Hey..I'm going to blow you're mind. Ready? You know how to find this site and you know how to post so I'll assume you'll know how to do this.

Go to www.google.com. Type in what you're searching for. I typed in "World Record Tomato". Click "Google Search" you'll see lots of news stories on it BUT WAIT..... click "images" at the top left.

Whalah. GL

The correct spelling is Voila, not Whalah. Spell check is almost as easy to use as Search is.

In France it's voila. In the USA it's Whalah!!!!. Go USA!!!!

This pic is supposed to be a replica, though many people feel that it may have looked nothing like this...

{{gwi:1369429}}

Is this the pic?

{{gwi:1294129}}

LOL

This pic is supposed to be a replica, though many people feel that it may have looked nothing like this

*****

And who feels that way Mark?

It was your large pumpkin growing friend. I forget his name now, who contacted Gordon's wife to see if he could buy that replica. Sigh.

I was aghast at that I really was.

Seems to me that Miracle Grow had that replica made, b'c, well, b'c the shelf life of the tomato didn't lend itself to Gordon hauling around a perishable tomato. LOL

Besides, in order to get entered in the Guiness ( sp) book of records as to largest tomato grown to date the real deal had to be authenticated and documented.

Carolyn, whose SSE friend Fax Stinnett knew Gordon very well, and thought of him as one of the kindest, nicest, persons he'd ever met. And I knew Fax well, and I guess what I'm saying is that it really does bother me when folks start questioning so much about this tomato which even Gordon didn't know he had grown b'c it was hidden in the weeds.

Actually, Chickenman posted a black & white pic scanned from a book or newspaper article, of the original tomato and believe it was nothing similar in looks to the replica above.

"It was your large pumpkin growing friend. I forget his name now, who contacted Gordon's wife to see if he could buy that replica. Sigh."

"I was aghast at that I really was."

Above part of Carolyn post.

Carolyn, why were you so aghast? (Sigh.) Things such as the tomato replica that have some history are bought and sold every day. Also, Gordon's wife never had the replica. So, I guess I didn't really offer to buy it from her. (Hope you are less aghast now and maybe a bit more informed.)

The replica was in the posession of Miracle Gro. They took it back from Gordon when he stopped working for them. Miracle Gro sent it to me at no cost at all. I never offered to buy it. It was in a box in the back of a closet at their office. They weren't sure what it was. I have it here on my shelf now and will probably gift it to Gordon's wife or make it into part of a rotating trophy for the GPC Giant Tomato Contest. I need to talk to Gordon's wife before I decide. She may want it.

The picture with Gordon and the tomato posted here is not the real tomato but rather the replica. There is only one picture of the true tomato and Gordon's wife has it. Chickenman posted it earlier from a newspaper article. He researched it at the Library of Congress.

A good friend of Gordon's who lives in England had some original seed from that big tomato. Gordon had sent him some wrapped in tin foil. He gave the seed to me and I asked Minnie, remember Minnie, Minnie of Big Zac, to try to germinate these old seeds. She was successful and sent me a plant through the mail. I grew it for seed production and this year several of my giant tomato growing friends are growing it. We will see how they do.

If any of the giant tomato growers here on the Web would like to try some of these seeds they should contact me and I will be glad to send some to the first 20 people who request them, Carolyn included. Send me a SASE please.

If you need instructions on how to go for the big one you might check out my new book about growing giant tomatoes. It should be available in about a month.

Lubadub

AKA

Marvin H. Meisner, MD
P.O. Box 411
Hollidaysburg, PA 16648

Here's the ORIGINAL photo, only photo-optimized to make the filesize smaller to fit within GW photo size guidelines:

{{gwi:1369430}}

Hope this helps.

Mark

Marvin, if Gordon sent seeds of Delicious to a friend in England and you got seeds of Delicious back from that person and you sent those Delicious seeds to Minnie and she was able to germinate some of those Delicious seeds, then it seems to me we still are dealiong with the variety Delicious. ( smile)

Remember that Gordon didn't do anything special to that plant and the large record winning fruit was in the weeds. So it wasn't a matter of trying to genetically upsize something.

And thanks for the seed offer but you know me well enough to know that I grow tomatoes primarily for taste, not large competition size fruits.

