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Florida Gardening

plum tomatoes plum suck

11 years ago

I haven't ever grown plum tomatoes before. I have 10 plants just COVERED with the most BORING TASTING tomatoes ever. I just treated them with copper for bacterial spot, but I almost didn't bother. I found this post in the tomato forum. http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tomato/msg0801321716938.html

Who has some experience with this? If I make sauce and I throw in a couple of good tasting tomatoes....will it correct the flavor? Or shall i just pull the stupid things out and its a do over?

One last question...in the past I have loved the flavor of my lemon boys..but this year they don't seem as flavorful either. could it be the seed source?

BTW - the sweet baby girls are EVERYONES favorite.

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Comments (6)

carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b
11 years ago
IMPE, Winter-grown tomatoes never have the same oomph of those grown in warmer seasons.

Of course, variety is a big factor, but I find that so many other factors seem to affect taste as well: too much water, soil types, amount of sunshine - even proximity to other plants. Tomatoes I grew near papayas had a real funny taste, for instance...
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keiki
11 years ago
Hi Girl!

Your subject line made me giggle. Sorry I don't have an answer for you but I can say that my roma's are kind of lacking in flavor this season as well. If I had that many I would roast or dehydrate them, it always brings out more flavor.

This year is my first year with sweet baby girls and we are also loving them.

What else did you grow? I have 7 tomato plants; the roma, a sweet baby girl, a yellow pear, a black cherry, 2 florida 47's, and a nappa cherry. Oh and there are volunteers from the chickens popping up here and there but no ripe fruit on those yet.
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Fellenberg, I believe, is considered similar to Italian, but as I said, I never have grown it. It tends to be rated a moderate cropper. I consider Italian here less than a moderate bearer so I'm guessing Fellenberg would likely be same. There's a lot of tricks I use to accelerate bearing so I'm not sure if Fellenberg actually can't be speeded up significantly. I consider Castleton a very flavorful prune plum but what makes it stand out is its reliability- it tends to set fruit in clusters almost like grapes. Some years other plums set little or no fruit but Castleton always seems to have a crop at all sites. It is also a natural semi-dwarf with a wonderful spreading branch habit. My favorite prune plum is Valor because it is very big and has that rich super-sweet quality and it can ripen from the last week of August here until the first hard frost. That is an extremely long picking time even for a prune plum. The reason I recommend Castleton over Valor is because of its consistency at many sites I manage. The funny thing is that at some sites plums are generally much more reliable than other sites for reasons I've never been able to decipher. That means that to really know what is best at your site you'd have to try several varieties and find out yourself but if you're just going to try one I think Castleton is your best bet. ACN carries it but you'd better order ASAP because the commercial growers are sucking it up.
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Do you I have to scrap all that fruit? Have too? No, but most find that fruit with BER tastes "off". Some argue you can cut out the bad part and eat the rest but the bacteria infection in the area normally doesn't make eating it worthwhile. Was this caused by lack of water? Or is it something else? That is all explained in the links I posted for you above. Basically it is caused by a poor distribution of calcium throughout the plant as it develops. The transportation of calcium is totally dependent maintaining consistent soil moisture levels throughout the fruit development stages. In containers, especially small containers, that is very difficult to do. There are other contributing factors too - all discussed in the links provided. Apply some lime around the plants, and water it in thoroughly. See the link. Sorry but all the studies show that applying lime AFTER the problem develops does not help because lime is so slow acing. Applying it, if needed, BEFORE planting can help. Again this is all discussed in great detail over on the correct forum - Growing Tomatoes. Dave
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I recieved some Plum tomatoe plants from a friend. He says he got the seeds from an older fellow that said the seeds come from Italy. The Plums are not the same exact shaoe as those you buy from a greenhouse or grown from seed. The fruit is rather long, the biggest I have is almost 4 1/2 inches long with a point at the bottom rather than rounded. The problem I'm having is a lot of the fruit has brown spots on the bottom which as it rippens rots. He has the same problem though. He waters his frequently, I on the other hand once every three days. He says he talked to his friend and was told that it was a calcium deficientcy in the soil. I sort of thought it might have been something missing in the soil, but does calcium sound right to anyone. I'm just a part timer for the fun of it, any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
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tinael01
Original Author
11 years ago
Hi Robin! I have a beefmaster that is to die for...it grows the most beautiful tomatoes. I also have a neptune and a creole that I love. Then I have the VFN something hybrid that is just average. The taste of the sweet babies spoils me from other tomatoes I am afraid!
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L_in_FL
11 years ago
I have grown Romas several times - in ground and in containers. Up here we grow them in the spring, not over winter, so there is plenty of heat when they are ripening. They are still blah. They don't taste bad, but they don't have much flavor. After they have cooked down into a nice thick sauce so the flavor gets concentrated they are fine. But I don't like Romas in salsa, cut up in a salad or to eat it straight. May as well buy the cardboard tomatoes from the grocery store.

I am going to be growing Amish Paste this year and hope it has more flavor. If not, there's always sauce and now I have a dehydrator so I can try drying them, too.
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tomncath
11 years ago
Hi Tina,

You moved into the buckets this year, right? Be careful with the water, if you over-water them the maters will be bland....

Tom
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tinael01
Original Author
11 years ago
I tried dehydrating them last night. I have a cold..so maybe taste buds are off...but they are still not tasting great but a little sour and a tiny bitter. I just don't like them.

Tom your beefmasters are the most beautiful tomatoes in the garden. I put one in a bucket with a hole in the bottom and I put it in the veg bed beside the bean trellis as I was out of room. The roots went through the bucket into the bed and that plant is FAB! It is huge and covered with the most beautiful fruit! I am in love! They taste good and aren't too watery. Maybe that is what I should use for sauce and salsa.
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