Ok about tomatoe plants someone help?
Question:I have 2 very nice size tomatoe plants but every time I get a bloom on them the bloom seems to dry up why?And i was also wondering. should I be pruning around the bottom of the plant so more nutrition goes to the blooms ?
Answers:
First, don't be too hasty in assuming all is lost when a flower withers and falls off. Look where it came from. Is there a little green itsy bitsy nub? The flower doesn't stay after it's been pollinated. So, you might be okay and it's just that the flowers are falling off because the fruit is starting to grow. But, even if that is not the case and the flowers really are falling off, that is okay too. To an extent. Not every flower is going to get pollinated. If it doesn't, it dies and falls off (just like when it is pollinated - go figure). But, tomatoes have such an abundant prolific harvest I wouldn't worry about a few flowers not being pollinated. It's way too easy to grow tomatoes (they'll even grow in places you don't want them to grow, when you don't want them to grow). They are probably one of the most easiest food plants to grow. Personally, I trim off SOME of my extra leaves and stems. The "experts" say you are supposed to also trim off those shoots that grow up in the notch between the stem and the stalk. Problem is, I don't have the heart. Plus, I like abundance more than huge fruit. So I mostly just let my tomato plants grow and grow. But, as I said, I take off some stems and leaves so that there is air flow and it's also easier to harvest. They like water so don't let them dry out (but not soggy either). I water mine everyday or every other day but I live in Southern California. Also, don't try to grow tomatoes in the same spot next year, give it a year or two. Move the tomato spot around the yard to different areas every year. This is because they are heavy feeders and will wipe out all of the nutrients the next year's plant will need. Then, amend the soil of the previous spot so that it will be all ready to grow tomatoes the next time you want to plant them there. With your current plants, just sit back, let nature take's it's course, do what feels right (it will come to you), and enjoy your harvest!
you can try to artificially polinate the blooms with a Q-Tip.. also if tomatoes don't have enough Iron they won't produce fruit.
There are several factors that can contribute to flower blosoom drop and poor fruit set.
Few, if any, tomato varieties will set fruit during cool, cloudy weather. Even some of the heat - setting types drop blooms in cloudy weather conditions. These tomato blooms leave such a distinct stem when they fall from the bloom cluster that many gardeners think the blooms have been eaten off by insects. Artificial blossom-setting hormones, sold as Blossom-Set, are helpful in setting or holding some of these blooms by "fooling " the bloom into believing it has been pollinated. Most of this poor fruit set caused by cloudy weather conditions directly relates to incomplete pollination of the blooms. Tomato and pepper flowers are wind or mechanically pollinated, so gardeners don't have to worry about bee populations.
Blosoom drop can occur if its too hot. Daytime temperatures consistantly over 90 degrees and night-time temps over 75 can be a problem for tomato blosooms. The good news is that new blooms will appear and produce fruit once the weather improves.
Tomatos need consistent moisture. If your tomatoes dryout between waterting, blosooms can be dropped from the plant. Mulch your tomatoes to reduce evaporation from the soil and water on a consistent basis. Avoid overhead watering to help prevent disease.
Use of excessive nitrogen fertilizers can cause blosoom drop. This promotes vegetative growth at the expense of flower & fruit production. Use a balanced fertilizer (10-10-10).
Determinate tomatoes need no pruning other than removing all suckers below the first flower cluster, because pruning won't affect their fruit size or plant vigor. If you do any pruning at all above the first flower cluster on determinate tomatoes, you'll only be throwing away potential fruit.
Indeterminate tomatoes can have from one to many stems, although four is the best. The fewer the stems, the fewer but larger the fruits, and the less room the plant needs in the garden. For a multi-stemmed plant, let a second stem grow from the first node above the first fruit. Allow a third stem to develop from the second node above the first set fruit, and so forth. Keeping the branching as close to the first fruit as possible means those side stems will be vigorous but will not overpower the main stem.
The tomato plant may fail to change gears from the vegetative to the fruiting stage of the growth. too much nitrogen fertilizer and too much water in the first stage of growth is one cause of the failure; too much shade is another. You can help switch the plant over to the fruiting stage by plucking out the terminal shoots, by withdrawing water to check growth, or even by root prunung.
More Related Questions & Answers...