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

Growing from seeds - container idea

Next year, I plan to start most of my tomato plants from seeds. This will be a new experience for me so to hedge my chances I'll be trying a few varieties. I bought the Sara Galapagos and Russian Oxheart 117 from Gary Pilarchik, and he threw in the Black Plum as a gift. Rather than having a bunch of envelopes to keep track of, I put the seeds in a weekly pill dispenser ($1.50 at Walgreens). I think it works well, as they're of a decent size and there's still room to write down the variety on the outside. Naturally, I'll tuck this inside an opaque plastic bag to protect the seeds from light exposure.  If I end up with more than 7 varieties of seeds, I could just buy another container, but I may create a partition in each compartment so that two different seed sets can be stored in each day slot.

FYI, if you're interested in how to prepare tomato seeds from picked fruit for growing next year, visit Tatiana's Tomatobase for helpful instructions.

After the heat wave

The heat wave we just endured for nearly 2 weeks was punishing to plants. I'd read up on TomatoVille that numerous people experienced leaf roll and blossom drop on their tomato plants. Unfortunately, my plants weren't an exception.

Some leaves merely curled slightly at the edges, while others completely rolled over. Heirloom tomatoes are commonly known for suffering from some leaf curl, so with the intense heat the chances were increased to nearly 100%. The Lemon Boy also showed some leaf curling, but not nearly as bad as the Black Krim. I'm not sure if the plant will totally recover with the onset of cooler weather, but I've heard that it has little effect on overall plant health as long as the cause isn't due to a virus or pests.

The Black Krim has surpassed 4' tall and yet there are only two visible tomatoes with a bunch of flowers that appeared to have fertilized but ceased progress with the heat wave onset. Those flowers have rather thick stems and seem to be well attached to the trusses... but with little sign of fruit growth I have no idea if they are done for or if the plant can resume growth. In about another week it'll become evident.

In just a couple of days the seedling has shot up a few inches, and has produced a truss of flower buds. Once it grows tall enough, I'll take off the two lowest branches that are resting on the mulch. Perhaps in another week, the roots will reach into the reservoir and start drawing upon it (at the present, the level isn't changing much) and cause more aggressive growth.

The Lemon Boy is going gangbusters. One fruit has turned mostly yellow and should be ripe in another day or two, while an even larger one adjacent looks like it's about to start turning color. And then there are several clusters of smaller tomatoes rapidly growing, while a few more flowers have just set. It's still quite striking to see this level of production when compared to the much larger anemic producing Black Krim.

No wonder why it's called "Lemon Boy". With that small raised tip on the bottom accompanied by bright yellow skin, it really does look like a lemon (well maybe a Meyer lemon, with the smooth skin).

Given all of the heat endured, it's amazing how well the Lemon Boy is doing. While the taste isn't as alluring as an heirloom tomato, the robustness and productivity make it very attractive to grow.

SWC Modifications

Early July is pretty much the cut-off point on planting any tomato seedlings. Even still, you'd want to plant a variety that will be able to produce ripened fruit by mid September. I had rooted a sucker from the Black Krim, potted it, and then watched it start growing rather aggressively. Since the mature Black Krim plant had a long stretch of being unproductive, I figured why not "even out" things by trying to grow the sucker into a full fledged plant. It would also give me a chance to try out a few things I'd learned.

I ended up buying another SWC from Home Depot. But this time I took it apart to see how the reservoir and connection to the main container was designed.

As you can see, there's not a lot of drainage from the container to the reservoir. You see those slits in the 4 legs? In my potted containers there are roots running through those that sought out the water. While I appreciate how the design helps hold back the soil from the water, it doesn't provide much in the way of a wick action from the reservoir into the soil. This probably contributed to the Black Krim growing so slowly. I decided to make a modification akin to a typical design for DIY 5 gallon containers.

I saved this small plastic container from a soup I'd enjoyed from Trader Joe's, which is pretty much the right size for a central wick basket on this pot. I got out my Dremel, put on protective goggles, and got going.

