Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 193 Entries. Monday, January 1 View Page I’m trying to wean my grafted tomatoes off of high humidity. They aren’t looking great. Hopefully they pull through. I do have back ups though.   Monday, January 1 View Page Pumpkin seeds! I bought some in case I get the energy to try a pumpkin this year. Also got the dvd.   Monday, January 1 View Page Future spot for my 20’ x 20’ fully enclosed vegetable garden. Going to make it squirrel proof!   Monday, January 1 View Page This is the inspiration for my new fenced garden.   Thursday, January 4 View Page My poor Bigzarro tomatoes grafted to DRO141 Rootstock. I think I may need a re-do on this idea. I may have waited too long and likely should have done the graft when they were younger. They immediately wilt when the humidity goes down. before running off to work this morning I poofed some micronized sulfur dust on the graft unions. Hopefully it helps...   Thursday, January 4 View Page I up-potted all of my tomatoes except the grafted ones. The Bigzarro plant has been placed in its final 5 gallon pot. It is in Fox farms ocean forest potting mix. I amended it with 10 tbsps of feather meal. I dusted it’s rootball with Azos and mykos and gave it a good watering.   Thursday, January 4 View Page Flowers are beginning to show! This is the bigzarro. :)   Thursday, January 4 View Page The DRO141 rootstock that I didn’t use was developing some strange looking bumps so I took it out of the grow area and put it outside.   Saturday, January 6 View Page 1/6/18 Cal carb Foliar spray underside of leaves only on all plants   Sunday, January 7 View Page 1/7/18 Bigzarro plant 3ml Sensi Bloom A 3ml Sensi Bloom B 1ml rhino skin 2ml voodoo juice 1ml b-52 .5 ml rapid start 1 liter RO water Other plants in tent: 1 liter RO water pre-heated 2.6 ml kelp me kelp you 3ml Sensi grow A 3ml Sensi Grow B 1.5 ml B-52 1.5 ml Voodoo juice   Monday, January 8 View Page A peek in the tomato tent.   Monday, January 8 View Page Bigzarro blossoms   Monday, January 8 View Page Bigzarro blossoms   Monday, January 8 View Page A nice bonus to the seed auction! Thanks for the encouraging words Qtip. when I saw you were including these with the lot I knew I had to have them!   Monday, January 8 View Page I got my Pugh pumpkin seed lot and Maccoy tomato seeds from the auction. Look at that 1564 Pugh! What is IT? Looks pretty wacked out to me. Is a Spumpkin a Squash / Pumpkin? There were some pretty good 2145 McMullen genetics in this lot. I Like the looks of that 1385 Pugh (1810 Werner x 2145 McMullen), good coloring and genetics for sure. On a separate note my enclosed garden is coming along slowly. I need to have compost and some unrelated salt-and-pepper rocks delivered before I rent the mini skid steer to do minor grading and post hole digging, and the rain in the forecast is messing me up. Today is the second day of rain in a row. 58 degrees F High today / 47 degree F low.   Tuesday, January 9 View Page LOOK AT IT! It's a bee! Will be buzzing my tomato flowers later with this guy!   Thursday, January 11 View Page I am very excited to see that the Bigzarro is living up to its name. The flowers pictured are growing from the "suckers" between the first true leaves and the stalk at the base of the plant. I have read an excerpt in a book that infers the suckers actually grow larger tomatoes than if the blooms were in the typical locations. So these are very good. I'd like to cross this plant with one of the others to get this trait into the larger tomato genetics. I used the moisture meter last night and the bigzarro was at 3.5. all others were 0.0 and very dry. I gave a heavy watering to all of the plants and they appear to have really grown in one day. Also, buzzed the bigzarro blossom to help pollinate. I don't think it is dropping any pollen yet. On the topic of pumpkins: I am wondering why more growers are not doing a blossom down grow? Wouldn't that eliminate the possibility of Dil Line cave-ins? it seems like it would be more structurally sound. Am I wrong? have any pumpkins over 2,000 pounds been grown like that? If so, I'd like to see a photo. Note: I run the lights at night and they are in the dark during the day.   