Giant Tree Tomato

I am in lala land over this image.

Giant Tree Tomato

Assuming it was grown in greenhouse conditions when needed.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1272/857819226_3a3948974f_o.jpg

It appears to be in a greenhouse in the picture. Hard telling what variety that is!

That is a really cool photo....I hate to be a buzz kill... but it has a photoshopped quality to me....

CarolynPhillips wrote:I am in lala land over this image.

Giant Tree Tomato

Assuming it was grown in greenhouse conditions when needed.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1272/857819226_3a3948974f_o.jpg

Not lala land more like Disney Land. This link shows the site where the photo came from.

http://inhabitat.com/mickey-mouse-sustainable-farming/

Yep ... it's one of two (maybe 1 of 1 now).

It's here in Central Florida (Disney), it's grown hydro (all gravel substrate), in a climate controlled greenhouse (it's extremely temperature sensitive), and has a team of 8 peeps tending to its every need.

The seeds were brought back from China in 2006 .... and Disney "aint talking". Knowing Disney, there are 500 of the plants growing in a lot-greenhouse somewhere & only 1-in-500 actually makes it out on display.


Yung Hong (manager of agricultural science at Disney) is the one who reportedly brought the seeds back from a province outside Bejing. I've read articles & seen interviews where peeps have tried to pin him down on the specifics, but the closest thing to an incriminating comment I've seen is "genetic modification
is not always necessary to deliver higher productivity". Kinda one of those ...not saying we did, not saying we didn't.

Supposedly the seed stock isn't available (or identified) in US ..... but a "cousin" is .... and it's reportedly a huge scam & lots of unhappy/duped customers. Evidently the seed being sold on the internet for the past few years is the old Trip-L-Crop, which is a OP that dates back to the 30's (German stock ??). The current "rebranded" offering is Italian Tree Tomato, I believe.

I've seen articles on peeps trying to jump the tour/ride and snatch one for seeds, eating at the Land Pavilion (where the plant was displayed) and taking home tomatoes from their salad to try and grow their own, etc.

The particular plant shown in that pic may not be around anymore though. It got some type of disease in the Spring of last year & was taken off display .... not sure if it recoverd or not.

Very impressive plant though .... that one in the pic was only a little over a year old when it was producing like that.

But it's not a photoshop ..... I've spent hours riding that attraction, taken the "behind the scenes" tours & oggling that plant (and others). That place is like Mecca for me


Personally, I think it's the fish-poop that made it grow so big (the whole exhibit is a integration of aquaculture/horticulture & a lot of the aquaculture by-products are used on the plants)

acara wrote:The particular plant shown in that pic may not be around anymore though. It got some type of disease in the Spring of last year & was taken off display .... not sure if it recoverd or not.

I was just at Epcot in September and they did have that tomato tree on display. I was completely amazed when I saw it!

I am pleased that its a real pic, a real plant.
And I think that it is wonderful that somebody got
to see it in real life. I wish I could. pics are good.

I do believe the advertisements on TV of the Giant Tree
tomato was a scam and they made tons of money off it too

I get my seeds from reliable sources and would hate to find out
that my seeds were not what they were suppose to be.
I have never grown the Giant Tree or the Trip-L-Crop(italian tree)
for myself , so this year will be my first time growing them.

I have learned a lot about different variety tomatoes at tomatoville.
I mostly read their topics and read up on the currant tomato happenings.
I forget half of what I read. Make notes on what interest me the most.

I have never grown the Giant Tree or the Trip-L-Crop(italian tree)
for myself , so this year will be my first time growing them.

The italian trees are cool to grow ..... I just think peeps were mad because they didn't get a "Disney Tree" for their efforts. Guess they thought Disney just dropped a seed in a pot, sprinkled some fairy dust and sat back and watched it grow

I'm sure its a herculean effort to get a trophy-plant like that .... and not something that I'd ever devote the time/effort to, if it wasn't going to be around more than a year or two.

Heck, I'm not even patient enough to grow asparagus

Well that is really cool to know that it is real. I have been the bafoon who believed one too many photoshopped pics and felt like an idiot, so now I think everything slightly outrageous is photoshopped. LOL

I will have to see if I can find some more photos of it...thanks for all the info as usual Acara.

Jen

I grow tomatoes indoors in my sunroom using a simple hydro setup. I recently dispatched an old cheerry tomato plant that was still producing after a year in favor of a lager fruit. It's amazing how tall they grow and how quickly. I'll post a pic of my new baby