| What is the best variety of Tomato to enter into a "Biggest Tomato" contest? I live on the Gulf Coast. |
| The two largest fruited varieties Burpee carries are 'Burpee's Supersteak Hybrid' and 'Delicious'. These are both capable of producing a prize winning whopper. A key to growing BIG tomatoes is to start with the largest transplants you can and plant them out early. Many of the big varieties take a while to reach harvest and you don't want to wait or they'll have trouble setting fruit in the heat of a Louisiana summer. Remove suckers to only allow 4 or 5 main vine branches. Remove all fruit except the largest one from each of the main branches of the plant to allow all the energy to go into making it the largest possible. Don't let insects and diseases weaken the vine or it will cost you in fruit size and development. Keep the plants well watered and evenly moist to avoid blossom end rot. If you really want to go overboard, you can cut a section of rowcover fabric out and tie it around the fruit leaving plenty of room to grow. This allows light and air to pass through but excludes tomato fruitworms, stinkbugs and other such pests. Then set back and begin practicing your humble acceptance speech...you know the one where you say, "I owe it all to Burpees and the National Gardening Association!" :) |