Sunday, January 14 View Page Today is the day! The three best plants will be moving into their final 5 gallon pots. My three best were all in the formula 707 potting mix. I tested the PH of the soil and it read 6.6. The PH on the FoxFarms Ocean Forest was giving me a reading of 7. Either the PH is making it like this or the 707 is holding more moisture. The three finalists were the 3.376 RW Cephei (4.57 MacCoy (Big Zac????) x 6.25 Meisner (Brutus Magnum)), 5.24 Borgers (Megamutt x Open), and the 4.38 Borgers (6.79 Sutherland x Open)(Big Zac)   Sunday, January 14 View Page Both the RW Cephei plant and the 5.24 Borgers were planted in soil that I amended with 300 ml of wood ash each. I thoroughly mixed it into the 5 gallons of soil along with 1/4 cup of Mykos. The ash should slightly lower the PH. I am shooting for a PH of 6.4   Sunday, January 14 View Page 3 Wallace Organic Wonder Super Starter Packs in each planting hole!   Sunday, January 14 View Page The roots were exploding out of the bottoms of the pots (I waited too long to transplant). I carefully cut the pots off of the plants so as not to damage any roots. I highly recommend that everyone buys a pair of paramedic shears from amazon (I use them to cut everything from fabric to hardware cloth, works great!) I sprinkled azos on the roots then gave it a light mist of RO water, then sprinkled on Mykos and spritzed again. This was done on all three plants.   Sunday, January 14 View Page I used the FoxFarms Ocean Forest potting mix for the 4.38 Borgers plant. I added a whole Liter measuring cup worth of Wood ash to the mix and 200 ml of crushed oyster shell. hoping they help with PH and Calcium.   Sunday, January 14 View Page Letting the chickens out to forage. You can see the chicken giving me the evil eye up in the top right corner.   Sunday, January 14 View Page All plants given their weekly fertilizer.   Sunday, January 14 View Page All tucked in. Top Left - Bigzarro Top Right - RW Cephei Lower Left - 5.24 Borgers Lower Right - 4.38 Borgers   Monday, January 15 View Page Flowers Galore on the Bigzarro!   Monday, January 15 View Page First flower to bloom on the 3.75 Bigzarro has set a tomato! Oh Yeah!   Tuesday, January 16 View Page I topped the Bigzarro plant this morning after I was sure the tomato had fully set. I then cut off a huge sucker and most of the other flowers on the plant and sprinkled some Sulfur dust on the wounds.   Tuesday, January 16 View Page This megabloom looks like a fused 3-lobe set on this tomato, I think. I left one other larger than average bloom on the plant to see how that looks if it sets, but I like the look of this one! very pleased. I am just happy there is a tomato, finally!   Friday, January 19 View Page I am guessing this is 7 days after pollination on the Bigzarro tomato. No where near Bnots measurements. I cut off all of the other flowers on the plant and another sucker hoping more energy will flow to the tomato. Bnot helped me find some information on Potassium Sulfate. I guess with the powder you should use between 1/16 teaspoon and 1/8 teaspoon per gallon. I will be adding this to the Bigzarro tonight with a watering since the moisture level will probably be around 1-2 by then, it was at 4 this morning. The heat mat I keep running under these 4 plants definitely evaporates moisture quickly in the small tent.   Friday, January 19 View Page Bottom of the Bigzarro tomato   Friday, January 19 View Page This bud on the 5.24 Borgers looks like it could be a winner!   Sunday, January 21 View Page okay the real first frost was yesterday. I got this little greenhouse to put my starts in after they outgrow the germination chamber. it is 70.5 inches wide by 39" tall by 30.5" wide. I put the tomatoes that didn't make the cut in there. And the Swiss chard I grow for the chickens and I is also growing in there. It never actually died from last season.   Sunday, January 21 View Page New germination station. It is a 2x2x2 grow tent by quictent. I really like how thick the material is and the zippers are well made. I got it on Amazon.   