One such plant was an extra Big Beef seedling that I planted in hard-packed clay in an empty dirt lot next door. I watered it a couple times with Miracle Gro to get it started, then I basically abandoned it all year. It grew a couple feet tall and produced only 2 tomatoes, but the flavor blew away the tomatoes on the big, healthy Big Beef vines in my rich garden soil. A similar thing happened with some leftover seedlings for Park's Fabulous that I planted in a neighbor's garden. Their "planter's mix" soil turned out to be more like concrete mix. Their anemic tomato plants produced just a dozen or so golf ball-sized tomatoes, but they were amazingly flavorful, vs my prolific plants covered with big, bland tomatoes! I've had similar results with tomatoes in 5-gallon containers - undersized plants, undersized tomatoes, but big flavor.

One final anecdote - for the last 4 years, Cherokee Purple has been the best tomato in my garden. This past year, I set out my CP around the first of May under a portable cold frame. It easily outgrew the other tomatoes that were put out around Memorial Day. It grew into a massive plant, and produced over 50 tomatoes, which is good for a CP. But they were all as bland as can be! Nothing but spitters! The Rutgers Select that was also put out at the same time in the cold frame grew even bigger and produced over 200 tomatoes, but not a single one had any flavor. Meanwhile the Brandy Boys and NAR, planted in the same garden just a few feet away, grew much smaller plants but had very flavorful tomatoes. FWIW, all of the tomatoes received the same amount of water until they started setting fruit, then I turned off the irrigation for the rest of the summer.

Have other people experienced something similar, or is there something strange going on in my garden? I have a few theories, but I'd like to hear what other people think first.

-Mark

1. Forget that nasty soil and grow in a raised bed, 6-8" high.
2. Ditch the Miracle grow, use compost and some manure for huge growth. If you are on a budget, you can cut your costs by mixing in 1/4th of the mixture with existing soil.
3. For flavor, add trace minerals. Azomite has 'A to Z' trace minerals. Check out your local hydroponic store for some wild stuff.
4. Supplement with compost tea! Do a search and learn to brew for super growth!
5. Check out the video link.

I did the above last year and my plants toppled over my 4' tomato cage. This year, I'm building 7' x 18" tomato cage in only 6" of raised bed soil.

Then with all the rest falling into acceptable levels I'd look into re-evaluating the amount of N you are using and the watering regimen you are using. Excess N results in "enormous" plants and over-watering, or in the case of rain, poorly draining soil, results in bland tomatoes.

Dave

PS: also depending on your altitude in CO, research the effects of altitude on water uptake and cut back even more accordingly.

In my garden (picture below), my tomatoes are planted along the back, and beets, onions, squash, etc., are planted along the front. I turn off the irrigation lines to the tomatoes once they start setting fruit, but the front side of the garden still gets watered.

Theory #1: My largest tomatoes also have the largest root system, and they're running over to the front side of the garden where ample water is available, thus producing watery tomatoes. To test this theory, I plan on running a spade down the middle of my garden a few times this summer to prune any roots that are running across.

Theory #2: The roots of my largest tomatoes also run deeper, to the bottom of my raised bed where there is a layer of hard packed clay. Perhaps rainwater is collecting there, and the bigger tomato plants draw up more of this water. To test this theory, I plan on putting my tomatoes out later this year, without the help of season extenders, so the plants don't have as much time to develop deep roots.

Theory #3: (could apply to anyone's garden) Larger tomato plants have more self-shading than smaller plants, meaning there's less sugar available per tomato. I'm going to prune my tomatoes this year to 2 or 3 stems, to open things up and get more sun on the leaves.

Theory #4: Some other stress factor is responsible for the smaller tomato plants being smaller, and those stressful conditions produce better tasting tomatoes. I'm going to try watering a couple times this summer with diluted seawater. I bought some Sea-90 from seaagri.com, to see if a little sea salt on the roots will stress the plants just enough to slow their growth and produce more concentrated, flavorful tomatoes.

This picture of my garden was taken the first week of July. The 2 right-most tomatoes were started under a cold frame, and turned into monsters with bland tomatoes. The two staked tomatoes in the middle were put out later, grew comparatively smaller, but had much better flavor.

In general, the more foliage a plant has leads to increased photosynthesis which results in more production of the energy compounds ATP and GTP.

ATP and GTP are what drives development of everything associated with the plant, from root structure growth, to above ground growth, to blossom formation, fruit growth, and most importantly for some, synthesis of all the compounds that determine taste , of which the primary determinates are the specific genes in the DNA of a specific variety.

Yes, for sure there are lots ofother variables involved in taste, some that can be controlled by the gardener and some that cannot be controlled, such as weather.

Just noting that for many years I grew tomatoes in Denver, not many, and they did just fine in a small strip of just dirt at the side of my home that was shaded a good part of the day.

Carolyn