Eating Mr. Stripey!

The trials and tribulations of Mr. Stripey finally come to an end.

Last time we checked on this darn plant, one of the tomatoes had blossom end-rot, allegedly, and the combined weight of the three tomatoes was bowing the plant to the ground, so i had to use stop-gap measures and lay the stems across an extra cage.

Blossom end-rot:
In the end, that tomato looked like this:

Gross, huh? But think about how beautiful it would have looked if it didn't have that weird rotten spot??

the other two looked like this:







They ripened quickly. We kind of ignored the garden for only a week or two (tell you the truth, I needed a break. After the zucchini plants died, i lost heart. The beans haven't been producing like I hoped, the sugar snap peas never really came in, and well . . . sometimes you just need a break.)

Anyway, when we went back out to check, there were three ripe as hell Mr. Stripey tomatoes hanging there, ready to eat!

If there is anything I learned this year from gardening, it's to plant ten or twenty tomato plants next year. I just need more. Much more!

So what do you think this bounty looked like inside?


hooo-boy, it was such a treat!!


Look at those striations! Here's a closeup


Look at all that meat and the fact that there is practically no seed to get in your way!

This was the most delicious tomato salad. I did not adulterate it with green onions or blue cheese like the last one I exhibited here. Just kosher sea salt, extra virgin olive oil, the merest sprinkle of 15 year old balsamic, and a drizzle of truffle oil. The truffle oil really took it to that next level. And you know what made this so good? I finally got to eat a BIG FAT JUICY TOMATO from my own garden.

Now, DARN YOU MR. STRIPEY, i wish you produced more than three tomatoes!! Because I swear to you, these tomatoes were the most delicious I have tasted in my life. I'm not joking you, and eating a fat tomato every day for lunch in the summer is a tradition of mine. I am a tomato connosseiur. I love them.

These were really, really, reallly good.

I won't be replanting Mr. Stripey, though. So if anyone wants it, it'll be outside in my trash.

Tomato Sickness

The slow-producer Mr. Stripey, has something wrong with its tomatoes . . . .

This plant really could not be any more annoying!! It finally flowered and produced three tomatoes, after I fertilized it with special fertilizer which apparently gave it the nutrients it needed. Well, actually, we'll never know if it was the fertilizer or if it was going to finally flower and fruit at that time anyway. (The Schultz fertilizer, by the way, was not very good for my bell peppers. They have not flowered or produced any additional peppers at all, and I am really disappointed. I was hoping for a dearth of bell peppers all summer, especially since those suckers are expensive at the store.)

So anyway, when the tomatoes on Mr. Stripey started getting bigger, they started of course pulling the branches down to the ground, because the plant was so huge.
That branch is lying on the ground now, with the tomatoes up a little ways.

A nice green color.

I had to put another cage up, next to the original cages (there were two, remember, b/c of the number of stems coming out of the ground!) and balance the branches on the new cage. I was worried about the xylem and phloem getting bent beyond repair and not being able to carry nutrients to the fruit.
THey were much happier, off of the ground.

But, something is still wrong with these tomatoes. Or, at least one of them.

I noticed it quite some time ago. It's the middle-sized tomato. It has a kind of papery, brown thing on the end of it. It looks weird and rotten?

And here is the top of the tomato, near the stem:


Also showing a bit of the brownness.

Now, the other tomatoes are not showing this problem:


I realize that in the picture of the bottom of the affected tomato, there is some mold evident.

I think the green mold comes from it laying close to the ground and a few rainstorms lately. However, it was not evident a few weeks ago when I first noticed it. It was just the brown papery stuff:


So, can anyone tell me, what causes this? What is it? Is it going to spread? How do i get rid of it? And i'm guessing it is going to make my tomato inedible, huh? I am so disappointed! THIS IS SUCH A No-Good Plant.

Mr. Stripey Produces!

This darn plant has FINALLY begun looking up. Well, why not, it's almost ten feet tall, and it's mid-July now.

I received several pieces of advice on some gardening forums about the issues I have been having with Mr. Stripey. As I have mentioned on this blog before, this particular variety of tomato is notorious for either under-producing, getting leafy and big, or being light on flavor for the fruits it does produce. Now, it seems like the plants you put in the soil, etc., do really well, but only people in certain areas have the right conditions.

Anyway, we've seen the photos of the plant getting taller and taller:
(it's even taller now)

And it kept producing these flowers that were really non-flowers. See Exhibit A:
They would open up, and contain no petals, no stamen, no . . . . (what's the opposite of stamen? Pistol? i think there is another name. I think pistol and stamen are on the male flower? Uh oh, i think i am getting this entire flower anatomy thing wrong)

Part of the advice I received was that there was either a phosphorous deficiency or some other kind of deficiency that I cannot remember right now. Everyone agreed that the plant did not need any more nitrogen, because more nitrogen (such as is contained in Miracle-Gro) only makes your plants grow bigger and grow more leaves, etc. - NOT the problem this plant has. We needed this plant to STOP growing and start producing fruit.