Sunday, January 21 View Page These LED units are super PINK! like 10x more pink than the LED I am using on my winter grow tomatoes. Surprising, but these Platinum LED units are highly recommended everywhere. this is in the germination tent 2x2x2.   Monday, January 22 View Page I was a little freaked out by the brown lines on the Bigzarro tomato. I sprayed CalCarb on the foliage last night in case it is BER, and on all the other plants.   Tuesday, January 23 View Page Daaaang it. Sprayed fruit with calcium chloride spray last night, woke up and it looks like this. BLOSSOM END ROT   Tuesday, January 23 View Page Nugget says "you...you...you're...you're doin'... you're doin' good....yeah...keep it up buddy..."   Wednesday, January 31 View Page My best/ only shot for a huge tomato on the indoor winter grow. This is the blossom on my 5.24 Borgers. I am very impressed by this plant. It seems to have "topped" itself with the Megabloom. I will do my best to save the seeds from this monster maker. :)   Wednesday, January 31 View Page Here is the tomato on the 5.24 Borgers.   Thursday, February 1 View Page Here is a quarter next to the stem of the bloom. I am amazed. Megamutt powers ACTIVATE!   Thursday, February 1 View Page The 5.24 Borgers tomato has grown substantially overnight. I have been filling the drainage tray with water at night when I turn on the lights to keep the roots growing downward.   Thursday, February 1 View Page This is the 4.38 Borgers. I have 2 growing on this plant (the mega and the little one there next to it).   Monday, February 5 View Page Got my Master Gardener seed lot today! There was some good stuff in that PGVG auction. The World Record 695 gram bell pepper seeds were especially tempting. Gotta start some of those soon. :) I've never grown any peppers. When looking at the pumpkin seeds I was surprised at how plump the 1324 Kline is compared to the rest. The 1610 Urena has some genetics I like with the 1625.5 gantner. I also wanted those Medwyn long carrots like what Q-tip grew the World Record with. If you're one of those skeptical people like me, I haven't had any problems receiving my seed auction wins on this site.   Tuesday, February 6 View Page Here is my 5.24 Borgers tomato. it is getting bigger, but my issue in the tent is that in order for heat to build up in the tent I have to turn off the fan and the humidity builds up. I think that is what is contributing to the Blossom End Rot issues. I have been spraying Calcium chloride to keep it at bay.   Tuesday, February 6 View Page As you can see there are actual leaves in the blossom area. It is very weird (I love it).   Tuesday, February 6 View Page 5.24 underside   Tuesday, February 6 View Page 4.38 Borgers The plant grew downwards and attempted to grow a mega and then grew back up creating a hook that the larger tomato in the photo is being supported by. The small mater is what I thought was a mega.   Tuesday, February 6 View Page My Bigzarro tomato.   Tuesday, February 6 View Page The seeds I will be starting tonight! last year I had to battle with blossom drop due to the high heat during flowering time. Bnot and Dan Sutherland - you guys can have my share of the team prize if you help me win (fair is fair). ;) Also, you know I have cool seeds now. I just wanna grow the biggest tomato in California so I can get in the paper! sorry So.Cal.Grower.   Sunday, February 11 View Page Inside you can see the 30-45 gallon fabric pots. I put giant exxxpanded perlite on the bottom and filled them each with 20 gallons of formula 707 soil. still need to add amendments, extra soil, sprinklers etc...   Monday, February 12 View Page 5.24 update photo been feeding 0-0-50 potassium sulfate also doing voodoo juice and jacks tomato fertilizer. it seems to be growing.   Monday, February 12 View Page 5.24 size comparison the rw cephei is not throwing any megas, will be removing from tent when I can. it has been slightly neglected because I cant get to it in the back.   Monday, February 12 View Page 14 days after pollination for my 5.24.   Monday, February 12 View Page All 3 of the Zachearts have sprouted, and lots of others.   