I cut a hole in the floor of the container. It's a little crude but sufficient for the project.

The plastic container had a prominent lip to it with a step that nicely overlapped the diameter of the hole I'd cut out. So I trimmed off the lip to make the basket fit through the hole but not fall out.

I cut a bunch of slits down the sides and then drilled holes along the bottom. The plastic is sturdy enough not to buckle with all of the cutting I did. The slits will provide ample irrigation, while the holes will allow for the last 1/4" of moisture to be drawn up by the roots if needed.

The basket fit just right in the hole and when I attached the reservoir, it rested flush with the bottom. I didn't photograph the rest of what I'd done, so I'll describe it briefly. I cut up 3 strips of microfiber cloth, about the length of the whole container. I then laid the strips into the wick basket evenly spaced in a tri-spoke layout (like a Mercedes symbol). Next, I poured in the potting mix. I also mixed in fertilizer and other natural ingredients (like eggshell powder) and kept the microfiber strips at even lengths upward. Once the whole pot was filled, the microfiber strips ended just under the surface. I did this based on a tip I'd read about using microfiber cloth as a wick device, which provides great capillary action while also being impervious to rotting (unlike cotton based materials).

Here it is planted in the modified SWC, after the mulch layer was applied. This photo was taken 4 days ago and already it has grown about 2". The roots are about 8" away from reaching the bottom, so I expect once that happens the growth rate will really take off. It'll be very interesting to see the difference. Of course, the plant is also benefiting from warmer weather at this point in the season (versus mid May), but if the grow rate is seriously faster then I'll know this modification was a worthwhile improvement.

UPDATE, one month later (August 21st 2013):

This plant really took off like a rocket, as you can see here:

Very healthy growth with large, lush leaves and plenty of fruits that have set. Some of the lower branches curled a bit, but that was caused by the long heat wave we had last month. I've already chopped off a few and may dispense with the few that remain once the plant grows a little taller.

When I popped off the reservoir to clean it, I noticed the basket was not deforming or buckling in any way, so all of the drilling apparently didn't weaken it. There also wasn't any roots penetrating it, but I do think that next year I may put in swatch of lawn cloth to help discourage the roots from trying to get through.

All in all, I have a feeling this SWC modification worked out well, but the real test will be when tasting the ripened fruit. If they don't suffer from a watery or lesser taste than the others, I'll consider it a complete success and will modify the other containers next year.

Odds 'n Ends and the HEAT

There's a high pressure dome hovering centrally over the Midwest portion of the USA right now, extending itself Eastward with fairly uniform upper 90's temps across the entire seaboard.  This is not something I ever remember happening. 97 degrees in central Florida, pretty much consistent all the way up past Boston Massachusetts! They say we'll not see this heat abate until Saturday.  :-(

About midday yesterday I dipped my finger into the reservoirs of my tomato containers and it felt fairly hot. Like bath water. That can't be too nice for the plants. Thankfully, the soil is fairly well protected and when I dug my finger in I could immediately feel a cooler temperature. I'm really hoping the heat doesn't cause too much blossom drop. My Black Krim is a bit behind schedule on producing fruit and another setback could mean that I'll be getting only a small handful of tomatoes from it this summer.

Because the Black Krim is a little less hearty than the Lemon boy, I figured I'd supplement it just a bit with some extra water. I'm using a capillary action watering system that is intended for use on house plants when you go on vacation. I'd never used one before so I thought I'd test it out on the tomato plant.  Sure enough it does work, although the trickle is so slow that you'd need about 3 of these to substitute regular watering for a week.  Still, something is better than nothing!

Black Krim with water supplement

A couple of weeks ago I had rooted a sucker that was plucked from the BK, then potted it. I didn't expect to see much growth, but it did take off. It's rather late in the season for any hope of reaping much fruit. Still, I figured it would be a good experiment to test out a few things.

