User avatar
TomatoNut95
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 2069
Joined: Sun May 26, 2019 11:11 am
Location: Texas Zone 8

Crazy tomato blossom?

Hello all! This crazy blossom is on my Oxheart plant. It obviously looks like two blooms fused together into one giant one. None of the other blooms on the plant look like that. Is this just a natural phenomenon that can occur on large-fruited/heart shaped varieties like that?
Attachments
IMG_20190602_151122.jpg
IMG_20190604_181820.jpg

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Yep. Sometimes called “megabloom” (or fasciated though there is some distinction that I’m not able to recognize) the fused blossom will result in doubled or even bigger sized fruit. The champion world record tomatoes are most often grown from selected lines with tendency to produce these fused multiple blossoms, sometimes half dozen or more are smashed together resulting in lumpy, ugly fruits — that weigh a lot :wink: )

An Oxheart should result in something like my Wes from few years back:

Subject: 2015 Biggest Mater Thread
applestar wrote:...well... It's not going to top yours, but here it is - 1-1/4 Lbs Wes :D

Image
There is a discussion about megablooms on other than tomatoes as well :arrow: Subject: Megabloom

The fused blossoms sometimes consist of flowers that matured or were pollinated on different days, and sections of the fruit will ripen at different rates, sometimes days apart so that later pollinated section will stubbornly remain green while the earliest pollinated section become overripe....

User avatar
TomatoNut95
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 2069
Joined: Sun May 26, 2019 11:11 am
Location: Texas Zone 8

Wow! Well, even if I did wind up with a double tomato, it wouldn't get very big. Nothing I grow back there reaches full size, whether it's grown in a pot or in my raised bed. I don't know what's wrong. Think my backyard is jinxed or cursed. :eek:

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

If you want, take vista/pano shots of your back yard in the morning and afternoon sun— maybe some of us will see something you haven’t thought of.

User avatar
TomatoNut95
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 2069
Joined: Sun May 26, 2019 11:11 am
Location: Texas Zone 8

Ok, I can try that, but that won't be for while if you want sun pictures. It's raining right now and will be raining for days. :cry:

User avatar
TomatoNut95
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 2069
Joined: Sun May 26, 2019 11:11 am
Location: Texas Zone 8

But I do know that my raised garden does not get the morning sun. That probably is a factor to my runted stuff. I will get photos when I can.

User avatar
TomatoNut95
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 2069
Joined: Sun May 26, 2019 11:11 am
Location: Texas Zone 8

applestar wrote:If you want, take vista/pano shots of your back yard in the morning and afternoon sun— maybe some of us will see something you haven’t thought of.
Ok, I posted a thread about my runty veggies with pictures in the 'Vegetable Gardening' spot. If you have any advice for me, I'd sure appreciate it.

pepperhead212
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 2852
Joined: Wed Oct 15, 2014 1:52 pm
Location: Woodbury NJ Zone 7a/7b

I've had cojoined blossoms on tomatoes before, but not sure if I noticed a Siamese twin tomato. However, last year I saw one of those crazy blossoms on one of my bottle gourds, which resulted in a cojoined fruit. You can really see the way the blossoms joined, in those large flowers:
ImageDSCF0685 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Fruit forming, before flower dropped:
ImageDSCF0687 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Harvested fruit:
ImageDSCF0719 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Funny thing was, this was the first fruit that I got on either of those plants, and I was wondering if this was a common occurrence. Turns out, it was the only one!

User avatar
TomatoNut95
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 2069
Joined: Sun May 26, 2019 11:11 am
Location: Texas Zone 8

Wow! Sorry to say my megablossom died- so I didn't get to see what it might've done. Guess it couldn't polinate. I'm used to my backyard veggie plants not being very productive anyway.



Return to “TOMATO FORUM”