Thursday, February 15 View Page The Bigzarro is a month old already!   Thursday, February 15 View Page The 5.24 is still going well. I had to tie a strap around the plant to keep the fruit from toppling the plant over. Meanwhile, supplies are rolling in for next round of maters...MUAHAHAHAHAHA I am going to see how this February 9th start date works out and adjust accordingly for next year. The other growers in CA seem to think March and April is a good time to start. I will likely do a second round and replace any that aren't promising with new plants after 2 months goes by. The eating tomatoes should do well with this early start date. My last spring frost date for my area is today.   Friday, February 16 View Page Got some bell pepper seeds to put in the garden! Spanish Mammoth Ozark Giant Yellow Monster last night I mixed a solution of .5 ml Voodoo Juice, .5 ml Pirahna, .5 ml Tarantula and put it on all of the 7 day old sprouted tomatoes and peppers with a syringe. the leftover solution was applied to the roots of the 5.24 plant and the bigzarro plant. I plan to start setting up my outdoor growing space this weekend. I also received my bubble snake compost tea aerator and 951 GPH pump for making compost tea which I have not done before. we will see if it helps!   Friday, February 16 View Page MasterP the heaviest strawberry is 8.82 pounds. See picture.   Friday, February 16 View Page 8.82 ounces I mean. for the previous post.   Saturday, February 17 View Page Welcome to the Tomadome! Yea yeaaaaayyyyy   Saturday, February 17 View Page Setting up the dome.   Sunday, February 18 View Page The fabric pots inside range from 30-45 gallons.   Monday, February 19 View Page New baby at the farm! A Blue Ameraucana. I bought the eggs from mypetchicken.com and my hen managed to hatch two. the other one didn't make it. 2 eggs haven't hatched.   Wednesday, February 21 View Page Repotted my tomatoes into deep root trainer pots. fed each one 10-15ml of a solution of root mass expanders with a pipette.   Wednesday, February 21 View Page Picked up 12 of these Hydro Halo sprinklers for the Tomadome tomatoes. shouldn't take long to saturate the soil with these.   Friday, February 23 View Page My bigzarro started to turn red on Friday. Will probably weigh it on Monday night. Looks like Bnot's pulling out the big guns on his tomatoes! Shotgun shells full of soil microbes. DAAANNNGGGGG SON. It is about 11" around at the widest point.   Monday, February 26 View Page Got some buddies for my lone blue aumeracana chicken (I can never remember how to spell it). They look like chipmunks. They are Danish Leghorns.   Monday, February 26 View Page My first winter grow tomato had been harvested! This is the Bigzarro.   Monday, February 26 View Page 9.5 ounces   Monday, February 26 View Page Bottom of Bigzarro tomato   Tuesday, February 27 View Page The Zachearts are being weird. The one in front there seems like it just wants to keep its original leaves. The one behind it is making leaves but is very tiny, and the one behind that is a behemoth! All grown under similar conditions. meanwhile the 7.07 Qualley plants seem to be the most vigorous.   Tuesday, February 27 View Page my world record bell peppers are having a hard time shedding their seed coats. I had to pull them off, damaged the front one. hopefully they make it.   Monday, March 5 View Page My biggest indoor tomato. the 5.24 Borgers (megamutt).   Monday, March 5 View Page The 5.24 again. I was taking an update photo for Dan and saw that a bit of this tomato is starting to ripen. Stay strong you ugly tomato, stay strong.   Monday, March 5 View Page 5.24 with my hand for size reference.   Monday, March 12 View Page My indoor mater has been picked (5.24 plant)   Monday, March 12 View Page Here it is next to my 9.5 ounce Bigzarro. the Bigzarro has only lost .3 ounces in weight since I picked it.   Monday, March 12 View Page 1.638 Pounds or 1 pound 10.2 ounces   Monday, March 12 View Page bottom side   Monday, March 12 View Page Better view of the stem area. Bnot says it is only supposed to have a half an inch of stem. will address stem length later.   