• I bought a bag of Jobe's Organic Tomato Fertilizer that looks really decent. It's something you add to the potting medium at planting time, and not really meant for amending existing plantings.
• I got some potting mix (not soil) from Miracle Gro ("MG").  MG has a mixed following with serious home gardeners. They make quite an array of different potting mediums. Unfortunately, I ended up choosing one that was beaned by the home grower community as retaining too much moisture. I'm hoping that my technique alleviates this or the formulation was changed.
• I mixed in finely pulverized eggshells for a healthy dose of calcium.
• I'd gotten one more SWC by Southern Patio ($12 was still a lot cheaper than alternatives), but this time I modified it for improved irrigation. I'll document that in my next post.

I watered the plant after potting and after a bit it occurred to me that all of the water in the reservoir would just be sitting there doing nothing until the roots could reach it. That might be a week or two. By then the nutrient rich runoff would have evaporated and a major booster would've been lost. So I had an idea... I poured off the reservoir into a jug and then diluted it with some water. The solution was so thick with nutrients that it looked like a heavily brewed tea. I gave some of this to the other plants and then kept it sealed up for future use.

Reused Jugs -- one is filled with fertilizer runoff, the other with plant food

So what is what? Well, neither of these jugs is filled with brewed tea. The one on the left is the diluted run-off from the new planting that had Jobe's Tomato Fertilizer added. The one on the right is a mixture of Jobe's Tomato & Vegetable Plant Food. They nearly look identical, save for the slightly different shades of color (due to dilution strength). I'm glad I saved that runoff, as it's likely heavily rich in nutrients that the plants will benefit from.

Why the brewed tea jugs? They're made from a very thick durable plastic with nicely sized smooth handles and a convenient shape. The one on the right has been in use for 2 years now and is holding up well.

Here They Come

After enjoying the first two Lemon Boy tomatoes, I figured it would be about another week before the next ones would ripen. I'd had a few successful pollinated flowers that started to show fruit and a few other blossoms that may have set. The chain has started and I'm looking forward to sharing my tomatoes with friends.  :-)

Lemon Boy -- Bearing More Fruit

But my chief concern has been with the Black Krim. When the first tomato was plucked, there was barely the sign of newly set fruit. Knowing how one previous fruit was aborted, I wouldn't feel confident until the plant showed some commitment. And indeed it has. Two nice little green pearls have shown themselves. A few flowers look like they may have set, but the upcoming heatwave delivering above 90F temperatures for over 4 days in a row will be a major test. The pollinated blossoms could be easily dropped.

Black Krim -- The Second Tomato

As you can see in the photo above, this plant has had some struggles. The truss suffered 3 abortions, leaving one lone tomato to brave the future. The same thing happened in the first run. Hopefully this time the tomato will grow larger.

The Third Fruit, and Hopefully With Truss Companions

This tomato has 2 potential companions. The truss is nice and thick, so maybe there will be enough nutrients to enable a cluster of 3 to grow on it. Fingers crossed!

Meanwhile, I've been reading up on Tomatoville and seeing some people further down in Maryland, North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida with some terrific clusters of tomatoes going. In comparison I'm a major novice, but I'm confident with all I've learned so far that the next growing season will be more abundant with tomatoes.

First Bite of Krim

With the first sampling of the Lemon Boy behind me, I was growing more eager for tasting the Black Krim. People on-line have described the taste as rich with hints of smoke and salt. I'd never tasted a tomato like that before, and so that one lone tomato hanging there on the plant was tempting me. Beckoning me. Is it time?  Squeeze, squeeze, hmmmmm.... Very close.  And later on when the day turned to evening with no plans to go out, I checked it again.  Yes, it's time. It might do fine for another day, but I just couldn't wait.

Now as it was shown in my previous photos, this is a rather small example of a Black Krim.  These tomatoes are known to push 8-12oz, even more if you're lucky.  Unfortunately I completely forgot to weigh mine, but I did take some comparative photos.

The tennis ball photo is a little unrepresentative, because the tomato is a bit flattened with more girth than height. It ended up being a little larger and heavier than the Lemon Boy I'd picked and eaten.