I also was told to stop watering so much. The plants were a bit overwatered because of constant rain. I think this did make a big difference for this plant and the other tomato plants.

However, the biggest difference, I think, was made by:
Go Schultz!

Look what happened less than three days after I used Schultz!
REAL flowers started appearing, the kind with petals! I was totally biting my nails while waiting to see if they would turn into full fledged beautiful flowers.

And they did:

I picked the Schultz fertilizer b/c it had the lowest content of nitrogen, and the highest of phosphorous, and the plant really seemed to respond to it - very quickly. I have not seen any other flowers on Mr. Stripey, though. I have seen more non-flowers. I am hoping that it bears some more fruit.

In response to this flowering, I have gone at the rest of the plant and mercilessly pruned it, as per the pruning instructions I posted previously. Remember, you can prune all branches below the first flower cluster . . . I didn't do that much, but there really is just too much greenery on this monster taking the nutrients out of the soil, and away from fruit production.

Here is Mr. Stripey now:

And the next flower cluster produced:
I think this is destined to be a non-fruit bearing flower cluster. See here:

It's weird and I don't understand it, but there it is.

Well, I can't wait to see these tomatoes when they finally ripen! Because the plant is so tall, and that tall branch was not caged, the weight of the new fruit has weighed it down and I bet they are almost going to be laying on the ground soon. I'll have to find some way to support the branches so that does not happen.

Let's all raise our glass to Mr. Stripey!

Pruning in June

I have found the most wonderful article on how and why you should prune your tomatoes. This could be the answer to all of our problems.

Reasons you should prune your tomato plants include:
1) you maximize the efficiency of photosynthesis, allowing the leaves that remain to present themselves fully to the sun, as well as the fruit. Remember, a tomato plant is a "sugar factory."
2) you decrease the risk of soil-borne diseases getting onto the lower leaves by splashing up onto them
3) the plant will grow stronger main stems
3) you remove the suckers or new stems which grow in the joints, or axils, and therefore allow the plant to produce bigger, more flavorful fruit rather than more plentiful, smaller, less flavorful fruit

The article also revealed that when you have too many leaves on your plant (obviously the problem with Mr. Stripey), the leaves which do not have a chance to get sun will stop photosynthesizing and will become yellow and wither up. The rest of the plant does not need it anymore as part of the sugar assembly line.

So, this is what Mr. Stripey looked like previously, remember:
There are so many leaves, you can even tell at the bottom of the plant that it is shading itself. I should have been able to tell even back then that I needed to lop off some of that growth.

For instance, in a post a week or two ago, in the investigation of the myriad problems of Mr. Stripey, I posted this photo, of the yellowing withering leaves at the bottom:
bad news, here. After reading the pruning article I could not wait to get out there and start clipping.

Here is the product of all that work:
The sun was not ideal for this photo (much too bright) but i mercilessly lopped off the bottom stems that were completely shaded by the upper leaves.
According to this article, you should take off all stems below the first flower cluster. Now, I don't exactly have a first flower cluster, so I could not determine where I should begin pruning based upon that. But, based upon the theory that I need to improve photosynthesis by presenting all leaves to the sun, and decrease the chance of soil-splashed-borne disease, I got rid of everything near the soil and everything in the shade.

Another photo of Mr. Stripey, post-pruning:
I have high hopes that this will assist the Mr. Stripey plant with production of fruit.

I also pruned the other tomato plants. Here is a photo of the Big Boy/Better Boy hybrid, which has produced only one fruit so far, but has recently had many more flowers. I hope with the pruning it starts getting really juicy:
I made sure to take off all of the "suckers" in the joints on both plants.

On another note, here is the size of the mesclun greens. I really have no idea when to harvest these, but I think they may be around that size now. Does anyone out there have an opinion on this? I took a photo of this by my own hand to show their approximate size at this time. I'd like to begin pulling some for my salads now.
It looks like the individual leaves are about half palm size, and my palms are pretty small. So, not that big. Then there are other assorted types of leaves as well, since it is a mix. But I know I have eaten regular mesclun greens as well as "baby mesclun greens", at least I think. Either way I think I could munch them down now . . .

Flower already!

Looky here, please. Your opinions are valued. This will require emails or comments in the comments section. (psst. if you comment in the comment section vs. emailing me, other people can read your advice too and it might give them ideas)
Are these Mr. Stripey's version of . . . . . . . . . . . flowers? (*said in an incredulous voice*)
I mean . . .

It's so disappointing. I just can't figure this plant out. And despite the prior link I posted where Mr. Stripey wasn't exactly given great reviews as a plant, this blog reports that it is a gourmet tomato with excellent taste. So I would like it to start flowering so that it could one day bear fruit.

I have done some research on why it would not be flowering at this point. Possible reasons seem to be:
1) too much nitrogen, too little phosphorous in the soil
2) too many leaves
3) too much fertilizer (I doubt this is it since the only fertilizer it has had was what it came with)
4) and if it HAD flowers (which I have not noticed), there could be a pollination problem, and I could kind of help it get pollinated.

