Tomato Tree

[Daniel]

So, I am sitting in bed last night and this commercial comes on.. I lost it from watching this. The idea of 180 pounds of tomatoes is hilarious to me.. Visions of 8 foot trees taking over my Manhattan Apartment..

Watch this commercial..

Tomato Giant

I briefly looked up the tomato tree and apparently its not a real tomato.. Anyone want to shed more light on the subject..

[v. gautam]

Have not seen the website, but there is a perennial, Cyphomandra, sometimes called the "tree tomato." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamarillo

Is this the plant being referred to?

It is not hardy where winters are much below O Celsius, and I doubt it would make a good indoor plant for most situations because of light and possibly disease issues. It could be overwintered indoors without a problem, certainly. It is only when one expects fruiting that light and other environmental parameters become limiting.

Several regions of the United States, e.g. Santa Barbara, CA, can grow the plant outdoors. The California Rare Fruit Growers association will have more information about it.

BTW, re: yield from tomato vines, many enthusiasts who enjoy hanging out at a site named Tomatoville.com reliably report 75 lbs/vine; 40lbs is not unusual in ordinary cultivation. The person who discovered the variety EARL'S FAUX regularly gets the higher figures from his cultivar; you are welcome to check his posts, he is a most affable person. Here is another tomato grower http://www.selectedplants.com/

Check out his plants and his yields:http://www.selectedplants.com/

Climbing Tripl-crop [available from Sandhill Preservation Center, Tomato Growers Supply, etc.], Climbing Italian Pink and similar cvs. like Rose [Johnny's Selected Seeds], even Marianna's Peace and Crnkovic Yugoslavian in my personal experience, can yield very heavily indeed. With a long enough growing season, these indeterminate vines can be persuaded, by a knowledgeable gardener and ideal location to become perennial or at least yield over a period of 6 months running. in that case, a very large figure per plant is possible, trellised.

But, the grower needs intimately to understand the issues of plant water relations as it relates to height, manage height to very low trellises, understand the meristematic behavior of these indeterminate tomatoes, be able to prune and encourage side shoots in optimal fashion, manage temperature & disease stress.

So yes, given a susbstantial background and other favorable factors, as a game, if you invest a lot of time and attention on your pet tomato, high FRESH yields MAY be achieved. But note 2 things:

1) high fresh weight does not mean the same thing as high dry mass. We can do interesting things to the tomato's root system as well, to induce high fresh yield, without increasing photosynthetic rate.

2) high total yield does not take into account Leaf Area Ratios. At that point, all of this jugglery will begin to look less attractive. From the perspective of Yield physiology, there are NO MIRACLES. No one has invented magical systems, least of all amateurs sitting in garages and selling to the public. Just like weight loss hucksters claiming to know something that physiologists do not, why would people spend a lifetime studying plant science and still feel that they know almost nothing whereas these fellows claim that they know it all?

Edited April 3, 2008 by v. gautam (log)

[Smithy]

Have not seen the website, but there is a perennial, Cyphomandra, sometimes called the "tree tomato." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamarillo

Is this the plant being referred to?

←

Definitely not, based on the photos from the two web sites.

Good lord, that giant tomato tree advert looks like the inspiration for an old cult classic movie. Who else remembers "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes"?

[Daniel]

I sent that to my girl this morning.. Her exact words, please tell me you didnt order this.. We don't need 90 pounds of tomatoes the size of grapefruits..

[Smithy]

An article in this issue of "The Cultivator", from the University of Illinois Extension Service for Champaign County, discussed the Giant Tree Tomato and other fantastic hybrids. The writer says that the "Giant Tree Tomato" is actually an heirloom tomato. She was disappointed and discontinued her project due to the difficulty of the winter's indoor gardening and this plant's susceptibility to disease, although she did also say that other people might have better success.

The article start on Page 2 and is titled "'Tis the Season", in case the link takes you to the first page instead.

Edited: spelling

Edited April 3, 2008 by Smithy (log)

[jackal10]

A quick google produces some very negative comments on the company.

Here nuserymen are offering "Turbo tomatoes" http://www.dobies.co.uk/pd_MH758_Tomato_Gr...tion_Plants.htm

tasty varieties grafted onto strong rootstocks. They claim remarkable growth and yield.

[annecros]

There are varieties referred to as "Tree Tomatoes" or "Climbers" - but it is just silly to imply that one might grow them indoors over the winter.

