Rutgers tomato plant growing in a container in NJ. The plant has gotten big and bushy, but hasn’t produced any fruit yet. I just found this stem that looks like an ear of corn. What’s the deal?
Sungold - Zone 8B.
Many more will follow but I cried tears of joy!
My first Chocolate Miracle is ripe enough to review. This variety is proving to be my number one performer this summer, smoking commercial hybrids growing next to her right out of the water.
Bred in Novosibirsk Russia around 2005, this Siberian variety is meant for short seasons/cooler climates.
I am growing mine in the hot, humid, subtropical summer of central NC. Her immediate neighbors to either side are Celebrity and Mountain Fresh - commercial hybrids bred very specifically for my kind of climate.
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And yet.
My Siberian wonder has outperformed the localized hybrids in every category.
She was the first one to set fruit. Kellogg's Breakfast and Pineapple were still thinking about maaaaybe putting out their first flower when she already had tennis ball size tomatoes on her. Blue Beauty and Black Beauty followed right behind, but couldn't catch up.
She was the first to ripen. I'm growing 14 varieties for our very first tomato garden. The only plants that ripened fruit before Chocolate Miracle were the cherry hybrids SS100 and Tidy Treats. I'm yet to taste any of the Sungolds while I already have a ripe beefsteak to put on the table. She's fast!
She has twice more fruit (currently at 15, and we are just in the first week of July) that are at least twice larger than her neighbors'.
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She's not a big plant. I'm too new to tell for sure, but she's probably a semi-determinate. She's right around 4'-4.5', including the 15" tall grow bag she's in. She's covered in fruit of different maturity stages, so I'm guessing she's not a determinate. Yet she's short and not sprawling. Quite polite and easy to manage. She only has a short cage as I ran out of space on the trellis, and she seems happy with it. She's very healthy and has sailed through several brutal heat waves quite successfully. When we went to 100 F, she dropped about half of her flowers, but the other half still set fruit!
Her fruit is large. This particular one was at 294 grams, two more of the same size are currently ripening on the counter, and the ones that are still on the plant are either the same size or bigger. The one near her top looks to be massive and will likely finish at over 1 lb. I'm not into size when it comes to tomatoes, but that one looks impressive. They're all uniform in shape - a pretty round beefsteak, without much pleating up top. None of her current babies are catfaced, they all have neat, clean little butts.
The fruit is very pretty looking and absolutely drop dead delicious. Tasting it today made for plenty of ooohs and aaaahs, even from my otherwise pretty stoic spouse.
Chocolate Miracle is both meaty and juicy at the same time, with small seed cavities and large but not overly numerous seeds. The fruit has absolutely no core - the red flesh extends all the way to the top. The skin is clear, not yellow, very thin and unobtrusive on the tongue - yet it seems strong and resilient, keeping the fruit from cracking. There isn't a whole lot of tomato smell when cut, but once in your mouth, it explodes with multitude of rich notes. Velvety smooth, saturated texture, very complex flavor with great sugar, equally great, yet polite acidity, and a hint of smokiness humming on your tongue in a low undertone. This is not a mild tomato. It's out there, and yet it's delicate enough to not punch you in the face. If I were to describe her flavor in just two words, it would be "deep and complex".
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We enjoyed it cut into thin slices with basil, salt, and olive oil. But not before I gently scooped out half a teaspoon of seeds.
While I'm only a first year gardener, I've eaten a lot of good tomatoes in my life. This is easily the second best tomato I've ever had, and I'd be really upset at myself if I didn't save a few seeds for next year. Especially considering I bought her as a seedling and would worry if I went and bought seeds, it wouldn't be the same. This variety seems a bit obscure - some sellers describe it as determinate, some as indeterminate, some call it Chocolate Miracle, while others call it Chocolate Wonder, etc. It's all conflicting enough to where I wasn't sure I'd be getting the same thing if I bought seeds.
I also rooted one of her suckers 6 weeks ago as an extra insurance. It's already almost as tall as its mother and is currently flowering.
