Topic: Giant Tree Tomato

[Tiny Clanger]

I saw the seeds advertised. Bought some. Planted them. Plants ready to go out now, but...........

Does anyone know how big these things can grow? I was thinking of putting one in the polytunnel - but looking on "'t internet" the are talking 18feet. Can anyone say if this is right? If it is a 10 foot polytunnel is out of the question!
 

[Tee Gee]

Never Grown these or indeed heard of them!

You could train them in an espalier fashion!

e.g. Grow them up to 4 to 5ft high  then bend and tie them onto a horizontal wire/cane tied onto the tunnel hoops along the tunnel's length!

Worth a try!

Another way is plant them at the base of a hoop then tie them up the hoop, carrying on over the top of the hoop (Like a grape vine) and subject to their size start going horizontal on the opposite side of the tunnel as suggested above!

Best of luck...Hope it doesn't drive you round the bend!

[Paulh]

Good luck!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Shop_of_Horrors_(musical)

[woodypecks]

Sounds really  interesting ! I,ve never heard of Tree Tomatoes ..it sounds wonderful ! Where did you buy these seeds from ?  Sounds right up my street , maybe I,ll have a go next year    Debbie   

[ACE]

If it is the one that grows 15 to 18 feet, don't forget to read the extra comment which comes with the seeds in brackets (in it's natural environment). A bamboo stick should be enough for our climate.

[Beersmith]

I think Ace has nailed the issue.

Whatever its potential, it has just one season at UK temperatures and  UK sunshine or lack thereof, even in a poly tunnel.

Don't expect a triffid!!

[Tiny Clanger]

Thanks everybody. I feel a bit more confident now.  just did not want to get something in the polytubnel that would need a machete to  get to
 

[ACE]

These are shrubs and need a permanent position. Worth having a go if the seed has germinated but even down here the season is not long enough for a ripened crop. I would suggest trimming regular and a big pot so you could move in and out like you would a lemon tree.

[Jeannine]

Hi, I just saw this.

I grew this variety 5 years ago, in my notes for that year I see I have wtitten.

OP .PL. produced  reddish pink beefsteask ,not many ,   21 ounces (biggest). Very large plant , trained to the greenhouse roof.Late to fruit,OK to good taste, few seeds,won't   growing  again ,  needed too much space ,low yield .

That is what I wrote then. I think if being grown in a very suuny place, not UK or my part of Canada, it may well grow very tall.Someone from Florida sent me the seeds . The date of transplant to my greenhouse was April 11th, but I didn't note the first fruit date.

Not much of a help ,I hope it works well for you

My greenhouse has a very high centre as it is designed to put hanging basets in so it did grow very tall

[Tiny Clanger]

Thanks for that. It looks like I'm going to have to control my impulse buying of seeds 

[Vinlander]

It won't surprise many people that I can't see the point of growing tomatoes for anything other than flavour - certainly not the size of the plant!

Obviously the yield of even the tastiest tomato has to be non-zero (how else would you taste it?) but the best tasting tomatoes I grow (Sungold, Gardeners Delight & Piccolo) all produce nearly as much fruit as the worst ones (eg. Moneymaker).

I'd be much more interested in growing the real tree tomato or Tamarillo - I gave up trying many years ago - but I have a polytunnel now and it's 3m tall, so I really should have another go. I don't even know if you can overwinter cuttings or even late seedlings (the easiest options - they would probably work even for ordinary tomatoes).

Anyway I do know they are delicious with a much more savoury depth of flavour than a tomato. In Madeira I was given a mix of fresh pulp from them combined with normal passionfruit and the "banana" passionfruit that tastes more like mandarin.

One of the most delicious things I have ever tasted - you can get an idea of it by mixing pomegranite juice, normal passionfruit juice and fresh mandarin juice.

Cheap sterilised pomegranite juice is so bad that it is begging for this recipe but it does still work a bit - you could even replace the passionfruit with cheap raspberry juice and it would still hit the spot - nearly..

Cheers.

[Jeannine]

Well that is interesting. I am growing passion fruit this year. I have never done this before but the seeds gerninated well, very well actually so I had to ditch most of them. I have three plants in the greenhouse about a foot tall. They are the ones about the size of an apple and they are yellow. At first they didn't seem to like the sun and they got a bit of burn but they were still in pots then, the recovered and seem fine in the soil.starting to put out tendrils.