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Grittyville, WA

I'm sure we've covered this before but wondering who has tried growing first trust tomatoes, who has never tried it, who might try it for the first time this year.

Where are we at on this?! I know where Dan S. is at! (Thanks Dan for sharing your proven growing techniques.)

4/15/2026 2:47:14 PM

Colorado

I don't think it matters. It might be easier to grow a big one on the first truss but big ones can grow anywhere.

4/16/2026 2:03:01 AM

Grittyville, WA

I dont know if it's easier. I kinda think maybe it's harder.

4/16/2026 2:24:39 AM

San Diego, CA

This could be a TL;DR post, but I'll hit submit anyway. Might help someone, someday.

This is kinda like a Coke vs Pepsi, Apple vs Android, Ford vs Chevy question.

I strongly prefer truss 1. My best tomatoes all came from the king bud on truss 1. I've tried many upper truss megas along the way, but for me they just don't grow with the same explosiveness. Can't explain why. I know many of the elite growers strongly prefer the upper trusses & have had much better success than me.... so take my opinion for what it's worth.

The biggest truss 1 downside is that it's quite challenging to take a giant mega bloom full term. IMHO, there are three conditions that MUST be met to be successful here.

1. Mega Bloom: Foremost, there must be a massive King Bud mega bloom. I'll only go with 3x or better. Otherwise it gets snipped. Game over.

2. Setting: They'll often self abort before setting. This seems to happen when the growing conditions (temps/light duration & intensity/soil/moisture/etc) aren't ideal. It's an epic undertaking for the small plant and very limited root system to support a giant mega. Everything must be perfect and the plant knows it.

3. BER: If you're lucky (or skilled) enough to get the mega to fully set you move onto the next challenge, BER. In my limited experience, hard charging truss 1 fruits are WAY more susceptible to BER & often it's difficult or impossible to overcome. It can def' be done, but it's devastating to get that far and lose it to BER.

FWIW & if you got this far in my post... I'm also a Coke, Android & Ford guy. What are you? Cheers!

[Last edit: 04/16/26 2:26:53 PM]

4/16/2026 12:56:14 PM

Grittyville, WA

Pepsi, android, Ford and (2) "the plant knows" is chemically true regardless of where the blossom is and I can't explain it any better than that. The plant is aware of its circumstances and will act accordingly. It's not consciously aware in terms of having a brain but it is biologically aware... to the extent that all living things are?

The even more interesting thing to consider is that the symbiotic fungus (and bacteria?) in the soil might be further aware of the status of the soil on which the plant depends even beyond the awareness of the plant itself. It may be able to "observe" and "communicate" to the plant in a way that borders on real intelligence.

It might be the soil biology that decides whether a plant should reproduce now, or later. Why would this relationship occur? Well, it's in the best interest of all the symbiotic soil organisms to promote the vegetative and reproductive success of the plant. The plant may rely on triggers from the soil biology to tell it when to reproduce... There may be a chemical relationship of trust (shared commitment to a common cause) and shared intelligence (an accurate anticipation of the available resources in the soil) between the plant and its soil companions.

Well kinda hijacked my own post.

How is it relevant? Different soil biology might cue the plant differently. In a consistently desert region, the soil biology will anticipate a drought. It will signal the plant to set fruit asap. In a wet region with high nitrogen, the soil biology will signal the plant towards more vegetation until finally the plant reaches a critical size where it takes it upon itself to initiate reoroduction.

Well, this is the framework of a practical theory... I intend to use this theory.

I wish I had a simpler theory!

[Last edit: 04/16/26 2:51:44 PM]

4/16/2026 2:27:50 PM

Grittyville, WA

Anyhow that's my crazy nonsense. I'm actually more interested in just hearing the basics of who has tried first truss vs later truss blooms and what their results have been. I forget if the 11.65 Faust was a first truss blossom.

4/16/2026 2:57:45 PM

San Diego, CA

Truss 1, 8.02 lbs

4/16/2026 3:21:17 PM

Walla Walla Wa.

First truss for sure,you can grow 7 or 8 lb tomatoes all the way up the plant to 7'or more but you'll never grow a WR high up on the plant, I don't believe that it's possible now to grow a WR beyond 1st truss.

4/16/2026 4:04:05 PM

Central NY

While I would love to grow an early monster, it just isn't any happening yet for me...I'm still going with nipple high in zone 4, no greenhouse...I'm trying to win a trophy back.

4/16/2026 6:18:55 PM

New England

Please excuse my ignorance but what happens if you prune the truss? Does the 2nd now become the first and so on as high up you want to prune? Is the plant fooled per se?

4/16/2026 9:01:01 PM

Colorado

Even if you cut it off the next truss is still the second truss. Now here is an interesting thing. My PB was from a first truss mega but it was from a clone. So when you clone a from a sucker does the plant start the timer new? Food for thought. Oh BTW. Drpepper,Chevy, android. Ok ok if I actually have to choose... Pepsi

4/16/2026 10:40:02 PM

Grittyville, WA

That's interesting Scott, I will have to pay more attention. The distance on a secondary stem to the next truss will be just 5 or 6 leaves normally. The distance from cotyledons to the first truss is about 10 leaves. Are the clones you are making resetting the # of leaves, also? I've done some clones too but have not paid close attention. They dont seem as strong as a new plant from seed but maybe that's because I'm always lazy in those efforts.

4/16/2026 11:38:17 PM

Grittyville, WA

Clones could carry unseen disease. There is a way to graft only the meristem and eliminate disease but its laboratory level work.

Another idea... Would rooting the side vines like a pumpkin cause a larger flower later? It might. But I haven't tried this seriously or successfully. The plant has an internalized growth pattern that basically doubles the size of the first truss blossoms. It's all about the meristem being larger. But it might be possible to fool the meristem in a side (secondary) vine into being an equally freak sized stem. I've seen it happen, rarely.

Maybe relevant to tomatoes: The professional/ competitive corn growers have a lot of smarts about how the plant decides how many rows of kernels to produce. This is a meristem issue, too. I'll have to rewatch this. But in short the plant needs certain nutrients and favorable conditions within a certain time frame in order to widen the meristem and get more rows of kernels. Which equals a bigger yield. They're obsessed with it, and it's funny to watch them be obsessed.

[Last edit: 04/17/26 12:00:13 AM]

4/16/2026 11:57:32 PM

New England

Wow, great information. I'm humbled, certainly would not have known any of this

4/17/2026 2:04:13 AM

Maine

Do any of you terminate all the growing points at any time after you've got your keeper tomato?

4/17/2026 4:55:47 PM

Walla Walla Wa.

Greenthumb-yes

4/17/2026 5:03:43 PM

Colorado

Several successful growers prune the tops of all the vines except the one that has the keeper that one is pruned a week or so after. The thought is that the plant will make this the main vine and then once it is topped the juice goes into the fruit.

[Last edit: 04/17/26 5:11:58 PM]

4/17/2026 5:11:27 PM

Maine

Thank you

4/18/2026 1:04:35 PM

Brooklyn Corner, Nova Scotia

This is great information.

4/18/2026 9:44:37 PM