Having grown small cherry tomatoes I started to long for jumbo sized tomatoes. I got some as clones from Anil and some as Seeds from another friend of mine. The seeds were sown long before the greenhouse was ready.
They were transplanted into 20L buckets and 10L buckets whichever was available at that time. The plants were looking so sturdy and thick. Those were the first ones to go into the greenhouse. So far I think they like their stay there.
Looking at the harvest I got from them, I think greenhouse works!
Tomatoes you see in the picture below are Beefsteak kind. You won’t believe if I say that the plant that bore these was raised from a cutting. The cuttings were grown in Soil + Compost( with a dash of 19-19-19 every week). Rest of the plants that came from seed, were grown hydroponically using coco-peat as a medium.
The fruits were perfect pumpkin shaped and very uniform both interms of shape and ripening. The one in the bottom of this pic is the largest in that plant( there are bigger ones coming read on).
Below is the total harvest for the day, spread out in a tray. The giant ones that you see on the extreme left is “Marmande” a variety from France. I got this from one of my friend. Immediate right to it is “Pink of Berne” and the right extreme is Beefsteak.
Total harvest came upto ~2kg. I thought I will let you see as I am gauging them.
Pink of Berne – 351 grams…. Marmande – 501 grams(280+220)
The beefsteak tomatoes alone weighed a whopping 581 grams.
This is the second biggest of all. The biggest one is still on the vine.This one weighs 280 grams. I haven’t tasted Marmande yet. My mom hasn’t seen this tomato yet. So once she is back, we might get to taste this..
The beefsteak:
Beefsteak tomato cross section. This one is the smallest of the bunch and we used for cooking. It was very meaty and had multiple locules as you can see. The taste was little sweet, little sour, a good flavor and was very juicy/pulpy. (oh god I am so bad at describing taste!).
I know what you are thinking.. Seeds right?… I have already started saving the seeds for the tomatoes pictured above. Once they are ready I will let y’all know.
Cheers
gg
72 Responses
Those are monsters! LOL! I love your tomato harvests. You and Prue (at http://totallyineptbalconygardener.blogspot.com/) are the best when it comes to tomatoes. You should definitely clone those beefsteak! Whoa! I’m still ogling at those red hulks!
“Once they are ready I will let y’all know.”
Letting us know is not enough, sharing with us is 🙂
Great to see them. I really envy the Marmande. I am thrilled at just seeing your tomatoes.
Question: Did you grow the same variety in both Hydroponics and Pot? How does your Hydroponic yield compare to the potted ones?
Hi Srikanth,
Sharing seeds goes without saying 😉
I harvested another batch of Marmande today and they are more heavier. 1 weighed 301 grams.
gg
Oh Wow!!!! That’s the only the expression i have on my face now 🙂
Will wait for few seeds.
Regards
Raj
Hi Raja,
The beefsteak kind must be ready in a week’s time and the other varieties might take couple of weeks…
gg
Awesome! They are so huge. You should have kept a cherry tomato next to the beefsteak and taken a pic. So now you must be having tomatoes for breakfast, lunch and dinner? 😀
Asha,
Yeah keeping a cherry would have been very cool and we can appreciate the size !!.. Infact we just use one tomato for two dishes. There are tomato varities that weight upto 2lbs. I am just thinking how huge they must be.. god i am never happy 😉
Great harvest. Absolutely picture perfect tomatoes! Keep it up.
I am also thinking of constructing a greenhouse on my terrace and I had asked you a few questions via the comment to the ‘Greenhouse the making’ post. I would appreciate it a lot if you can answer whenever you get the time.
Thanks Atul.
I thought I had already answered the set of questions you had asked. Can you double check?
gg
Hi,
OK. I read all your greenhouse related posts and their comments again but could not determine this:
1. What is 35% – is it the amount of sunlight blocked or admitted?
2. Given so few shops keep 35% netting, it means that its not in common use, so why did you chose it? Any specific reason?
Thanks again!
Great to hear that you started terrace gardening.
1. 35% is the amount of sunlight blocked.
2. Not many people grow veggies under shade net. Mostly it is used for nurseries ( ornamentals or raising veggie seedlings). For this purpose, 50% is recommended. Since most of the seedlings directly go into the open field, 35% is rarely used. In my case, I am growing all these veggies under shade net. Having it in the terrace, I want all the sun I can get but in a controlled way. For this 35% sounded just right. If I need more shade, I will use a double layer 😉 .
3. I use netting all the sides. Generally, it is advised that greenhouse be covered with IP (insect-proof) net on the sides and shade on the top. I didn’t want to invest on IP net and so want with shade net on all sides. Works for me!.
good luck
gg
Thanks gg!