Now if you want to see a real tomato tree:

Click Here

This vine, growing at Epcot in Orlando, had a harvest of 32,000 tomatoes, with a total weight of 1,151 pounds. By the way, it is thought to be a hybrid, as those that have eaten the tomatoes and saved the seeds have not gotten tomatoes that are true to type. I also understand that they are pretty tasteless, so why bother outside of the novelty?

It is of course, brought to you by people who dedicate a lifetime to horticultural pursuits, who also mold watermelons into Mickey Mouse Melons:

Mickey Melons

A real challenge to mold watermelons into that shape - but if anybody can do it those guys can.

Yep, Earl reports about 60lbs for a season per vine, I think? I kept track of one of my Marianna's Peace last season (the first ripe from that plant is my present avatar, weighed in at 17 ounces) and got a 55 pound yield from one vine over about 3 months of harvesting. Will use "Earl's Hole" next season and see what happens.

Anne, Tomatovillian

[dockhl]

So it is or isn't a tomato? I'm confused.

When you grow your own does it taste like a tomato (if it isn't) ?

[annecros]

So it is or isn't a tomato? I'm confused.

When you grow your own does it taste like a tomato (if it isn't) ?

←

Close kin, I think. It is Solanaceae:

Click for info

The plant is a small, half-woody, attractive, fast-growing, brittle tree; shallow-rooted; reaching 10 to 18 ft (3-5.5 m) in height; rarely as much as 25 ft (7.5 m). The leaves are muskily odorous, evergreen, alternate, more or less heart-shaped at the base, ovate, pointed at the apex, 4 to 13 1/2 in (10-35 cm) long and 1 1/2 to 4 3/4 in (4-12 cm) broad, thin, softly hairy, with conspicuous coarse veins. Borne in small, loose clusters near the branch tips, the fragrant flowers, 1/2 to 3/4 in (1.25-2 cm) wide, have 5 pale-pink or lavender, pointed lobes, 5 prominent yellow stamens, and green-purple calyx. The long-stalked, pendent fruit, borne singly, or in clusters of 3 to 12, is smooth, egg-shaped but pointed at both ends and capped with the persistent conical calyx. In size it ranges from 2 to 4 in (5-10 cm) long and l 1/2 to 2 in (4-5 cm) in width. Skin color may be solid deep-purple, blood-red, orange or yellow, or red-and-yellow, and may have faint dark, longitudinal stripes. Flesh color varies accordingly from orange-red or orange to yellow or cream-yellow. While the skin is somewhat tough and unpleasant in flavor, the outer layer of flesh is slightly firm, succulent and bland, and the pulp surrounding the seeds in the two lengthwise compartments is soft, juicy, subacid to sweet; it is black in dark-purple and red fruits, yellow in yellow and orange fruits. The seeds are thin, nearly flat, circular, larger and harder than those of the true tomato and distinctly bitter. The fruit has a slightly resinous aroma and the flavor suggests a mild or underripe tomato with a faintly resinous aftertaste.

Doesn't sound yummy to me - but I am spoiled.

[Smithy]

Erm. Unless the video that started all this topic has fraudulent photos of the fruit being harvested, we're actually talking about 2 different plants.

The photos of the fruit of the tomato tree, or tamarillo, which Anne Cros quoted just above, do not look like the fruit being harvested in Daniel's video. The article from "The Cultivator" that I linked to discussed the tree in Daniel's video, and again, I don't think it's the same as Anne's tamarillo.

[annecros]

I don't know Smithy, but if you notice in the video, in the "harvesting" segment, the harvesting shot starts with a person holding cluster type tomatoes up against the bush, and simply rotating her hand to the left with a four or five ripe tomatoes in it. The vine doesn't even resist harvest. One tomato, the vine will hardly notice, but a cluster like that? That doesn't look like a normal tomato vine either. What are those stringy things? Looks like tomarillo to me. Nothing wrong with that, if you want tomarillo.

Tomatoes don't ripen, even cluster tomatoes, in that manner.

There is a consensus on Gardenweb concerning the company involved, "Gardener's Choice." They also offer a "Strawberry Tree" of all things.

Gardener's Choice on Dave's Garden

23 positive ratings, 26 neutral ratings, and 185 negative ratings.

The affiliated company, "TomatoGiant.com" is newer, and has received 2 neutrals and 9 negatives:

Found here

I haven't ordered, and have never done business with this company. I do not know if in fact the "Tree Tomatoes" that they are selling, are in fact a Tomarillo, common name "Tree Tomato"

I don't think I will be, either.