I have long heard about the myths about tomato meggerbloom, genetic anomalies that are key to growing a large 3-pounder cannon. However, I had never actually seen it in real life until one of my plants, a heirloom tomato type called Cherokee Chocolate, occurred.
Meggerbloom is relatively rare, but it is a coveted feature between champion tomato producers and their “giant vegetable” competitors. Certain varieties are known to consistently produce megabussomus, but even tomato varieties along the way can develop suddenly.
What is it?
Tomato Megger Bloom (also known as charm, but not fascinating, although it certainly appeals) occurs when two or more flowers fuse in the ovaries, and a single superbloom carries two or more ovaries. Occasionally, three or four (or more) flowers may be fused together.
The fascinating flowers can be easily found next to ordinary flowers. They look like dandelions with all the extra yellow petals, and if you look closely, you can see what makes them stand out.
Single tomato flowers have five (fusion) petals with one pistil (a green “antenna” protruding from the center), while Meggerbloom has multiple pistils appearing from the oversized flower with many petals.
When Meggerbloom is pollinated and left to grow, each ovary forms a fruit, but the fruits are joined together, each fruit forms its own bulge.
What you get is a strange, multifaceted tomato that looks like combined twins. Or triplet! Some cat-faced tomatoes with wild-looking leaves and deep ribs are a result of Megar Bloom (not always).
How Megger Bloom happens
While choosing the right variety can increase your chances of getting Megar Bloom (and go below), it can be just a matter of luck (if you really want it to happen), sometimes the mutation is caused by environmental stressors.
One study found that low-temperature-grown tomato plants (62°F during the day and 45°F during the night) are susceptible to flower abnormalities, as these cool temperatures alter the genes that caused flower formation.
Therefore, attraction usually only affects the first few tomatoes of the plant. As the weather warms, the future flowers develop normally.
Tomato varieties that produce megarbloom
Meggerbloom can occur in heirloom and hybrid tomato types, but you’re more likely to find them in beef steaks and other large, irregular types.
Serious competitors who try to break the tomato growth record are usually looking for a hybrid called Big Zack. This variety was developed by Minnie Zaccaria, the New Jersey Tomato Growth Champion who has a strong tendency to produce megabussombs and has a personal best of over 6 pounds!
Other varieties known for the production of Megablooms include Domingo, Burpee Supersteak, Brutus Magnum, Giant Belgium, Megamarv and Delicious.
What if I find Megabloom?
Most of the time, nothing! Not all megablooms bring fruit. Because they usually need extra pollen. If they do not pollinate properly, the meggerbloom will dry out and fall off.
Related: If your tomato flowers continue to fall, here are the things you can do
When Megabloom pollinates, the resulting fruit, no matter how bad or “ugh” it is, is completely edible (although it can be a little more watery than regular tomatoes). However, I choose this species of tomato before ripening it completely and ripening the fruit indoors. The mammoth’s size and cat fading make it more likely to cause damage to the vine, the more it remains.
Keep in mind that these extra large tomatoes require extra energy to grow. So, if your goal is to get as many tomatoes as possible, you may not want all the energy of the plant to go to a single Franken tomato. In this case, the plant can simply pinch the meggerbloom, instead focusing on growing fruit (in normal shape).
Personally, tomato meggerbloom is an interesting little calamity in nature and I want to leave one or two on the plants to see what happens!
