looks malformed, which may be why it was rejected (insufficient pollination).

The Black Krim seedling I planted late is kicking off to a very good start. Growth is aggressive and already a truss has appeared with buds and flowers. It has outgrown the two supports it started with. In a few more days, I'll lop off the lowest branches to help ward off potential disease & pest issues.

Black Krim -- Seedling