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Norfolk, UK

Hi there,

What’s the minimum number of fused tomatoes in a single bloom you would consider growing on, rather than waiting for the next mega? A double bloom, a triple or more?

Thanks,
Douglas

3/27/2019 5:18:11 PM

Virginia

I take what I can get. Lol

3/27/2019 7:17:07 PM

Oak Grove, Mn

Doubles seem like a disappointment to me. I will let them set and wait to see what shows up higher. My record is I think about 10 fused. Too bad that I messed that one up. I am going to have to harvest seeds out of this years winter megmuttd. Without pushing P & K numbers to the brink of the death, the plant was putting out one or two mega's every truss (best was a quad). If the next generation follows the pattern, with real sunshine and potent dirt...it could get really big.

3/27/2019 8:15:52 PM

Buffalo, MN (Billsbigpumpkins@hotmail.com)

My biggest double was 5.84 so don't sigh away from them. I'm sure there have been bigger ones.

3/27/2019 9:40:25 PM

Grittyville, WA

My 5.04 didnt stand out much it didnt look like a keeper but it had a ring shape so it got bigger than a single would have.

3/27/2019 9:59:27 PM

Tinykinville

sometimes single double triple bloom can also be subdivided into multiple lobes per bloom causing the odd shapes so best to just watch and a really good telltale of a good bloom is the thickness of the stem vs others on the plant.

3/27/2019 10:23:28 PM

Lebanon, Oregon

Salad, I've held a 7 pound plus three fused late in the season. Dan MacCoys 8.41 in 2014 was 5-7 fused low near the ground. I've had those "catapillar" mega blooms take wth 5+ but they never amount to much. There is nothing more exciting than the huge flower! The big Mega blooms are hard to come by late season. I'd take a 3-4 mega any day late season over a 5-8 early season. Every garden situation is different to maximize the pollinated megabloom.

3/28/2019 12:32:15 AM

Norfolk, UK

Thanks for your input folks. Last year my 5.34 was on a double, which I thought might be the max, and have been thinking targeting 3x and above.. The 6.02 dmg was off a catapillar type bloom.

3/28/2019 2:37:36 AM

Bonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

Those caterpillar blooms didn´t worked well for me so far.
It´s fascinating to see them grow, but because each fruit part has it´s own growth rate and direction, multiple blooms multiply possible problems and if only one bloom in the middel of the row isn´t polinated you´ll get two fruits fighting at one stem.
Three to four blooms totally fused in one flower worked best for me. When the panicle starts to grow, I cull all small side flowers as early as possible.

3/28/2019 4:22:04 AM

Bloomington, IN USA

I try to hold out for a 3X or better but not always successfully.
I agree with P JAM, the stem thickness is an indicator for a blossom that can result in a jumbo fruit.
Other things being equal, I will look at the number of sepals on the blooms & figure that more sepals = better chance for big.
That being said, the best indicator is the early growth of the fruit, assuming you know it's age.
If the circumference is equal to or greater than it's age in days out to 20 days old, you know you have a winner.
Last year I had a 5X bloom that I successfully pollinated, but it's growth never really took off...ended at around 2.5 lbs.

3/29/2019 2:26:17 PM

Western Massachusetts

My almost 4 lber was likely a large single

3/31/2019 4:25:15 PM

Central NY

3-4 big,fat, equally sized MARBLEs ....it’s on this year

3/31/2019 4:46:01 PM