Monday, March 12 View Page Something feels right about tilling the garden with a drill... you should try it. works great to get the MYKOs in and other various secret sauce.   Monday, March 12 View Page got most of my irrigation figured out for the tomatoes. still need to tweek some things. got some peppers in the middle there. need to ventilate better, 70 degrees outside 115 inside. I put a big floor fan pointing up for now to help.   Tuesday, March 13 View Page you can see here that the "leaves" are in the same location as the regular sepals. They are coming out from the area between the stem and the fruit. there is some debate on whether these leaves should be allowed or not, we will see. before re-trimming the stem down the tomato has shrunk to 1 pound 9.8 Ounces.   Tuesday, March 13 View Page Trimmed to half inch stem.   Tuesday, March 13 View Page weight with leaves   Tuesday, March 13 View Page weight with no leaves   Saturday, March 17 View Page These deep root trainers seemed like a good idea but I am not impressed with them for use with tomatoes. The tomatoes are too close together and get leggy fighting for light. I will start the second round of seeds the old fashioned way. it did allow me to coat more of the roots with mycos, azos, and a spritz of voodoo, tarantula, and piranha to help it stick to the soil better. also added a tiny bit of superthrive to the spritz.   Sunday, March 18 View Page Those three on the right are from the 4.52 Spaziani seeds. Thanks Rick! You can see the third from the right plant is really freaked out. It still has its original leaves and is developing some strange nodules. I planted it next to one of the regulars to see if it does anything interesting. :)   Tuesday, March 20 View Page Here is a photo where you can see the weird 4.52 plant   Thursday, April 12 View Page The 2.06 zacheart plants.   Thursday, April 12 View Page bloom on the right zacheart plant.   Friday, April 13 View Page this is a bloom off of the 4.52 spaziani "toe" mato. I will have to show you all my super mutant tomato plant that is growing off of this same seed. I am amazed that it is still growing. it is growing in kind of in a ball shape. not getting tall just shooting out leaves from a central location. truly weird! that's why I couldn't kill it. :)   Friday, April 13 View Page here is my largest flower so far on the 2.06 zacheart plant. I gave each plant a liter of fertilizer mixture last night and pruned off the suckers I could find. I have been slacking. also I started a 5 gallon batch of terp tea grow. I'm going to let it bubble for a couple of days and then apply to all the plants. this weekend I will pile some oak leaves on the top of the potted tomatoes soil. I have read that oak leaf mulch is particularly beneficial to tomatoes.   Monday, April 16 View Page I've affectionately named this plant the weirdo. I have no idea why it is growing this way. anyone else know what could cause this?   Tuesday, April 17 View Page I had to put up an emergency shade tarp last sunday. the sudden 80 degree weather made the temps over 120 in the Tomadome. The following day there was a low of 32 with a thunderstorm. wacky weather.   Tuesday, April 17 View Page This is what Terp Tea Grow looks like after a 24 hour bubble tea setup aerated it in a 5 gallon bucket. I gave a little more than a liter to each plant.   Tuesday, April 17 View Page The left side tomato plants. left to right: 7.19 La Rue 7.19 La Rue 6.4 Sutherland 7.07 Qtip 7.07 Qtip 8.41 MacCoy 8.41 MacCoy (not pictured)   Tuesday, April 17 View Page The right side of the Tomato tent. (west side) 4.52 toemato (spaziani) (the weirdo is in the same pot) 4.52 again 7.00 vanderwielen (this plant is super vigourous and ribbony) I should've paid better attention to trimming it. 2.06 zachearts (2 in the same pot) 7.00 vanderwielen (another one)   Tuesday, April 17 View Page I won a photo contest in "Chickens" magazine. It is in this months issue.   Wednesday, April 18 View Page Hey Look! I have a tomato...on a plant that I threw outside next to the dome and haven't given any attention to AT ALL. Its the Bigzarro plant I grew inside a tent this winter. I put it in the dome for now. maybe it will get bigger than the indoor one now that it has roots established. who knows...   