HOW to GROW
EXTRA-LARGE fruit
(Tomato, Eggplant..-any!)

  1. Get a variety genetically capable of producing XL fruits. (They are usually graded as XL-fruiting or "(Extra) Large Fruit" varieties
  2. Think about your Climate Challenges and get a variety of the correct Extreme Grade (details on Extreme Grades here: Extreme Grade Scale )-the article is written for tomatoes, but applies to all varieties, except for the temperature borderlines )
    A correct Extreme Grade variety (in Australia no less than +1, for (sub)Tropics no less than +2) and then decide whether Dry or Humid )
    is genetically adapted to thriving despite our specific climate challenges.
    It is especially important with XL-fruiters, because every amount of stress on the plant affects the size and the taste of the fruit greatly.
    This is the main reason why we do not recommend "0" Extreme Grade for Australia: even that they may be capable of extra-large/super-tasty/unusual-coloured fruit under no-stress conditions, the very sensitive 0 Grade fruit (if any) WILL be greatly affected by any tiny challenge of weather, which our climate is not short of.

  1. Sow at the very beginning of season (as soon as night temperatues become reliably over the minumum threshhold for the variety; Min Night threshhold temps can be advised by the seller. For our varieties, Sultan of Oman XL Tomato min night temp is +13C, for Emperor Black Pear XL Eggplant is +14C )
    The reason for sowing at the very beginning of season is to give the plant enough time to produce XL fruit. Almost all XL varieties are Late Season ones, taking about 90 days to harvest.
    "Sultan of Oman" tomato and "Emperor Black Pear" are both Indeterminate varieties, meaning they conitinue fruiting and growing throughout their life,
    It means that after the 1st 90 days that will only be the START of their fruiting carrer!;) - so the more time left before cold strikes, the mroe fruits we'll get off them:)
  2. Choose a SUUNY location, perfect if your plant receives Morning and Late Afternoon sun, but is in shade during the hottest hours (e.g. The shade of a nearby tree moving onto it for these hours).
    If this is impossible, the option of Morning Sun is always preferable.
    Observe the garden no more than a few days before choosing and preparing the site, because shades lie in sometimes totally different places in different seasons, yes, in exactly the same garden spot.
    Everything failing, make sure you place the plant in full sun rather than shade
    and that the place is convenient to arrange for a simple fabric shade in the most heat of the day (e.g. Trees around convenient to tie the cloth to etc.)
  3. Choose the site desirably away from fences, walls etc – no less than 1.5 m –
    to ensure good air circulation: stagnant air almost certainly means fungus.
    But at the same time, make sure the plant is protected from strong winds.
    Something non-solid shaped, such as shrubs, treees etc – are aerodynamically best for breaking strong wind.
    Use a clothes-dryer wire stand ($15 in Crazy Clark),or something like this, which gives multiple support points to branches which will be loaded with fruit.
    Secure the Wire Stand with a few poles making sure it will not trap over when plant gets heavy and pulls on the wires with CONSIDERABLE power.
    Make sure all supports, poles, wire stands, shade cloth pegs etc. are in place at the time of transplanting your seedling. Inserting them more than a week after transplant will almost certainly damage the developing roots.
  4. Prepare the site VERY well.
    If your soil is clay or any other non-benefitial condition, such as sand or rock,
    the perfect solution is to dig a hole about 50 cm deep, and over that hole raise a garden bed about 30 cm high. This will guarantee excellent drainage during rains and full root development (especially if Samungus is used-organic root developer). Fill the Raised Garden bed with mix of Mushroom Compost(organic matter that most of XL – fruiters love) and conditioning + feeding substances.
  5. FEED well and regularly. Details on how to feed and with waht are in the free Garden FAQ's booklet here: Garden FAQ's brochure )
    At the stage of seedling, complete food (Like Sudden Impact for Roses, organic based – or an organic analogue like diluted warm castings, compost etc ) and root developer (Seamungus, organic) are great. They help your seedling pass the tender teenage stage as quickly as possible.
    As soon as fist flowers appear, cancel the root developer and cut on Nitrogen (otherwise will be plenty of leaves and few fruit) – (check your food's labels -N should be less than 10% from now on). Dont feed too much till fruits are well into development (about 3 cm in diameter) -to prevent fruit abortion in favour of further growth , after fruit is definitely set feed well (remember, low Nitrogen). Fruiting tomatoes put incredible amounts of calcium into their fruit, so crushed eggshells dug into soil are always accepted gratefully! You can actually see little roots hugging the shells, just in a few weeks!
  6. WATER EVENLY, DEEPLY and REGULARLY.
    All XL-fruiters need a lot of moisture to thrive AND deposit into the fruit.
    Deep watering encourages healthy root system, which does not spread on top hoping to catch every drop of moisture and subsequently gets burnt by sun. Good roots go deep into the soil, following your deep watering technique.
    Irregular watering will obviously result in fruit size fluctuations and eventually to cracks.
    Uneven watering (just one part of the garden bed) will result in disabled root system developed only on your favourite watering side.
  7. Ok, if you want REALLY HUGE fruits, just for the fun of it, we need to only leave 1,2, maximum 3 fruits on the whole bush at a time.
    I know it hurts emotionally to pinch the flowers out, but every flower and especially fruit takes up the precious nutrients and energy, which result in size of fruit dicreasing.
    Personally us, we just let our XL plants fruit as they please. The fruits are nothing they are capable of in size, but there are a lot more of them, they are still defnitely bigger than average, and they are all very tasty.
  8. Try to PROTECT YOUR PLANT FROM EXTREME STRESS!
    Yes, even if it is a tough +3 grader! Remember: the less stress, the bigger your fruit, and the tastier!
    Mist leaves AFTER the hottest hours (not to burn them), use shade cloth around midday, from time to time water/spray with a treat of Harvest or Seasol solution (organic) – these are known anti-stress tonics!...-the plants do not need that much, just a bit of extra attention! (Remember: spraying with tonics should only be performed in abcense of fungus! - otherwise we would be feeding the fungus. If your plunt is diseased with fungus, water it with a tonic solution instead. Bug (pest) problem is OK to apply tonic sprays though by itself, but since bugs weaken the plant, it becomes more susceptible to all diseases, including fungus. So we stay away from tonic sprays on any diseased plants just to be on the safe side and water them with the tonic solution.)
  9. Find out (online research, especially website of Department of Agriculture for your state) if your area is prone to FRUIT FLIES. ( Here around Brisbane it definitely is). If yes, prepare very fine mosquito net and wrap it securely around your fruits at the first sign of ripening (juuuuust when the tomato cheekies start blushing with pale yellow rather than deep green). Make sort of a christmas bulb with your tomato inside, allowing well for the fruit's growth.
    This will also protect the fruit from earworms. Eggplants are usually not that prone due to thicker skin. (You can use male and female fruit fly traps at the same time, but here with really healthy fruit fly populations all around neighbourhoods the perished insects are immediately replaced with new ones, so we find it just a time waste.)
  10. And, last but not least, treat any problems AT THE FIRST SIGNS!
    A tiny fungus spot can be dealt with by organic Eco-Fungiside.
    If left untreated, the bad case of fungus only leaves you a HOPE of saving your plant by several applications of Mancozeb or analogue, which are very far from being organic.
Enjoy your XL fruits!
The undisputable benefit of having an XL-fruiter is that,
during their long nursing time (1/3 of Human Gestation!;) ,
the plant puts incredible amounts of valuable nutrients into it's fruit!
Nutritional density of XL-fruiters is far ahead of fast-fruiting varieties,
and the taste is usually linked to this, too!:)
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