Got my first tomato!

 Hey all, well I got my first Tomato! Although it is really acidic, any way
to cut down on the acidity of tomatoes? I also have my eggplant coming along
very well, I don't want them to be really acidic either, again any way to
cut that?

Thanks
Dave

 

Is there nothing to do to the soil etc.? Not necessarily this year but in
the future?

 Lattés wrote:


No. Just select from a less acidic variety. Don't mess with your soil too
much. It is already showing itself fertile and you don't want to change
that except to possibly make it even more fertile.

Bill
--
Zone 5b (Detroit, MI)
I do not post my address to news groups.

 

I don't think there is necessarily a distinct relationship between
acidity level of the soil and acidic "tasting" tomatoes.  While it
seems a simple relationship it often isn't true. Its not like you can
pour sugar on the ground and get sweeter fruits. At least no one has
have suggested it!  This is much like the assumption that eating fat
makes you fat. Yet we don't feed pigs lots of oils and butter and they
seem rather plump. And lots of people have lost wait on Atkins-type
diets that eat lots of fats and no carbs. The chemistry involved
usually doesn't work that simply.

I found some web pages that discussed that the difference in acidity
we taste in tomatoes isn't due to changes in acidity but the presence
of other flavors (particularly sweetness) that mask the ever-present
acidity. Some hybrid do offer lower acidity, but I wonder if they just
mask the acidity or actually have a significant;y lower pH.

Try eating them at diffrent amounts of ripeness. Taste them when
they've just barely turned and then taste others that are left on the
vine an extra day, two, three. Mine turn reddish orange, then spend a
few days deepening to a deep solid red. I've eaten them at different
points and leaving them on the extra day or two has made a diference.
Most recommend backing off on water and fertilizer at this point. The
drier conditions supposedly producing sweeter/concentrated flavor in
fruits or more fragnant/pungent herbs.

You may not like the strain of tomato you are growing. I believe my
neighbor is growing a type of tomato that is low in acidity. I'm
thinking it was Jet Star-but I'm not positive.

There may be trace minerals that are lacking, or insufficent
nutrients.


A soil test will let you know how your soil is doing in major and
minor nutrients.
DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email)
Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY, 1 mile off L.I.Sound
1st Year Gardener

 Was it fully riped?