Thursday, April 19 View Page Bloom on the 4.52 spaziani "Toe"mato. Maybe I will grow the whole foot!   Thursday, April 19 View Page 7.00 Vanderwielen I dunno what happened! Everything spiraled out of control!   Thursday, April 19 View Page 8.41 Bloom   Thursday, April 19 View Page 2.06 Zacheart Bloom I've been buzzing it with all the other Zacheart flowers' pollen. Hoping it sets!   Wednesday, April 25 View Page Flower on the 7.07 Qualley   Wednesday, April 25 View Page Zacheart - I believe it set a tomato. hard to tell.   Wednesday, April 25 View Page I have a tomato on the 4.52 spaziani plant!   Wednesday, April 25 View Page closer view on the 4.52 spaziani plant.   Monday, April 30 View Page The first ever Zacheart tomato. This one is not from a mega bloom.   Monday, April 30 View Page The 4.56 "Toe"mato is doing well! gave it a gallon of water with an ounce of liquid potassium on Sunday   Monday, April 30 View Page 6.4 Sutherland is growing.   Monday, April 30 View Page The Bigzarro tomato that is growing off of the old plant I did the winter grow with. letting it do its thing.   Wednesday, May 2 View Page look at this beauty on the 7.07 qualley plant. yowza.   Friday, May 4 View Page The 7.07 Qualley is chugging along. Bnot - what are you talking about? 4000 seeds? You starting a Nursery? Also, of note is that the shade over my plants is a 70% shade cloth in case anyone was interested. I remember reading somewhere that Boudyo said the plants do better with less sun. seems to be working for me. getting large sets. I have 12 or so plants and I am struggling to keep up with the batches of fertilizer and trimming! Times that by 333!   Friday, May 4 View Page This is the 6.4 Sutherland plant and it is growing well. However there is another megabloom further up the plant that I am considering using instead... not sure yet.   Friday, May 4 View Page The TOEmato! Turning out to be my favorite so far! I have an enormous bloom set on the zacheart but it is not growing for some reason.   Friday, May 4 View Page TOEmato again!   Monday, May 7 View Page 7.00 Vanderwielen Not sure if its fused or not but this is the best shot on this plant for a giant.   Monday, May 7 View Page 7.07 Qualley This is the best one on this plant.   Monday, May 7 View Page 7.07 Qualley Big Q for the win!   Monday, May 7 View Page 7.19 La Rue I am very excited about this one. It is the first circular fused blossom I have had. YAY! growing quick too!   Monday, May 7 View Page 8.41 MacCoy   Monday, May 7 View Page The TOEmato getting bigger!   Monday, May 7 View Page Zacheart 1 of two on the same plant   Monday, May 7 View Page The Mega zacheart tomato. growing very slowly. not sure about this guy...   Thursday, May 10 View Page GO TOEmato GO! it's amazing seeing these things inflate.   Thursday, May 10 View Page Tomato on the 8.41 MacCoy. coming along.   Thursday, May 10 View Page 7.07 Qualley - Had to support this one last night because the plant was falling over.   Monday, May 14 View Page TOE MATER gettin' plump! gave more compost tea yesterday to every one of 'em. I used Bu's best compost tea this time. along with an ounce of potassium each and my mix of advanced nutrient products.   Monday, May 14 View Page OMG look at it. 7.19 LaRue. I think im in love. lol How many fused tomatoes is it!? Oh yeah, for previous post: The Bu's Best compost tea was interesting to me because of the ingredient "Stinging Nettles" which can supposedly have a positive impact on enlarging fruit. I'm excited about that.   Monday, May 14 View Page 6.4 Sutherland I wasn't expecting much from this tomato because it didn't look like a big fused mess like the others. But, it just keeps getting bigger! I think I'm going to start nicknaming these things. I dub this guy "Stewie". Victory shall be mine.   