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steve421

Mortgage lifter???hardly any mators

steve421
17 years ago

Hey all,

I have around 20 mortgage lifter plants and they are flowering like crazy but are not setting fruit well...It was in the 70's - 80's then went up into the 90s with high humidity...I know it is still kind of early but the most that I have on each plant are 2...and some plants havent set fruit at all...I have started shaking the cages every morning with hopes of pollinating so we will see how that goes...I have heard nothing but good things about mortgage lifter...bought these seeds from burpees and I am not impressed with the amount of fruit yet...Some matoes are probally around 8 oz now and am happy about the size that they are getting...and are still green and growing...anyone else having problems with ML this year

Thanks

Steve

Comments (15)

  • feldon30
    17 years ago

    Welcome to the forums!

    I am not sure the source of the Mortgage Lifters that Burpee grows so it's hard to know how it behaves compared to the original Mortgage Lifter (Estler) strain. Mortgage Lifter is a long-season variety, taking a full 85 days from transplant to maturity. They are indeterminate, so they continue to produce fruit all season (no fruit will set above 92-95 degrees) until the first hard frost. When did you set them out and how tall were the transplants?

    Are you growing any other varieties that produce large red or pink beefsteak fruit like Aunt Ginny's Purple, Brandywine OTV, Caspian Pink, Coustralee, Crnkovic Yugoslavian, Earl's Faux, Ramapo, Rutgers, Omar's Lebanese, Pruden's Purple, Stump of the World, etc.? Or is that next year's adventure? :)

  • steve421
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    I am also growing burpees famous brandywine impposter...hardly any fruit on those as well...also getting BEM with those that I have started to use CaCl with...the plants were set out at around a foot high..started from seed...they are now around 4 ft...and bottom leaves are turning yellow...I always have this problem when the matoes go into friuit production...one plant had a fungus (it was quite bad)...took it out and sprayed all other plants for percautionary measures..all others look good with the exception of yellowing lower leaves..which I dont believe is from a fungi or disease..but I could be wrong...so I sprayed to be safe...I will be planting Coustralee for my fall garden which will be started as soon as corn is harvested...probally another month....thanks for your help...I tried these varieties because I am starting a backyard nursery for craft shows and wanted a variety thats hard to find at the big stores...so I gave away 100 plants to coworkers and friends to see how they do....and I havent heard of anyones doing well in production....but as you said its still early...they just started producing fruit about a month ago...so in a few more weeks I will have a better idea on if its worth doing again...I have a feeling that the taste will be out of this world....just wished I had a few more on the plants right now

    STeve

  • feldon30
    17 years ago

    Sounds like you have a good grasp on all this stuff. :)

    Yellow leaves can be a sign of overwatering.

  • carolyn137
    17 years ago

    Steve,

    You've talked about high temps and high humidity.

    Regardless of the variety high temps can denature pollen and make it ineffective and high humidity can cause pollen clumping which also renders pollen useless.

    You can shake the plants all you want to but until there's a coller spell and/or the humidity lessens for a bit, fruits won't set. The normal blossom cycle is about three weeks, so if you're seeing a lot of blossom drop now due to lack of self pollenization, those cooler temps/lower humidity might allow for better fruit set.

    So are ALL of your varieties not setting fruits well, or is just ML?

    BTW, there are plenty of other varieties that are med pinks that I like much better than ML, but the blurb that goes with it are so attractive that I'm convinced many folks grow it just for the story, which may or may not be true.

    Carolyn

  • ozmantis
    17 years ago

    I grew ML estlers last season in my main bed and it outproduced all the others in the same bed. That isn't to say that it overwhelmed me with fruit but it does give it a spot in the greenhouse this year. Loved the taste as well.
    I have grown the one from TGS but don't know what that is and also one from the Diggers club down under here years ago. Last seasons Estlers has been the best.

  • steve421
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    I have actually started to bombard them with water and seem to be doing much better...like I said it has been hot with not much in the way of rain lately...I believe Carolyn you told me earlier that they may not do too well down here because of the heat...I had some earlier this year with over watering problems but this is different...the ground gets so dry that it actually craks,,,I cant put enough organic matter down with out it totally disintergrating away in a week or two....but I must say it looks like a great corn year...as long as the wind dont blow them over again lol...

