on all 3 of my tomato plants, several flower clusters have formed. on each cluster, most of the flowers bloom, then drop, with no tomato formed. I have, at most, 2 tomatoes per cluster, after having 6+ blossoms per cluster (12+ on the cherry tomatoes).
everything else on the plants looks uber-healthy. they are growing like weeds, and doing everything else by-the-books. I have been making sure to shake/vibrate each plant, in order to increase fertilization chances, usually twice a day, on each in-bloom cluster.
what could make blossoms drop so much?
I have posted it elsewhere, but here's a quick rundown of my setup and conditions:
5 gallon buckets each with a dozen 1/4" holes drilled in the bottom, elevated off of my porch via hollow/patterned concrete blocks to aid in draining. soil is miracle grow potting mix with a little sphagnum peat moss added, maybe 5-or-6 to 1 ratio. there is also an inch of mushroom compost worked into the top layer. 1 patio, 1 husky cherry red, and 1 bush goliath. I haven't watered them in over 2 weeks, as it has rained every day for that long, and is forecast to do so for 2 more weeks. I am in zone 7b, and this rain is completely out of the ordinary for our region in May. the last time I did water them, I added a small amount of fairly diluted 18/18/21 fertilizer to the water.
could the constant rain be something to do with it? I've noticed that blooms generally get wet, and stay wet, due to the lack of prolonged, dry, sunshine. could this inhibit pollination? is there a way to bypass the problem, if so? is 2 more weeks of constant rain gonna doom me and my crops?
any info would rock. thanks in advance, guys.
p.s.
my peppers have no such trouble. 100% pollination and bloom-to-fruit ratio.
-
elevenplants
- Senior Member
- Posts: 187
- Joined: Tue Mar 03, 2009 1:23 pm
- Location: alabama
-
rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 25279
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
Blossom drop is a reaction to stress -- the plant drops the blossoms to focus on survival. The stress can be from a variety of causes-- temperatures too low or too high, humidity too low or too high, too much or too little nitrogen, lack of water (doesn't sound like your problem! 
). Early in the season blossom drop often relates to night time temps going below 55. In your situation with the rain, it sounds like high humidity and rain are interfering with pollination. Not to fear, if the weather does dry out then normal pollinating should resume (assuming other problems haven't set in, in the meantime).
). Early in the season blossom drop often relates to night time temps going below 55. In your situation with the rain, it sounds like high humidity and rain are interfering with pollination. Not to fear, if the weather does dry out then normal pollinating should resume (assuming other problems haven't set in, in the meantime).-
pharmerphil
- Senior Member
- Posts: 158
- Joined: Sat May 02, 2009 7:13 am
- Location: Minnesota
I think Rainbow Gardener hit it right on the head...rainbowgardener wrote:Blossom drop is a reaction to stress -- the plant drops the blossoms to focus on survival. The stress can be from a variety of causes-- temperatures too low or too high, humidity too low or too high, too much or too little nitrogen, lack of water (doesn't sound like your problem!
okay, well, seeing as how we are supposed to have another full TWO weeks of rain, clouds, rain and clouds, with VERY little sun, should I DO anything? IE, since any blossoms right now are only fruiting at a rate of something like 1 in 5, should I just kill off the blossoms? or some of them? or just ride it out?
I'm happy to report that my flower-to-fruit ratio has shot up to 80% or so.
I have 8 fruit on the bush goliath, and 15 or so on the husky cherry red. the patio variety is still growing miserably slow, but steady. whatever the opposite of leggy is, this patio tomato plant is it. it has a main stalk that looks big enough for it to be 5 feet tall with dozens of tomatoes, but is 15", with zero.
I have 8 fruit on the bush goliath, and 15 or so on the husky cherry red. the patio variety is still growing miserably slow, but steady. whatever the opposite of leggy is, this patio tomato plant is it. it has a main stalk that looks big enough for it to be 5 feet tall with dozens of tomatoes, but is 15", with zero.
scratch that. just in from the garden, and the patio tomatoes now have 6 tiny little pinhead fruit forming!!!Haesuse wrote:whatever the opposite of leggy is, this patio tomato plant is it. it has a main stalk that looks big enough for it to be 5 feet tall with dozens of tomatoes, but is 15", with zero.
I am so jealous!
I still have:
* 4 plants with no fruit
* 1 cherry plant with 3 little fruit which are green and have been the same size for 2 weeks now
* 1 plant that my adorable 3 year old gave a buzz cut to yesterday
I am so hopeful to get great production but I'm feeling low about these days. At least we've got no rain int the forecast until Saturday!!! Yay!
I still have:
* 4 plants with no fruit
* 1 cherry plant with 3 little fruit which are green and have been the same size for 2 weeks now
* 1 plant that my adorable 3 year old gave a buzz cut to yesterday
I am so hopeful to get great production but I'm feeling low about these days. At least we've got no rain int the forecast until Saturday!!! Yay!
we've got more rain, rain, rain. but, the 15 day forecast now calls for (FINALLY) 5-6 days of mostly sunny, hot and humid, for NEXT week. I can't wait.annafaie wrote:I am so hopeful to get great production but I'm feeling low about these days. At least we've got no rain int the forecast until Saturday!!! Yay!
good luck with yours. I'm sure they'll produce!!