That looks better!  This is quite a close-up so you can see the grain of the skin, but to the naked eye it looks smoother.  Incidentally, I didn't get a photo of the bottom, but you can make it out a little here. The blossom end looked small and clean, no issues or distortions. Overall, the tomato showed a deep maroon coloration with subtle darker lines running through it. The shoulder is supposed to appear a little dark greenish but I didn't see any signs of that.

OK, onto the more important matter--taste!

I didn't want to slice into it. The first Black Krim I'd be eating, ever. I'd thought about letting it rest in a bowl and do a little shelf ripening for a day... but the second quickly passed and out came the knife.  ;-)  This tomato was going to be enjoyed right away, no doubt about it.

Beautiful. Look at that rich, substantial meat. The seed chambers stayed small. Perhaps it was due to the overall size. When putting the knife through, there was only a little dripping. This was not to be a watery tomato. The seeds looked big and healthy, encased in a green/yellow gelatinous envelope.

So I sunk my teeth in and let the flavor wash over my tongue. Immediately I was hit with a rich "tomatoey" flavor. It reminded me a little of a Kumato, but not as acidic and with a higher salt content. No, this isn't what I'd call a salty tasting tomato, but it didn't need salt. I was going to put on a dusting of black salt, but decided against it. I took a few more bites and just relished the deep satisfying flavor. Oh yeah... smokey? Huh. I'd forgotten about that attributed quality. Is it there? Maybe... a very subtle hint of it. Nothing at all like Lapsang Souchong. You wouldn't notice it if you weren't looking for it. I don't know how else to describe it. Maybe other fruits off the plant to come will provide a stronger flavor. In any case, I have to say that this one made me very satisfied. The Black Krim is reputed to be a reasonably able growing heirloom, but not quite as easy as a hybrid. Still, I will be saving seeds from this one to grow again.

UPDATE, August 21st 2013:

I have now tasted two more Black Krim tomatoes and these were richer in flavor than the first one. What really struck me was the more forward presence of a smokiness. Like I said earlier, nothing like Lapsang Souchong, but it's definitely noticeable and pleasant. If I can get my 2nd Black Krim plant to be highly productive, I'm going to grow this variety again next year.  I'm definitely favoring its unique flavor!

First Bite

This is the second tomato I harvested from the Lemon Boy. I called this post "First Bite" because the actual first one didn't quite count, as the tomato was an earlier one that had split from the heavy rain and had to be eaten. It was under ripe, though tasty. THIS one was the first tomato that appeared on the plant and was removed at just the ripe moment. A moderate squeeze showed some give to the taut skin, which meant it was ready. It took a firm tug to get it off the stem, so it probably could have stayed another day. But with all the water the plant had just taken in and the other split tomato, I didn't want to risk another ugly split.

How big is this tomato?  Uh, not all that big, really. It gets whooped by a tennis ball.

"Size matters not." -- Yoda.

They say a tomato can be sweet and tasty whether it is large or small; in a moment I'd know.  So I sliced into the little fruit to see what the contents were. I was amazed to find very few seeds and lots of lush looking flesh.

I sank my eager teeth into this bright lemon drop of a gem.

And wow, very tasty indeed.  I gave it two bites without any additives, just to see how it was au naturale. Nice. Semi-sweet with a meaty, slightly juicy consistency. A little bit of salt would do the trick for an even better flavor. I took out my black salt grinder, twisted it a little, and let some of the Hawaiian sourced mineral to scatter on the surface. I took a bite. YES! A really nice balance of sweet and salt. If I can get the Lemon Boy to produce a good hefty crop, it'll be well worth growing once again.  As is, more fruit has appeared and the production line of grow-to-ripe is underway.

I presently don't have the means of growing a significant number of tomatoes, so I'll have to be selective next year despite wanting to grow about 6 different varieties at this point. Most will be heirlooms. One will be a hybrid, and at the moment the Lemon Boy is at the top of the list.