Mortgage Lifter Tomato

Discussion in 'The Green Patch' started by azrancher, Jun 28, 2016.


  1. azrancher

    azrancher Monkey +++

    OK, so raised from seed from Baker, they are 2'-3' high and not producing, I see a few blooms, but nothing else... is this normal?

    Rancher
     
    Seepalaces likes this.
  2. Bandit99

    Bandit99 Monkey+++ Site Supporter+

    @azrancher Got a photo? My wife is a Tomato Guru and I can show them to her. Down where you are these things should be growing like weeds! All I know about them is the need a lot of water 2X a week... I did ask her and she said that if you are seeing blooms that you should see tomatoes starting in ~2 weeks maybe a bit longer or a bit shorter but she thinks where you are (Arizona) it will be shorter. So, yeah, this is normal.

    EDIT: Hey! I forgot. Did you get that antenna up yet and how is it working out? It was HF, right? I'm testing for Extra on the 11th and I need to start looking for an antenna.
     
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  3. Motomom34

    Motomom34 Monkey+++

    My tomatoes rotted on the vine. I never had luck with them so I gave up. Did you pinch the plants back some?
     
  4. azrancher

    azrancher Monkey +++

    They are growing like weeds, but that's all they are doing, I normally only raise Big Boy and Early Girl, both of which are producing, never tried this variety before. I water 15 minutes every morning

    I did fondle em some, but no BD&SM.

    Rancher
     
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  5. AD1

    AD1 Monkey+++

    I have had to use a "q-tip" to pollenate then manually when we had a lack of bees.
    Worked great.

    Did you amend the ground to help lower the PH?

    And you never answered the question on the antenna! Inquiring minds would like to know.
     
  6. Motomom34

    Motomom34 Monkey+++

    :rolleyes:

     
  7. Seepalaces

    Seepalaces Monkey+++

    Theoretically, you could put a blanket over the plants for an hour at the end of the day. I read a study that suggested it tells the plant that the growing season is shortening and speeds up fruit setting. There's also bloom set spray, but that's mostly for us sad people with shorter seasons. More than likely, it's still growing roots and it'll shoot up in a couple of weeks, and pruning could set that back, but that's a religious debate amongst gardeners. So, about that antenna...
     
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  8. Dunerunner

    Dunerunner Brewery Monkey Moderator

    My Mortgage Lifter hasn't set fruit either, but where I live, it still thinks it's Winter!!
     
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  9. azrancher

    azrancher Monkey +++

    The ground in this area is runoff of many forest fires, looks great, has a very low PH, had to add lime to my pecan trees.

    No I didn't, still working on the Gate my wife's GF ran over, bought new sch 40 4" post last week, started to drill it for hinges today, it's some serious steel, got two holes drilled, but now need to drill out the other side, then transfer the mounting bracket for the screw jack, then it's the fun of putting it back exactly where it needs to go, then there the problem with the electric I pulled up with the back how when I pulled the concrete plug out of the ground.

    It will be a few weeks before I get to the antenna....

    Rancher
     
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  10. Ganado

    Ganado Monkey+++

    Tomatoes are self pollinating. THey dont need bees.

    If I recall correctly, mortgage lifters take awhile.EDIT: 85 days

    Suggestion. stress them. water deep and slow one day then don't water the next.

    Early girls (59 days) have that name for a reason. .. they produce earlier than other varieties. .. don't give up!

    No prunning! It's Arizona mid summer your fruit will need the shade!
     
    Last edited: Jun 30, 2016
  11. UncleMorgan

    UncleMorgan I like peeling bananas and (occasionally) people.

    I know this is going to sound odd, but you might consider putting your tomato plants under glass.

    If you have a few old windows lying around, make a low glass-roofed leanto over your tomatoes. It doesn't have to be a greenhouse--just a transparent sunshade to cut the sun during the hottest part of the day.

    A while back a researcher was doing some studies with growing tomatoes under fiberoptic sunpipes.

    He found that the ones getting filtered sunlight grew better than the control group that was getting natural sunlight.

    Apparently, just like with people, there are wavelengths in sunlight that cause damage and stress to tomatoes, and they have to use up a certain amount of their available resources to compensate for that.

    Back in the Great Depression, my greats farmed tomatoes (and a lot of other stuff) for subsistance. I remember my mother telling me that her job was to hand-water the small plants daily, and make sure a palmetto frond was stuck in the ground over every one to keep the worst of the sun off them.
     
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  12. Yard Dart

    Yard Dart Vigilant Monkey Moderator

    And you have the GF out on the shovel digging right?!
     
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  13. Mindgrinder

    Mindgrinder Karma Pirate Ninja|RIP 12-25-2017

    Get a bag of worm castings and chuck'em on top so that when you water them they get worm poop love. My tomatoes are sucking in the PNW Canada too. Bud rot. No shortage of bees to be sure. *thank God they seem to be rebounding.*
    Even my cherries are slow....blackberries are looking like at least 2 weeks early...
    Strange times.
     
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  14. azrancher

    azrancher Monkey +++

    Rototilled in 20# of Ammonia Sulfate. + 20# Ammonia Phosphate this spring... as always. The GF is the XYL

    Oh yeah find worm casting in Southern AZ.

    Rancher
     
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  15. Mindgrinder

    Mindgrinder Karma Pirate Ninja|RIP 12-25-2017

    Derp. They're fairly cheap here...$20 for a big bag.
     
  16. azrancher

    azrancher Monkey +++

    I have lots of composted horse manure, Do I really need worms, I do have them down by the ducks, but then the mint would not be as good...

    Rancher
     
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  17. Motomom34

    Motomom34 Monkey+++

    He is in AZ and it is extremely hot, I wonder if that would work even in the shade.
     
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  18. Cruisin Sloth

    Cruisin Sloth Special & Slow

    Not getting anything !
    Please Learn Metric !!
    Cuz the world is , Butt ??
     
  19. Ganado

    Ganado Monkey+++

    ok I did some research.....
    Early Girls 59 days to produce
    Mortgage Lifters 85 days
     
  20. UncleMorgan

    UncleMorgan I like peeling bananas and (occasionally) people.

    I doubt that it would have much effect in full shade. Of course a lot of light gets reflected into shade, but I don't think the harmful wavelengths would amount to much that way. At least not compared to the amounts coming down from overhead.

    Here's an interesting question about plants that "like" full sun. Do they like the brightness, and just deal with the heat, or do they like the heat as much as the light?

    I wonder how tomatoes would respond to being grown inside an air conditioned greenhouse? Say at an early spring 72deg. F?

    Of course for photosynthesis, the more light the better. But at some point heat (which speeds most chemical interactions) would become detrimental. Say, somewhere around cooking temp, for example.
     
    Ganado likes this.
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