I have 6 Roma tomato plants, and they aren't growing up very much, they just feel like they are filling out and are very squatty to me.
I am getting fruit on them, but I'm worried the fruit is going to end up all resting on the ground because of the height. Anything I should be doing to promote taller growth?
Just had my first ripe one . It’s my first year growing any tomatoes. They grew so big and so many fruits . Beautiful color . And they turn orange when ripe . Very citrusy flavor with thickish skin . 9/10 easily will grow again . Taste almost like a lemon lime flavor with some orange . 😬
Mark Twain was a BIG disappointment with a big vine and few small fruits that are not even ripe. So many sandwiches with Cherokee though
location - north carolina usa.
I have this sugargloss tomato in a standalone pot and am wondering if the plant is diseased or if it is just getting extensive pest damage. the leaves have some weird coloring/patterns and the fruit looks... kinda off. I did eat one and it tasted good though.
We went out of town and when I came back my plants were wilted, die to thirst. It had fruit on it already, and while still green, they have started developing end rot. So, all that to ask of o should just pick the tomatoes showing, damage?
I apologize for the terrible picture.
I’m in Zone 10B and, thanks to apartment, I’m limited to growing tomatoes in containers. I’d love to learn from those of you who’ve had really successful harvests.
What’s the biggest lesson or tip you learned that made a noticeable difference in your tomato plants? It could be something you wish you’d known years earlier, a technique you swear by, a mistake you stopped making, or anything else that significantly improved your results.
I’m hoping to learn some of those “I never would have thought of that” tips from experienced container tomato growers. Thanks!
😭so sad. New to gardening. We had a bad storm last night, and my Early Girl, who was so beautiful and full of green tomatoes, did not survive the storm. I was afraid to stick the stake in the ground because my only sunny spot is also where my septic drain field begins. So, I only put the stake in the grow bag. It was doing good and seemed sturdy, but I'm guessing the soil loosened with all the rain and the plant is heavier with all the tomatoes, so it bent over a bit and snapped at the base. I searched and read some previous posts about this issue and how people have taped and splinted theirs with success. Is that possible with it being at the base? Should I cut off all of the tomatoes as it heals? I was planning to pick my first ripe tomato today (you can see it in the picture), but it seems to have been damaged in the storm. Thanks for taking the time to help me learn!
Things are moving along nicely!
Location: Rovaniemi, Finland.
I have 7 cherry tomato plants growing in 5 gal and 10 gal grow bags . Sweet millions , sun sugar , sweet 100s and husky cherry red are the varieties . All have produced fruit but none have begun blushing orange or red . Most of the fruit reached full size about a month ago , is this normal ?
Location : Upstate NY
Hey everyone, looking for some advice for my raised garden bed! I grew a Genoese tomato from seed and it’s currently sitting in a plastic nursery pot right on top of the soil. The pot has good drainage, and when I gently lifted it recently, I saw that the roots have already grown right through the bottom and spread deep into the garden bed underneath. The plant itself is doing great and already has little tomatoes popping up (you can see it in the center of the image).
Right next to it, planted directly in the bed, is a Beefsteak tomato. It’s small, completely stalled out, and has zero flowers. I'm wondering if I should just cut my losses, rip out the Beefsteak, and properly plant the potted Genoese directly into that spot.
Will moving it mess it up this late in the game, or should I just leave it exactly as is?
Any advice is appreciated!
They’re not fully ripe yet but seem to be rotting? Beefsteak tomatoes.
Hi! I have the sun Sugar cherry tomato and she looks... Unwell. I moved it out of the sun during the heatwave in ct. I water consistently, and avoid splash back. But it still just is super sparse and the leaves are unhealthy. It's a 15g canvas grow bag. Soil has been damp every day. Normally gets 8 ish hours of sun. It's one of 2 things that ended up in grow bags as I bought too many for my beds.
Any help would be great!
Big rainbow and others. Not my only harvest of big rainbow or Cherokee purple but the biggest. wish the shelf life of these tomatoes was longer