Tuesday, May 29 View Page Little update on my tomato garden. This is a photo of my happy 7.07 plant. There have been two unfortunate events in the garden. The toemato wasn't properly supported and ripped off the plant. NOOOOOO. I may try to save the seeds from it. It was a promising one. The other 7.07 plant had an aggressive case of BER. I cut off the tomato and set another mega on it and that one promptly rotted as well. Will be replacing that one most likely. last week I skipped my normal fertilization program because I was busy. yesterday I gave a gallon each with an ounce per plant of liquid potassium.   Tuesday, May 29 View Page This is the 7.19 LaRue I've nicknamed the Caterpillar.   Tuesday, May 29 View Page this is the circular bloom 7.19 larue on the left and the 6.4 Sutherland on the right   Wednesday, May 30 View Page The poor Spaziani "Toe"mato. Came close to my personal best of 1lb 10ounces, but not quite at only 1lb 8.3 ounces. it is still green and hard.   Wednesday, May 30 View Page so, I have found out what happens when you set a tomato on a plant too early. As you can see, this Zacheart tomato which was a huge bloom probably an inch across has only half grown. I'm going to cull this one but thought I'd share. need to wait until the plant is taller.   Thursday, May 31 View Page My rather average sized Zacheart tomato. It definitely has that heart shape to it, pointy on the bottom. I have a mega that just set on the same plant. My other Zacheart plant I just culled the main tomato on and it was previously "topped". It now has suckers that are starting to flower so I am hoping for a new mega bloom to form on those. Both plants are spindly and stringy compared to the others.   Thursday, May 31 View Page 8.41 MacCoy I've culled both 8.41 MacCoy's original sets in favor of two new ones. This is the tomato on 8.41 (A)   Thursday, May 31 View Page 8.41 MacCoy (B)   Thursday, May 31 View Page 6.4 Sutherland AKA "Stewie"   Thursday, May 31 View Page My Bell peppers from the World Record setter are just starting to bloom. They are a bit crowded out by the Jalapenos.   Thursday, May 31 View Page My "Jedi" Jalapenos. That's actually what they are named on the seed packet. These haven't been babied and get much less water than the tomatoes and are doing fine. I fertilize the peppers occasionally.   Thursday, May 31 View Page 7.19 LaRue AKA "Donut" :)   Thursday, May 31 View Page 7.19 LaRue AKA "Caterpillar" All plants got their normal Advanced Nutrient mixture between 1-2 liters each. need to do more Bu's Best tea for them tonight.   Wednesday, June 6 View Page Tomato selfie with the 7.19 LaRue AKA Caterpillar.   Wednesday, June 6 View Page The 7.07 tomato   Friday, June 8 View Page The donut tomato on the 7.19 LaRue.   Friday, June 8 View Page The caterpillar tomato on the 7.19 LaRue   Monday, June 11 View Page First one to turn red! This is off the 6.4 Sutherland and I am surprised that it got this large considering that the bloom wasn't that big. My old personal best is 1 pound 10 ounces and was grown in my closet. This one weighs....   Monday, June 11 View Page 2 pounds 3.4 ounces! YAY! One thing I don't love about this tomato that I noticed while it was growing is that it started separating from the stem as it grew. So the larger side of the tomato was still firmly attached to the stem but the tomato must have grown so much that the smaller side grew away from the stem. The smaller side turned red first.   Monday, June 11 View Page I like that this tomato kept a pretty shape to it and didn't crack on the bottom at all. This is the same tomato just flipped upside down.   Monday, June 11 View Page Meanwhile, the 7.07 is almost ready to pick. So is the puny little ZacHeart. There are no Pounds involved with that one. I don't think I could bring myself to bring that to the grocery store scale...the shame!   Wednesday, June 13 View Page Q-tip's seeds did good this year! Biggest one so far! I've never seen a tomato this big in person before and I am stoked. It is quite the attention getter. This is from the 7.07 plant.   Wednesday, June 13 View Page I had to pick it because it was starting to crack.   Wednesday, June 13 View Page 3 Pounds 2.6 Ounces or 3.16 pounds   Wednesday, June 13 View Page another angle   Wednesday, June 13 View Page another angle   Wednesday, June 13 View Page I'm proud of my ugly tomato! Who needs a pumpkin?!   