Tomato myths

cdntomato · April 12, 2006

Okay, what tomato myths would you particularly like to bust?

Acidity?
Disease resistance?
??

edit: in response to someone wondering why I want to myth bust... I'm asking 'coz I just read an article in the local rag that was riddled with what I consider myths. I won't respond to it, but I need to be comforted by others having similar myth issues

Jennifer, with no expectations that anything will appear on that Discovery TV show

travis · April 12, 2006

My Favorite Tomato Myth: "The Tomato is a Fruit"

NO, it's a VEGETABLE. Just ask the federal bureaucrats who have assigned ketchup as a vegetable serving for the school lunch program.

PV

P.S. I heard the Corps of Engineers has imported a flood-proof tomato variety from Thailand and that FEMA is supplying free seedlings to residents of N.O. at a cost to the taxpayer of 23.00 per plant.

TomatoDon · April 12, 2006

Top of the list. In reverse order, the way Dave Letterman does it.....Myth:

Fourth: Tomatoes are poisonous. (Nightshade family. No one's died from a tomato yet.)

Third: Tomatoes are love apples. (Nobody's gotten pregnant from a tomato yet.)

Second: I am the best tomato grower in the world. (JJ61 in Joisey is.)

First: And, now, for the best tomato myth in the world today....extended drum roll....
MarkFeron grew a tomato in January under a snowbank in Maryland! (It was Wisconsin.)

Ta-Da!

I'm sure there are more, but that's all I can think of now.

Don
Happy to be a friend of Craig and Carolyn.

lycoperleprechaun · April 12, 2006

"Tomatoes are poisonous. (Nightshade family. No one's died from a tomato yet.)"

Yeah, just don't try making a tea or salad out of the leaves, right.

Dunkel · April 12, 2006

I don't know about myths, but if I believed what I read about tomatoes I would never have grown them. There are so many people who love to stress the negative. If I believed the things I read then I should have expected every foliar and soil bourne disease known to man, every insect, four legged, and winged pest in creation to swarm down on my maters like a plague of locusts, that temperatures had to be exactly right for fruit to set at all, and that a teaspoon of water more or less would cause a total crop failure to BER. The truth is mater plants are very vigorous and weed - like in growth habit, just barely affected by most foliar diseases, just get nibbled by most insects, and most four legged and winged pests account for very few lost maters. Of course maybe things are more difficult for those that don't live in "Almost Heaven"! LOL

TomatoDon · April 12, 2006

That has nothing to do with MarkFeron and his snowbank tomato.

Don

TomatoDon · April 12, 2006

lycoperleprechaun,

I've never heard of anyone making a salad or tea from tomato leaves. I never proposed it either. I just said eating a ripe tomato never killed anyone.

Don
PS. Now that I think about it, it did kill one Aztec chief in 1423, and a Bulgarian scientist in 1982. But those are the only two cases I've heard of so far.

Now...how do you make you're tomato leaf salad? Thousand Island or Spicey Itallian?

TomatoDon · April 12, 2006

That's not a myth, kc.

Try growing a tomato under a snow bank, or making tea or salad out of the leaves. Now, that will really get you. But as a common sense person, I'm sure you will not try that.

Don

TomatoDon · April 12, 2006

I mean it's not a myth that heirlooms taste better.

Don

Dunkel · April 12, 2006

Hmmm Seems the point of my post went over some heads! LOL

jerseyjohn61 · April 12, 2006

Yeah, "JJ61; the best tomato grower ever" should
make the All Time Tomato Myth List.

I lost 8 transplants in the last 4 days.

....JJ61

P.S. Good to see you back in the swing Don06

greggf · April 12, 2006

kctomato is correct: it's a myth that heirlooms taste better.

Now, HE better explain why, because, coming from him, it might carry a little more weight than if it comes from me or anyone else.......... 8)

TomatoDon · April 12, 2006

I got you now, dunkel. Swish...right over my head!

Don

I would chat longer, but I have to make some tomato leaf tea right now. To go with my salad.

TomatoDon · April 12, 2006

I revise my previous statement due to overwhelming scientific evidence.

Tomatoes CAN kill. Do NOT eat 340.5 pounds of them at one sitting and do NOT eat them if you are allergic to them, especially in a fatal way. Do NOT make tea from the leaves, and do NOT use the leaves as a salad. Do NOT rupture your spleen with a sharp garden tool while tending tomatoes. Do NOT get stung by a bee while tending your tomato patch if you are fatally allergic to bees. Do NOT plant a tomato under a snow bank in January, lest you catch Pheumonia and put your life at risk. Do NOT enter a tomato patch with MarkFeron if there's a gun nearby.

Other than that I think you will be Okay. Maybe. Just be careful when dealing with a deadly commodity like tomatoes. Scientific evidence proves TOMATOES CAN KILL. The more I read here, the more dangerous they get. Maybe I should stick with zuchinni.