    Thanks
    Steve

  • steve421
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    oohh yeah carolyn I havent seen many flowers just dropping off....there have been a few but most are still there

  • ediej1209 AL Zn 7
    17 years ago

    Quote:
    BTW, there are plenty of other varieties that are med pinks that I like much better than ML, but the blurb that goes with it are so attractive that I'm convinced many folks grow it just for the story, which may or may not be true.

    *************

    William Estler, who hybridized the original Estler's Mortgage Lifter, was my paternal Grandfather. Yep, the story's most definitely true! My uncle, Robert Estler, still continues the legacy, thank goodness, or I wouldn't have any plants; we don't have much luck starting them ourselves. But it just wouldn't be summer without them. I love the flavor. We do grow other types just for variety (another reason we can't save seeds as they will readily cross), as I enjoy a multicolored salad, but the varieties vary from year to year except for the ML's. Hope everyone had a great growing season; start planning next summer's garden soon -- and don't forget the Estler's Mortgage Lifter!

    Happy Holidays!!

  • carolyn137
    17 years ago

    (William Estler, who hybridized the original Estler's Mortgage Lifter, was my paternal Grandfather. Yep, the story's most definitely true! My uncle, Robert Estler, still continues the legacy, thank goodness, or I wouldn't have any plants; we don't have much luck starting them ourselves. But it just wouldn't be summer without them)

    And it's the ML(Estler) that I have spoken of many times and for me, is much better than the so called Charlie Byles/Radiator Charlie one.

    it must have been your Uncle who wrote to Chuck Wyatt who then ASAP told me about it.

    But the two origins have to be resolved somehow. How do you see the Byles ML vs the Eslter ML. I assume from what I've read that the Estler came first. True?

    But could you please speak to this issue?

    I mean why would Byles go to the trouble of doing what he did and naming it Mortgage Lifter if there already was a variety that preceded that called Mortgage Lifter. Just too much coincidence for me to understand.

    Carolyn

  • natal
    17 years ago

    Steve, I tried Mortgage Lifter this year too. I think I harvested 2 tomatoes and the birds got the other 2, LOL.

    I don't have a lot of luck with heirlooms period down here, but I keep trying.

    Got my TGS catalog the other day. Time to start thinking about next year.

  • newchainsaw
    17 years ago

    I grew mortgage lifter last year. From 5 plants I got about 40 tomatoes. How you grow tomatoes sometimes matters more then what type you grow.

  • ediej1209 AL Zn 7
    17 years ago

    Carolyn, that is a good question; I will ask my uncle if he can shed some light and will let you know what he thinks.

  • ediej1209 AL Zn 7
    17 years ago

    Carolyn, I asked my uncle about the Mortgage Lifter, and here is the reply:

    The article is in the GOLDENSEAL magazine summer 1994,volume 20,no.2. West Virginia Traditional Life titled "A Man and His Tomato". It has some excellent pictures.
    The date is 1922. It was a cross between the Ponderosa Pink and the Pritchard. In 1932 the term "Mortgage Lifter" was registered. The story was written by the Cabell County [WV] extension agent, John Marra.

  • gtomato
    17 years ago

    Last year all Mortgage Lifter did was lift my blood presure trying to get it to produce!!!

    BUT it was in a 15 gal. pot that didn't get watered like it should and I'm giving it another shot again in the ground this year. Too good of a reputation to pass it up after one year.

    greg

  • greenlott
    16 years ago

    I am having the same problem with Mortgage Lifter. Have 10 plants in tomato patch. All are doing well including Mortage Lifter. I'm In Mississippi and planted in April, a week before good friday this year. All plants are now over six feet tall. Dona and Goliath now have baseball size fruit. Mortgage lifter is as tall and healthy as all others, blooms all over the plant, but they shrivel up and fall off. Counted 40 blooms and no fruit. Mortgage lifter has some yellowing on the bottom leaves, but it does not appear to be a disease or virus. What to do?

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