Wednesday, June 20 View Page Next one to pick...this crazy lookin' LaRue. Gotta take this one to the grocery store scale.   Wednesday, June 20 View Page The other LaRue "Caterpillar" is starting to blush too!   Wednesday, June 20 View Page "Caterpillar" side view.   Wednesday, June 20 View Page "Caterpillar" Definitely saving the seeds from this one.   Thursday, June 21 View Page Picked the "Donut" La Rue Last night. It is freakin' weird weird. I love it.   Thursday, June 21 View Page Another angler on "Donut"   Thursday, June 21 View Page Drove down to the local Raley's Grocery store to weigh it last night. The Raley's clerk was like "Whoa".   Thursday, June 21 View Page 4.16 pounds! And yes, the stem is trimmed to a half inch.   Thursday, June 21 View Page Showing the certified scale information.   Friday, June 22 View Page I need to harvest these seeds this weekend! There is the Toemato on the bottom left, the 2 pound, 3.50 ounce Sutherland on the top left, and the 3 pound, 2.6 ounce qtip on the right.   Saturday, June 23 View Page Picked caterpillar!   Saturday, June 23 View Page At the raleys scale!   Saturday, June 23 View Page Heaviest tomato ever grown in CA! Woo! 5.91 pounds!   Sunday, June 24 View Page The two big ones!   Sunday, June 24 View Page Plucked from the 8.41 plant today.   Sunday, June 24 View Page 3.675 pounds!   Monday, June 25 View Page My 3 pound Qtip tomato had ONLY 2 SEEDS IN IT. Dang yo.   Thursday, June 28 View Page http://www.auburnjournal.com/article/6/27/18/newcastle-growers-garden-produces-591-pound-tomato Link to Article about my 5.91 Pound Tomato.   Thursday, June 28 View Page Newsprint! This is in the Auburn Journal, so now people know to look at bigpumpkins.com for seed auctions and what not. Gotta get this framed. Next goal is only 2.71 pounds higher than my Personal Best!   Tuesday, July 3 View Page Even this simple single tomato had a surprise for me. A big question mark! I present the “Mystery Mater” Weighed in at 2 pounds off of the 7.00 vandewielen seed. This plant wouldn’t throw any megablooms for me so I’m gonna actually eat this mater. :)   Saturday, July 7 View Page The 3D replica is awesome, Brett! Thank you!   Friday, July 27 View Page Look! I'm #2! Who Does Number Two WOOOORK For? Yeah Baby! yeahhhh. Congrats on the 8.48 Dan Sutherland!   Wednesday, August 8 View Page I have this huge tomato plant going right now. I don't know what it is either, but it is quite a sight and is throwing off tons of bite sized tomatoes.   Wednesday, August 8 View Page selfie with the cherry tomato. The planter it is growing in has TONS of wood ash in it.   Wednesday, August 8 View Page teeny tiny tomatoes! oh well, I am thinking about starting some more giant maters and seeing what happens with my California weather. :)   Sunday, August 12 View Page Finally, I got around to harvesting seeds from my 5.91 pound tomato. its been taking up real estate in my fridge like nobody's business, but as soon as I shut the door I forgot all about it again. Next morning...ugh its still there, I need to do that TODAY. nope. Went on for weeks. hahaha! I think I might be slightly dysfunctional. :)   Sunday, August 12 View Page I had to rearrange my bookshelf to display my Tomato Replica. I love this thing! To the left of the tomato is a gourd painted to look like a Dr. Seuss fish or something. When I saw it at the gallery I had to have it. Best $300 I ever spent. lol! And then of course a taxidermy Piranha.   Sunday, August 12 View Page Ut Oh! Weird Wint is doing something! but what?   Monday, August 13 View Page I was wandering through the grow store yesterday and this caught my eye. Time to Experiment!   Monday, September 3 View Page I'm trying some stuff out. >:)   Monday, September 3 View Page .5 ml Rapid start into the liter jug with the stinging nettle tea in it.   Monday, September 3 View Page .3 ml Superthrive goes in.   Monday, September 3 View Page A squirt of miracle grow indoor plant food! Bam   Monday, September 3 View Page Let the rockwool soak it up! then I put in the little propagator to pre heat for seeds to be added tonight!