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JRinPA · July 18, 2015

I have been making a good study of the butternut trellis and I have concluded it is likely the lack of nutrients at the far end of the vines causing those yellow babies. They seem to occur soon after a big healthy butternut. Next year I will probably plant more densely and trim suckers after one leaf.

Pollination seems okay; every morning I check there is probably an average of about 1 bee per bloom. I did hand pollinate three flowers one morning, and another yesterday morning just to make sure. By afternoon, there was a honeybee in that last one, so it was likely unnecessary. I tied a bow on them as marker and they are all looking good, not yellowing.

I have taken to just knocking off the yellow ones when I see them. Some are as small as 1/4" when I first see them - the yellow pops in the morning light. But there are still a lot of good ones coming on. I put green twisters next to the green babies as a marker; that way I can check if they start normal and then yellow. So far, none have done that. And yes, I am an idiot, the green twisters are hard to see but for some reason I felt the need to LITERALLY color code them.

Last week there were two yellow ones that got to about 2", but again they never properly flowered. I had let them on to see what happened. One of those may be the one that looks like BER. I don't have much experience with BER with tomatoes, thankfully. Judging by the description in that article posted by Carolyn, I don't think this is BER.

Fred, I'm glad you mentioned harvesting. I have not thought much about that and should read into it. What tells should I look for to know when to pick them? It seems early to me since the ones I traded for last year were on a garden rack in November. We ate the last ones in February and those last few had gone from great to amazing and tasted very nutty.

July 18, 2015	#6
JRinPA Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: SE PA Posts: 963	I have been making a good study of the butternut trellis and I have concluded it is likely the lack of nutrients at the far end of the vines causing those yellow babies. They seem to occur soon after a big healthy butternut. Next year I will probably plant more densely and trim suckers after one leaf. Pollination seems okay; every morning I check there is probably an average of about 1 bee per bloom. I did hand pollinate three flowers one morning, and another yesterday morning just to make sure. By afternoon, there was a honeybee in that last one, so it was likely unnecessary. I tied a bow on them as marker and they are all looking good, not yellowing. I have taken to just knocking off the yellow ones when I see them. Some are as small as 1/4" when I first see them - the yellow pops in the morning light. But there are still a lot of good ones coming on. I put green twisters next to the green babies as a marker; that way I can check if they start normal and then yellow. So far, none have done that. And yes, I am an idiot, the green twisters are hard to see but for some reason I felt the need to LITERALLY color code them. Last week there were two yellow ones that got to about 2", but again they never properly flowered. I had let them on to see what happened. One of those may be the one that looks like BER. I don't have much experience with BER with tomatoes, thankfully. Judging by the description in that article posted by Carolyn, I don't think this is BER. Fred, I'm glad you mentioned harvesting. I have not thought much about that and should read into it. What tells should I look for to know when to pick them? It seems early to me since the ones I traded for last year were on a garden rack in November. We ate the last ones in February and those last few had gone from great to amazing and tasted very nutty.