Now, the pollination thing could be true. As you may or may not know, the honey bees are quickly disappearing across the country. But that's not the issue with this plant. This plant just keeps making leaves and no flowers. Or nubbly little diseased flowers.

Well, there is good news! You won't have to suffer with my blurry closeup photographs anymore. I sat myself down and finally figured out that the button with the little flower on it is made for extreme closeup shots. I knew there had to be some setting for that! (now aren't you flattered that you are part of this constant process of discovery? I am literally sharing everything with you. There is no reason for anyone reading this blog to ever, ever feel ignorant . . . . . . .)

For instance, here is an extreme closeup the OLD WAY of the beans:
It was extremely frustrating that I could not show close-up detail.

But with my new discovery (I could probably have read the manual, but who has time to dig that out), check out the pods developing on the beans:
Not sure how much longer we have until these develop into nice, crunchy, tasty beans!

On that note, take another look at the Early Girl tomatoes:
I wanted to show, in reference to my hand, how large these were getting, so:
(i know in some of the prior photos they looked enormous). This plant certainly has no problem flowering!

The bunny (we call him Lenny now) is making regular daily visits. The cats were talking to him this morning out the window. He came right up to the back porch :)

Juicier and Juicier

Whenever i need cheering up, I go out and visit the wee tomatoes.

The Early Girl plant is looking great. Mid-week, the fruit had already doubled in size. Here are the tomatoes last week, on May 24:
And here they were in the middle of this past week, just a few days later!
With some baby tomatoes starting over here

Today, though, May 30, they were even bigger:
(in that photo you can see the babies over on the right).

The Big Boy or Better Boy (can never remember which) has a nice sized tomato growing by now, as well. This photo was taken today.
In Mr. Stripey news, he's definitely grown. Compare the photos of him previously with the ones from today.

MAY 24 photos:

MAY 30 photos (today)
The plant has grown so much that the branches are now at the top of the cage.

But, Mr. Stripey has some problems, as usual. The bottom branches are withering, and some of the leaves are yellow:
What you are looking at seems like a yellow leaf and nothing, and it is. But it used to be a branch with more leaves, etc. It went out down my hand and down my wrist. It withered and so did the parts resting on my fingers. I don't know exactly what is wrong. On the one hand, this plant is kind of in a low spot. Mister Siren thinks maybe we should add more dirt. I'm wondering if that would just create more mud.

On the other hand, there is a lot of new life on this plant. It's obviously growing rapidly, per the above photos. And these:
The fuzzy thing in the photo is what I used to think would turn into flowers. Instead it just turns into leaves and more leaves.

For the meantime, my verdict is that this plant is not dying, but it's definitely not bearing fruit. We are going to research whether or not we can fertilize it to help it flower. How much bigger does it really need to get? If you know or can offer any advice, please do, in the comments section.

My First Tomato- on its way

This is why she's called Early Girl:
There are three beautiful green globes hanging from her branches. Soon those tomatoes are gonna make me the happiest momma on the block. I have wrought life! And nutrients! From the soil! She was transplated on or around April 26 (at least that's when I posted about it) and her first flower appeared on or around May 11.

We have more emerging, in the Big Boy/Better Boy hybrid:

The grape tomato plant has nothing much to show, yet, but its flower buds are beginning to form.

The Mr. Stripey plant is a different story. For awhile now I have been concerned about it. It said that its maturation period was 80-95 days. I really don't know what that means. To a novice like me, that could mean anything. For instance, I assumed that it could mean from the moment you planted the seed in the ground, to the time it bore fruit, should take 80-95 days. Compared to the 65 days for the Early Girls, it would make sense.

It really means, days to maturity from when you transplant the seedling. Or, for those who think that is too hard to predict, days to maturity from when the first flower appears. If that is true, we have a long time to wait until we get to bite into a Mr. Stripey tomato. Which is why I'm pretty happy I plunked that Early Girl plant into a container as a failsafe, and why I planted that Better Boy as well. Without one single flower on Mr. Stripey, we've over three months to wait at least - that's end of summer! I'll be selling them on the corner.

Anyway, Mr. Stripey hasn't flowered yet, but he has been growing. (I canNOT stop referring to the plant as a "he".)

This is the plant the first day I planted it, before a nice soaking. It did perk right up.

This photo is from May 10, exactly two weeks ago. It had grown considerably, and was minding its own business.

Here is the monster today, two weeks later. We finally decided to cage it, because if the fruit is as big as they say it can get (12-24 oz), I don't want it pulling the branches down and lying on the ground for every insect to devour. I had to use two cages, upside down because the plant is so large, to stuff this sucker in.

Now, the verdict is still definitely out on the quality of this fruit. Apparently it is a very beautiful and desirable to look upon crop. However, this beefsteak variety, as opposed to a smaller, tasty heirloom variety also called "Tigerella" can have a thick skin, be of mild to no flavor, all seeds, and also prone to disease, according to whom you ask.

See here for a lot of reviews, if you are wondering about Mr. Stripey. I can't wait to see what it will produce. It has been putting a lot of its energy into just growing big and strong and I hope will flower soon. Then we shall see!