Don

timcunningham · April 13, 2006

Some myth's I hear from people when I tell them about my tomatoes.

Tomatoes require insects to pollinate them to produce fruit
Tomatoes originally come from Italy
All tomatoes taste the same, and taste like the ones I bought in Kroger last January.
Tomatoes are supposed to be Red

April 12, 2006	#1
cdntomato Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Kingston, Ontario Posts: 554	Tomato myths Okay, what tomato myths would you particularly like to bust? Acidity? Disease resistance? ?? edit: in response to someone wondering why I want to myth bust... I'm asking 'coz I just read an article in the local rag that was riddled with what I consider myths. I won't respond to it, but I need to be comforted by others having similar myth issues Jennifer, with no expectations that anything will appear on that Discovery TV show

April 12, 2006	#3
TomatoDon Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: MS Posts: 1,521	Top of the list. In reverse order, the way Dave Letterman does it.....Myth: Fourth: Tomatoes are poisonous. (Nightshade family. No one's died from a tomato yet.) Third: Tomatoes are love apples. (Nobody's gotten pregnant from a tomato yet.) Second: I am the best tomato grower in the world. (JJ61 in Joisey is.) First: And, now, for the best tomato myth in the world today....extended drum roll.... MarkFeron grew a tomato in January under a snowbank in Maryland! (It was Wisconsin.) Ta-Da! I'm sure there are more, but that's all I can think of now. Don Happy to be a friend of Craig and Carolyn. __________________ Zone 7B, N. MS

April 12, 2006	#5
Dunkel Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: West By God Virginia Posts: 245	I don't know about myths, but if I believed what I read about tomatoes I would never have grown them. There are so many people who love to stress the negative. If I believed the things I read then I should have expected every foliar and soil bourne disease known to man, every insect, four legged, and winged pest in creation to swarm down on my maters like a plague of locusts, that temperatures had to be exactly right for fruit to set at all, and that a teaspoon of water more or less would cause a total crop failure to BER. The truth is mater plants are very vigorous and weed - like in growth habit, just barely affected by most foliar diseases, just get nibbled by most insects, and most four legged and winged pests account for very few lost maters. Of course maybe things are more difficult for those that don't live in "Almost Heaven"! LOL __________________ I plant... Therefore I am. - Dunkel What the country needs is dirtier fingernails and cleaner minds. - Will Rogers

April 12, 2006	#6
TomatoDon Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: MS Posts: 1,521	That has nothing to do with MarkFeron and his snowbank tomato. Don __________________ Zone 7B, N. MS

April 12, 2006	#7
TomatoDon Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: MS Posts: 1,521	lycoperleprechaun, I've never heard of anyone making a salad or tea from tomato leaves. I never proposed it either. I just said eating a ripe tomato never killed anyone. Don PS. Now that I think about it, it did kill one Aztec chief in 1423, and a Bulgarian scientist in 1982. But those are the only two cases I've heard of so far. Now...how do you make you're tomato leaf salad? Thousand Island or Spicey Itallian? __________________ Zone 7B, N. MS

April 12, 2006	#2
travis Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Evansville, IN Posts: 2,984	My Favorite Tomato Myth: "The Tomato is a Fruit" NO, it's a VEGETABLE. Just ask the federal bureaucrats who have assigned ketchup as a vegetable serving for the school lunch program. PV P.S. I heard the Corps of Engineers has imported a flood-proof tomato variety from Thailand and that FEMA is supplying free seedlings to residents of N.O. at a cost to the taxpayer of 23.00 per plant.

April 12, 2006	#4
lycoperleprechaun Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: sacramento,ca. Posts: 8	"Tomatoes are poisonous. (Nightshade family. No one's died from a tomato yet.)" Yeah, just don't try making a tea or salad out of the leaves, right.

April 12, 2006	#11
jerseyjohn61 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Central New Jersey Z/6 Posts: 554	Yeah, "JJ61; the best tomato grower ever" should make the All Time Tomato Myth List. I lost 8 transplants in the last 4 days. ....JJ61 P.S. Good to see you back in the swing Don06

April 12, 2006	#12
greggf Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Boonville, NY Posts: 419	kctomato is correct: it's a myth that heirlooms taste better. Now, HE better explain why, because, coming from him, it might carry a little more weight than if it comes from me or anyone else.......... 8)

April 13, 2006	#15
timcunningham Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Middle Georgia Posts: 241	But seriously Some myth's I hear from people when I tell them about my tomatoes. Tomatoes require insects to pollinate them to produce fruit Tomatoes originally come from Italy All tomatoes taste the same, and taste like the ones I bought in Kroger last January. Tomatoes are supposed to be Red __________________ Visit my site: tomatoindex.com a database of over 2700 varieties. Vote for your favorite.