Plants Aren't Bearing Fruit
I have 11 heirlooms planted and have been doing this for years. Am in Southern Califnia and we have had lousy weather the past two years and little output. This year has been great but I am still having a problem getting fruit on my plants. Only four out of the 11 have fruit. I planted on April 15. Plants are now 4.5 to 6 feet high. I have been watering correctly -- not too much and not too little. There are no bugs or disease. Plants have the little yellow flowers on them but no fruit. Does anyone know what might be my problem?
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- Super Green Thumb
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- rainbowgardener
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Tomatoes are self pollinating, don't depend on honeybees, just breezes (or shake the plant a little)
It is nitrogen, not oxygen they were mentioning as possibly causing the problems. As noted if you use too much high nitrogen fertilizer, you will get big leafy plants with few flowers. If that is the problem, quit fertilizing, flush the soil well with lots of water, and add some bone meal.
If you have lots of flowers, that is probably not the problem. Look at the sticky at the top of this section on blossom drop. If you hare having plenty of the little yellow flowers, but they drop off without setting fruit, that is blossom drop, which is a stress reaction. If the plant is stressed, it drops the blossoms to concentrate on survival. Then you have to figure out what is stressing it.
It is nitrogen, not oxygen they were mentioning as possibly causing the problems. As noted if you use too much high nitrogen fertilizer, you will get big leafy plants with few flowers. If that is the problem, quit fertilizing, flush the soil well with lots of water, and add some bone meal.
If you have lots of flowers, that is probably not the problem. Look at the sticky at the top of this section on blossom drop. If you hare having plenty of the little yellow flowers, but they drop off without setting fruit, that is blossom drop, which is a stress reaction. If the plant is stressed, it drops the blossoms to concentrate on survival. Then you have to figure out what is stressing it.
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Can getting to much *rain over several days be a stresser for tomato plants? That's what happening to my plants and of course they are totally loaded down with fruit, which I don't want to lose.
*It's sunny in the mornings and by late afternoon here comes the monsoons, which sometimes last late into the evening.
*It's sunny in the mornings and by late afternoon here comes the monsoons, which sometimes last late into the evening.
- rainbowgardener
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Blossom drop applies to blossoms. Plants don't generally drop fruit that is already set. Main thing that excess water does at that point is lead to splitting / cracking. If it had been dry enough before the rain for the skin to harden up, then all the rain leads the fruit to swell faster than the skin can stretch and it splits.
If the rain is enough that the roots get waterlogged, that is one of the conditions that favors BER (blossom end rot), but only in fruit that are just developing (in their first couple weeks).
If the rain is enough that the roots get waterlogged, that is one of the conditions that favors BER (blossom end rot), but only in fruit that are just developing (in their first couple weeks).
- new_growth
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I've been having this problem too. After reading this thread I think I can find a number of culprits. The weather here in Chicago has been stupid. It's always either storming or suffocatingly humid and hot outside. Plus, I'm positive I over fertilized and put waaaay too much nitrogen into the soil (which I actually realized several weeks ago and stopped doing). I'll add bone meal as suggested. All my plants are getting humongous and are a beautiful green color but most aren't producing flowers.
Only about seven weeks left in the growing season! I was really hoping for a big haul this year...
Is it too late to turn things around?
Only about seven weeks left in the growing season! I was really hoping for a big haul this year...
Is it too late to turn things around?
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Rainbowgardener-thank you for describing what causes the splitting on top of the tomatoes (excessive rain). I harvested my first basket of Brandywines on Tuesday and they were perfect (in my eyes) except on the top of two of them, there were these splits on their tops. Otherwise they were great and the splits didn't affect the taste of them just their appearence. And yes for those tomatoes that I harvested the plant is replacing with more- Oh yay !!!
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- rainbowgardener
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As noted above, tomatoes do not need bees or other insects for pollination. Windy (short of gale force) should favor pollination. But most areas of Florida are just too hot for tomatoes to set fruit this time of year.
Gardeners in the deep south have to get used to a whole different season/ schedule than the rest of us. It is difficult because the chain stores probably display/ promote/ sell things on the schedule that works for the rest of us not for you. If I lived there, I would plant new tomato seeds now to grow through the fall/winter. They will probably do much better for you.
Gardeners in the deep south have to get used to a whole different season/ schedule than the rest of us. It is difficult because the chain stores probably display/ promote/ sell things on the schedule that works for the rest of us not for you. If I lived there, I would plant new tomato seeds now to grow through the fall/winter. They will probably do much better for you.
I have a beautiful black tomato plant that is growing like crazy but has only ever produced 2 fruits. this plant is 6' tall container plant that gets Eastern sunlight til about 1pm. I live in Austin Texas and have to water every night to every other night do to temps in mid 100 range.
How do I get fruit to grow?
How do I get fruit to grow?
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- Green Thumb
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You'll probably have to wait until the weather cools off, when high temps are getting down into low-90s or below.anna48 wrote:I have a beautiful black tomato plant that is growing like crazy but has only ever produced 2 fruits. this plant is 6' tall container plant that gets Eastern sunlight til about 1pm. I live in Austin Texas and have to water every night to every other night do to temps in mid 100 range.
How do I get fruit to grow?
- rainbowgardener
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Agree with mattie, they can't set fruit in temps like that. You can just keep watering them and wait until things cool down. Or you can start fresh. Plant new seeds now to grow through fall and early winter. Summer is tomato time for me and the rest of the temperate climate folks. It is NOT tomato time for you in the subtropics!!
I had same issue. My plants would have started fruiting in late July, but the temps were over 90F for 22 of the 31 days and in August, of the first 11 days, 8 of them were over 90F. Presently, I have had only 1 90F+ day in the past two weeks and the tomatoes have been producing quite a bit. I'm still a ways from getting ripe fruit, but it won't be too much longer.
I'm also battling flea beetles, I sprayed them vigorously last night... Thus far they have been focusing on the lower leaves, but they are moving up. Nuke time...
I'm also battling flea beetles, I sprayed them vigorously last night... Thus far they have been focusing on the lower leaves, but they are moving up. Nuke time...