Wow, these are such pretty tomatos 🙂
Thanks Sharanya!.
gg
Those tomatoes look delicious! i also recently started tithonia seeds so I found your post ion the “stages” interesting.
Thanks Nicole.
Wow GG! That’s amazing…The tomatoes are yummylicious:). Hey I remember having asked you in my earlier query about growing coloured capsicums. I have some more queries:)
Are the seeds for coloured capsicums available easily?
Can zuchinni be grown in little hotter weather conditions like Mumbai. Again are these seeds available easily?
Which are the veggies apart from wheat grass, palak and coriander which can grown in trays?
It would be very helpful if u you can suggest me an online portal from where I can order seeds.
Shubha,
Sorry for the delayed reply.
Here in Bangalore, I wasn’t able to get colored capsicums easily or they were expensive. In trays you can grow lot of veggies like round radish, mint, Methi (other green leafy vegs), Knol khol ( 6+ inch trays). I think few ppl suggested http://biocarve.com/ for online seeds. Check it out.
gg
Shubha, an online sources for seeds in Bangalore is
http://www.gardengiga.com/shopping/index.php?osCsid=cf4ca6c25f3b9c6ecf2f2d99ca939fde
They have a picture of red capsicums on the site but I don’t
know if that means they have the seeds. I haven’t ordered
anything from them yet.
Forgot to add one thing. I had once bought few capsicum seeds from DoH. One out of the whole lot turned out to be yellow coloured. Guess, I should have seed saved from it. But that time I was not so attentive towards seed saving 🙁
Regards
Raj
Hi Shubha,
I just checked out the bocarve site. Didn’t work out for me.I got some system related error while placing the order. Also, I guess they are insisting on payment in USD or other foreign currencies. That’s li’l expensive and scary as even the card provider also will charge few bucks.
Regards
Raj
gg,
Question: Did you grow the same variety in both Hydroponics and Pot? How does your Hydroponic yield compare to the potted ones? Are you using NFT?
-Srikanth
HI Srikanth,
I was planning to answer your question in your last comment. Anyway I will do it now. I have tried Pink of Berne in pot+hydroponic nutrient as well as cocopeat + hydroponic and I felt cocopeat+hydroponic to be little better. Also, I tried beefsteaks in soil + water and occasional 19-19-19. It yielded around 6-7 fruits per plant and stopped. I am not using NFT. I use aggregate based hydroponic system. The ones in coco+hydroponic continue to yield and fruit size is lot bigger.
But provided a great quality compost and periodic fertilizer dose I don’t see why the ones in pot wont produce.
gg
WOW! GG, the tomatoes look so yummy. Now a dumb question, what is 19-19-19? What all fertilizers do you use?
Well, I too am looking forward to your post about the seeds:-).
regards,
Sumathy
Hi Sumathy,
Sorry for the delayed reply. Thanks for the comments.
The 19-19-19( N – P – K), I refer now and then is water soluble complete fertilizer sold in the market. It has many brands like Polyfeed, Nitrophoska, Vardhaman and many more. It is dissolved at the rate of 3g/liter.
gg
hello gg,
i am closely looking at ur posts,i am interested in knowing more about hydroponics using coco peat for commercial production of vegetables,pls guide me
Hello Nagendra,
Thanks for stopping by. Let me know what kind of information you are looking for.
Thanks
gg
Hi gg,
Great lovely tomatoes there.Bangalore climate seems good for tomatoes.I am getting only 2 hours of direct sunlight in my backyard.Tall buildings are preventing the sunlight.Rose and hibiscus I have kept it in the terrace.Kindly suggest which flowers and veggies will grow in these 2 hours of direct sunlight.My asphids seem to be under control .
Thank you for your suggestions.
-Kalyani
Hello Kalyani,
You can grow veggies like lettuce, Palak, Radish, Beetroot, Peas, Radish, Mint and beans.
Good to hear that your aphids are under control.
Thanks
gg
APPLAUSE – Real WOW!
Thanks Vani. I just harvested another ~2kgs of tomato few even bigger than the previous harvest.
gg
hi GG
Nice to see your harvest 🙂 It motivates me more and more to garden.
I have an urgent query.
I have sowed seeds in a tray with cocopeat and it is now around 3 weeks and the seedlings are coming out well.
Im going out of station tonight and will be back on monday morning.
If I water them tonight before leaving ,will it be enough until monday morning or will it get dried up.
I donot want the three weeks progress to go waste 😐
Awaiting your suggestion
Thanks very much
Chitra
HI Chitra,
Thanks. For your query, its really difficult to say it will dry or not without know how much sunlight it gets and the kind of medium. In these cases, I would simply move the pot/tray to a shady place and water it well the night I leave and hope for the best. If the tray is small then you can enclose the whole thing in a huge transparent polythene bag after watering it.
