Yikes! Did you mean 80 days from transplanting to mature plant (fruits ready to begin ripening)? If it takes 80 days for the fruit to ripen, even if I pick early in ripening, I'll be in to "good chance of a hard freeze" nights.
In any event, "Oh, golly." How to get a sheet over a tomato plant that's now slightly over 8 feet tall (it's outgrowing the almost 8' supports), and not damage it...
(The Mortgage Lifter's vines are rather brittle, more so than some other tomato varieties, it seems.)
Step 1 - carry my 8' step ladder out there. Do NOT leave near the one good (as in revived and still exploding with growth) Opo plant!
That Opo plant is now flowering again. I've only spotted one female flower bud, so, I'll wait a couple days and possibly give the plant one more modest shot of Super Phosphate. It sure doesn't seem to need the nitrogen in Bloom Booster: The Opo plant also followed the top of a fence that runs past a ~22' Mimosa tree: the Opo somehow senses such things and has reached over a couple feet and latched onto the tree. I just let it go and now it's already several feet up that tree. That's actually good - if that section flowers, it will make for a "high" source of pollen. If a large fruit or two develops up there, it may break down a branch or 2 on the tree, but, I don't really care - that tree is just sort of a weed in that spot anyway.
FWIW, I transplanted this (my biggest) Mortgage Lifter into it's 5 gallon pot roughly 120 days ago, but the others that went into the ground, which are seriously less vigorous plants, started setting a few fruits only a few days earlier. The two that suffered moderate hornworm damage haven't even flowered, and seem to still be in a "slow recovery" mode.
Yes, all have been fed "tomato plant food" and starting about a month ago, Miracle Grow Bloom Booster. Interestingly, the potted plant got (and gets) more shade. The others got more like 80% - 90% full sun until recently, with shade until ~10:00 a.m. now that shadows are getting considerably longer. If I might ask, what was your opinion on taste of the Mortgage Lifter fruits? (The hornworms liked the leaves on the 2 they got in to just fine!)
WELL!!!
NWS had our chances of rain dropping to almost nothing, I went out and started trying to get stuff done, and, sure enough, a thundershower popped up: It’s not enough rain to help with our drought, but, it is enough to get everything wet & preclude working outside for a while.
Ah, well. I think I’ll just cook up about 3 days supply of scrambled eggs. :-)
“If I might ask, what was your opinion on taste of the Mortgage Lifter fruits?”
It tastes like most other beefsteak tomatoes, IMHO. The reason it was/is so popular is due to the size.
Looks like you will have your hands full well into the fall, LOL! Do you know anyone with a helicopter that can cover your ML from above? ;)
This winter we’ll have some long discussions on what tomato varieties might work better for your growing zone. I am re-vamping my choices after this year, for sure. Going back to some of my tried and true varieties. :)
If frost is going to be an issue for you soon, you can harvest those Mortgage Lifters once they have some blush to them and ripen them indoors. My Cherokee Purple are just starting to color up, today. :)
It was 42 degrees this morning; has barely made it to 62 degrees now, and it’s windy as heck out there! I’d better go check what’s ‘blowing in.’