newgardener2016
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Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2016 5:08 pm
Location: Modesto, CA.

Tomato flower

So this will be my 3rd or 4th year summer grow since I began gardening. I do well as far as producing my tomatoes and peppers but right now I have an Early Girl tomato, about 12 inches high now and it already flowering.
In the past years I've never seen early flowering this early. I've researched weather to pinch off or let it do it's thing when flowering and it's a 50/50 on answers and suggestions I've read.
Need opinions should I let it flower and fruit or pinch and concentrate on the root growth and let it flower later on. I'm definitely pinching off all suckers.
Uploaded couple picks.
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gumbo2176
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Posts: 3065
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 2:01 am
Location: New Orleans

I've let them go. It will be a couple months before that flower ripens into a ready to pick tomato and your plant will surely grow in leaps and bounds. I have a cherry tomato plant in a large container on my front porch right now and it did what yours is doing. Right now it is almost 3 ft. tall with dozens of other blossoms on it and none are producing any real "tomato" growth as far as fruit forming.

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applestar
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Posts: 30504
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

If you want those blossoms to set fruit, you can lightly flick the sturdy part of the floral truss, or lightly touch the curved top of the floral stem with an electric toothbrush* to stimulate pollen release. Tomato blossoms are self pollinating and pollen that fall will fertilize the same blossom, so this first one can be made to set fruit, And any subsequent blossoms that open can be helped along the same way.

*You want the humming/buzzing kind, not the rotating bristle kind.

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

I would let it go. To get the plant to grow bigger : more sun, more warmth, more fertilizer. 5 gallon pot minimum for bush. 18 gallon better for bush or indeterminate.



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