Thanks
gg
I would think if you water it sufficiently and move the trays indoor it should be OK.
I think it is time we had a proper forum to discuss these kinds of issues.
Srikanth,
I was working on getting a site with forum plus much more. Just didn’t find to time to finish it up. This will push me to do it.
Thanks
gg
well done gg,how many kgs will u reap from ur tomato plant
gg my question is can we grow hydroponic tomato in a big commercial way,as i own 10 acre and planning to develop
So far, from every plant I have gotten around 1.5 kg. And for indeterminate varieties, they keep yielding throughout the season. You can grow them in a commercial way. I am not sure how sustainable it will be. It will be better to do a pilot in an acre or so before starting off big time.
gg
Thanks GG for the immediate reply.
and thanks to Srikanth too
Yumm!! I can’t wait for tomato time again…
Thanks. Here in Bangalore its tomato time year round 🙂 .
wow !! thats a nice harvest…while you are enjoying your harvest..here i am waiting for spring..may snow again tomorrow…
Hi GG:
Fantastic yield ! Congrats! I am so happy that I have seen your tomatoes during my visit to yor place!
BTW, the seedlings you gave have been transplanted to containers with cocoatpeat+compost +a little soil. They are doing well. I am ensuring that they get only half a day of direct snlight. I plan to put them on larger containers a month later.
I am delighter to tell you that my bottle gourd plants, two of them, have started flowering .
Given the scorching heat and direct sunlight my plants are receiving on the terrace , I was thinking how to put up a removable shade net fast. I was thinking of placing gunny bag material on a 10* 4 ft horzontal trellis , cover the four sides too with the same , and keep containers under the trellis. This way ,the gourds can use the trellis and the gunny bag material is placed a little above them, or, I can place the material directly under the trellis and leave gourd plant on top. I would like to know if anybody has tried this, and would like to know everybody’s views on this too…
Regards
Meena K
Hi Meena,
Thanks.
Make sure the gunny bags don’t cover most of the sun light. Also, it depends on how close it is knit. I don’t have much experience with gourds but I think they can handle good amount of sun. But yeah they need lots of water as a result. Keeping the net/gunny bag little above the plant should be fine. I will let others to speak if they have tried something like this..
gg
Hi Meena,
In my experience the bottle gourds can take a good amount of direct sunlight and it should not be a worry. Of course they need good watering too like gg said.
Still, if you would like to put up a shade net, I would suggest to go for standard ghee/oil tin’s for the purpose. Place 4 of them in a square shape covering the area you like your shade net to cover. Fill the tins with small boulders and sand( or soil) with (say 6 ft high) bamboo poles inserted into them. Put the shade net on top of it. You can just move around the tins as and when you like to cover other areas. This will be little less messier than gunny bags and if you have strong winds they will withstand it better. But the flip side is they will be heavy.
Hope that helps.
Regards
Raj
Hi Raja,
That’s the reply I was waiting for. The oil tin idea is very nice and if you fill it with sand/media you can also plant the seeds in it. Moving around the tins is just superb..
Thanks for the comment.
gg
Thanks, GG and Raj for your suggestions. They are simple and hassle-free, will try out and let you know.
I was looking for shade net for the container plants , not for gourds which are climbing the trelis. As the current temperature and heat are quite high in Blr, I feel that the container plants would benefit with some reduction in direct sunlight. Hence, I thought of placing gunny bag material on the trellis, not for gourd plants, but , for the container plants kept below the trellis, on the ground.
I am told that the gunny bag material is a light material with two strands only. I am trying to procure it, will keep you updated.
I am delighted to inform you that two bottle gourds have started growing, with successful pollination. I did hand pollination, since I was not sure of the nocturnal visitors helping out!
Regards
Meena K
gg,I hope you will see this comment. I need your advice. My brinjal plants are flowering well but the flowers don’t seem to be turning into brinjals. The pots are in a balcony enclosed with netting to save the veg from monkeys. They’re getting 2-3 hours of sunlight. Could it be a pollination problem? If so, what can I do?
Look forward to your reply
Jeanne,
Pollination could be a problem. You can do it by hand using a small paint brush. Just rub the inside of the flower near the yellow colored centre with the paint brush so that it makes the pollen fall. 2-3 hours of sunlight is little less for an eggplant actually. They need full sun for atleast 5 hours. Let us know of the progress
thanks
gg
gg, thanks a million for the immediate reply. I thought it was pollination but didn’t know how to go about pollinating the flower. Will take your advice immediately. Sunlight should increase now that we’re going into summer. Let’s hope I get some brinjals. Will let everyone know if I do. Thanks once again.