And Starting in Dec of 2004 when I fell and severed all four quad muscles and have been in a walker since then except now I'm in a wheelchair b'c my femur fractured when the new right hip was put in May 9th, I've been limited to not the hundreds of plants I grew each season, but 12-14 which are custom grown for me by a friend in VA and shipped up here for someone to plant, care for and harvest for me.

My big love is finding new heirlooms that no one outside of a family has really grown or made available and this year I have four such varieties. Another friend in western NYS does seed production for me so I can list them in the SSE Yearbook and send seeds for trial to a few seed sources I trust if any of the varieties are good enough.

I know you wouldn't be here unless Mark had let you know I referred to you b'c I haven't seen you posting at all. And yes, I finally did remember your user name after I made that post. ( smile)

Carolyn

I would much rather have seven 1 lb. tomatoes than one 7 lb. tomato.

Still, 7 lb tomatoes would be really cool to grow.

Lubadub, I'd love to get some seed from you, but another year if you're still around. I can grow tomato plants, but still have problems getting seeds to germinate well. I guess I need a bit more practice first. :)

It would be cool even if just for the lineage. I'd like in Mate ;)

Lubadub, I posted a email earlier but for some reason it didn't go through...Anyway if you still have seed available ,I'd like some...Email me useing regular means if you still have some...I'll send SASE to the address you gave... My email address is on "my page"
Thanks Winemaker1942

I also sent an email through GW, but I have no idea if it was successfully transmitted. I will send a SASE, if no seeds left, no big deal I suppose. I am currently trying to grow a world record cherry tomato...have one that is 1 inch wide so far! Joking aside, actually did have some pretty big cherries last year...

Hi Marvin
This sounds like fun , so I am sending a SASE. Please let me know if I'm too late.
Thanks for the opportunity.
Neil

Hi Marvin -I received the seeds. Thank you very very much.
Appreciate your generosity.
Neil G.

Marvin, thanks for seeds, I'll plant this spring..Thanks for sharing....
Winemaker

MARVIN

HOLD SOME SEED FOR ME. I WILL SEND YOU A SASE TODAY'S MAIL. YOU CAN EMAIL ME AS MY EMAIL IS POSTED.

I WANNA GROW A BIG ONE.

Dan

Marvin, I am obviously late on the offer. I just saw it and now realize it was almost 2 months ago. If you have any seeds please email me.

Dan

I have grown Delicious tomato several different years now, including this summer.
I am throwing in the towel........mine were never over a pound and were never what I would call delicious tasting.
How this tomato ever grew to world record size is beyond my comprehension........and how it got the name Delicious is even more difficult to understand.

lol, I'm in agreement with Carolyn taste is paramount that said I do have some very large tomatoes in various degrees of ripness which is a pleasant surprise. They just better taste good or they won't be grown in this garden again. :)

I grew Delicious a few years ago...it was not a good experiance but I would reserve judgement until I grew it out again. Plus, my source for this variety was questionable and therefore, it may not have even been Delicious.

Jay

If that man in the picture posted near the beginning of this thread by korney19 on July 4th is Gordon Graham, he sure looks like a friendly and nice person to me. I think it's great that someone that cheerful and friendly looking was the person who ended up with the world record for a giant tomato.

I seriously doubt that anyone will match or beat the 7 pound, 12 ounce world record. That's really a freakishly huge tomato. If it can be done though, it makes sense that it will be done most likely with a tomato plant with the same genes. So it's really nice that Dr. Meisner is offering to help people who get a kick out of growing gigantic tomatoes by offering them seeds descended from Gordon Graham's monster tomato.

I agree with pennyrile that it is nice that we can get genetics from the world record. I have not heard from the Dr but I am sure we all will by next spring.

The first photograph. At least he looks satisfied. Kind of a interesting look. Wouldn't it be great if you could just take a picture of a huge tomato,and stand in the frame behind it, appearing that you have it all figured out.

Firstly, in a way you do, but then again......

Take care,
Travis .....room for thought

The newer world records are, in 2016 I grew the 8.61 lb tomato and in 2018 I grew the 9.44 lb tomato and in 2020 I grew the 10.80 lb tomato! So that brings this up to date.

Nice work Dan! I think I saw the 2018 one in TV but didn't here about your latest record.

What was the variety? Big Zac?

Got some pics Dan? Would really like to see a 10 lb tomato.

it's basically a Domingo strain.

Whoa Thanks Dan, that's one ugly tomato, a star is born.....