phonelady61
Full Member
Posts: 41
Joined: Thu Jun 13, 2013 10:14 am

Has anyone grown tomatoes that never produced any fruit ?

Hi all I was just wondering if anyone has ever grown a tomatoe plant that never produced any fruit ? Just curious cause it seems as though I have one . thanks .

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Where do you live? It seems early in the season to be giving up on fruit production unless you are in the south and spring tomato season is ending due to heat.

If that's the case, I imagine it's possible to be growing late maturing plant that misses the limited growing window. I believe gumbo was the Louisiana member who mentioned he grows later maturing indeterminate varieties in the fall and earlier maturing determinates in spring.

phonelady61
Full Member
Posts: 41
Joined: Thu Jun 13, 2013 10:14 am

applestar wrote:Where do you live? It seems early in the season to be giving up on fruit production unless you are in the south and spring tomato season is ending due to heat.

If that's the case, I imagine it's possible to be growing late maturing plant that misses the limited growing window. I believe gumbo was the Louisiana member who mentioned he grows later maturing indeterminate varieties in the fall and earlier maturing determinates in spring.
I live in Ohio ...se ohio so it just seems like it is taking forever ...maybe I'm just impatient but I truly wanted to know if it is possible to grow a tomatoe plant without it fruiting is all I wanted to know .

Dillbert
Greener Thumb
Posts: 955
Joined: Sun Apr 04, 2010 3:29 pm
Location: Central PA

>>impatient

ah... could be an indicator (g) but who can find fault with demanding a tomato?

a tomato plant never ever bearing a fruit would be unusual. not seen that in half a century....

do note however that "successful" pollination in the nightshade family (=tomatoes +) can be dramatically affected by "average temperatures" - constantly too warm/hot and you see blooms and blooms but no tomatoes..... two (I think) years ago I had 18 tomatoes going full blast and got next to nothing in terms of fruits.

seems a bit on the outer fringes for OH at this time of year, so perhaps the patience thing is more in play.

JayPoc
Greener Thumb
Posts: 769
Joined: Wed Nov 28, 2012 12:00 pm
Location: Virginia, The mountains Zone 6a/6b

I once had a box-store bought "Mr. Stripey" that grew into a lovely healthy plant that produced one (1) freakin' tomato.....

imafan26
Mod
Posts: 13962
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

I have always had tomatoes that are large (over 8 ft) and produce a lot of fruit. However, tomatoes will stop producing if some of these conditions exist

1. Weather too hot or cold. Tomatoes don't produce when the temperature is below 60 or above 90 degrees. (unless you have heat tolerant tomatoes).

2. Too much shade, even if the temperature is right, not enough light will result in more green and less flowers.

3. Brandywine sometimes has a problem with pollen clumping when humidity is high. I was warned of the problem, but my Brandywine had no problems and set fruit just fine.

4. Tomatoes are wind or bee pollinated. If you have flowers and they are not dropping from the heat, shake the plants to release the pollen.

5. Stress. If the tomatoes have drought or heat stess, they will drop blossoms. Tomatoes in production can drink up to 4 gallons of water a day.

User avatar
rainbowgardener
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 25279
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
Location: TN/GA 7b

Is your plant making plenty of blossoms but they drop off without setting fruit (blossom drop) or is it not blossoming?

Not blossoming could be lack of enough light and water as suggested or it can be over-fertilization with high Nitrogen fertilizer. Too much N, results in big leafy plants with few blossoms.

User avatar
gixxerific
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 5889
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 5:42 pm
Location: Wentzville, MO (Just West oF St. Louis) Zone 5B

rainbowgardener wrote:Is your plant making plenty of blossoms but they drop off without setting fruit (blossom drop) or is it not blossoming?
That is the most important question here.



Return to “TOMATO FORUM”