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/images/graphics/t/flower_parts.gif
brinjal flower – http://picasaweb.google.com/anil.hande/10292009#5397912135948138930
you can pluck an Anther ( yellow colored )
cut the tip off
press & role the Anther between your fingers
White pollen will start to come out the cut end.
you can apply the pollen on the Stigma ( Green colored ) on all the other flowers
Do this when the mist is gone & the flowers are dry
Hi Anil,
What a lovely looking setup you have there on your terrace.
Kudos !!
I guess you should share more of your knowledge via a blog or
probably a session.
I am seriously looking for some assistance/training to learning more
advanced topics in gardening.
Regards
Raj
Thanks a lot, Anil. I tried gg’s method today and will try yours when I ha
have fresh flowers. That way we’ll know if both worked! Will
find a way to tag the flowers pollinated with your method.
http://www.avrdc.org/LC/eggplant/eggplantseed.pdf
has some good info
Adding a link to a site with pictures of my brinjals — and tomatoes and capsicums. Hope the link works
http://indianmaali.ning.com/group/containergardener/forum/topics/success-with-brinjals
Nice pictures and great harvest too :).
Oh wow!! It can be done like that ?? surprised to know that 🙂 that’s quite a bit of knowledge buddy. Kudos to you!!
One un-relatd suggestion though. Can you do something about widening the small white panel in the middle in which all your post,text,comment etc appear. Of late i see lot of comments crossing the white space and going into the green right border there by making it less readable. Also there is lot of space wasted in the both side borders. Just my suggestion 🙂
Regards
Raja
Hi Raja,
Thanks for the suggestion.
The problem could be because this theme was written before threaded comments feature came( i guess so).
Also, I just choose the them and not sure if i have control.I will play around some themes and see how i can use the screen real estate to its fullest. No wasting space here as well 🙂
Regarding the pollination, yeah its the cheapest way.
Esp with Gourds, since they have male and female flowers separately its quite easy to do some cross pollination and see the outcome :D..
Electric tooth brushes can also be used for pollination. Just switch them on and touch the flower stalk. Vibrators are used for pollination in greenhouse industry.
gg
A solution for text going into the border is to press enter when you
reach the end of the white box. That keeps the text within it.
I see that my tip about pressing enter to keep within the
white box didn’t work — in the very comment in which I
suggested it!
Brinjals at last! Thanks, gg, for your tip. It worked beautifully! I’m not sure if the brinjals will grow any bigger. When should I pluck them?
I’m also going to try the electric toothbrush tip — have flowers on chili plants and don’t want to risk them not turning into chilies
Should have said that the brinjals are small but already purple in colour so look mature
Hello GG! I’m back at blogging after a long long time, and zipped to your blog to catch up on your updates. Congratulations on your greenhouse, it looks fabulous. You inspire to try it at Delhi though the weather here is least cooperative. See you around ~Urban Green
Good to have you back Urbangreen. Thanks. Incase you are trying to build a greenhouse, let me know if you need some logistics on that..
Happy gardening/blogging..
gg
Hi GG,
If the top (head) of a tomato plant is getting devided into two branches (Y shape) then does it mean that it is a determinate variety?
-FG
Hi FG,
Determinate varieties of Tomato will always have their growing tip terminated by a flower bud. For indeterminate the growing tip will always have a shoot and flowers will be on the sides. Sometimes indeterminate fork at the top and grow. In that case both the stems ( called leaders ) can be trained as well. Sorry I promised I will send a pic. I will send it for sure this weekend. Closely look at the stem tip, if you see a flower bud and no shoots its determinate.
cheers
gg
“http://www.avrdc.org/LC/eggplant/eggplantseed.pdf
has some good info”
Anil, this is very useful. Thanks a lot for the link.
Hi GG,
I am interested to know where did u get that digital weighing machine, how much it costed?
Regards,
Sunil
Hey Sunil,
I purchased mine from Avenue Road. Costs 400 something.. (Made in China).
gg
Hi,
I need seeds of beefsteak tomato, carrots, lettuce,cucumber and every vegetable. Do you have any idea where can we get the chinese orange seeds or saplings.
One important question, when the greenhouse is covered on all sides, how the pollination takes place. The bees or butterflies cannot enter to do this process. Please explain. I am planning to put polycarbonate roofing since it allows 70% of sunlight in.
You blog is amazing and I have done terrace gardening for 2 years now planning to restrict sunlight by roofing materials like polycarbonate sheet. I want to grow fully organic. Is 19-19-19 a chemical fertilizer? Please reply. Do you have any idea of polycarbonate roofing
Can I buy some of the tamatos. It goes great with burgers….thanks