Growing tomatoes.lots of blooms and no fruit?
Question:I'm trying beefsteak tomatoes this year. ( Haven't had a lot of luck growing tomatoes in the past years) My plants are now about 3 feet tall, i pinch out the suckers, have removed the leaves below the first set of blooms...basically doing everything i am suppose to do!! However, i have alot of blooms but no fruit...some blooms are about 3 weeks old. What am i missing? Or is this normal for beefsteak tomatoes? How long before blooms turn into fruit? And yes..they do get over 6 hours of sunlight!
Answers:
There are several reasons why your tomatoes are failing to set fruit;
1) Excessive Nitrogen--Anything that creates lush vine conditions usually discourages bloom set. The most common 'culprit' is excessive fertilization...especially with nitrogen fertilization. (a 5-10-10 fertilizer applied once a moth is sufficient)
2) Dry Windy Conditions--You may need to establish windbreaks
3) Extreme Fluctuations in Temperatures-- If night temperatures fall below 55 or rise above 75 or if the day temps are above 90, the pollen becomes tacky and non-viable. Pollination cannot occur. If the bloom isn't pollinated, the bloom dies and falls off.
Other Suggestions;
Water the plants deeply once a week.
Mulch heavily to maintain constant soil moisture levels.
Some recommend attempting hand-pollination with an artist brush or a gentle shaking of the plant/cage/support prior to the hottest part of the day will also help.
Fruit set will resume when temperatures moderate.
Where are the bees ...
I think you should start to see some fruit soon. Tomatoes are usually more in season in late July/Aug. Give it a little time. Mmmm, wish I had some right now!
Water, Water, WATER!! Tomatos love it. I grow beefsteak tomatos, amish tomatos, cherry tomatos, and big boy tomatos.
Theyre all growing fine. I dont even touch the tomato plants. Alls I do is make sure they get plenty o water.
Miracle grow, water, patience.
Its still pretty early,they will come
quit pinching off the suckers until the blossoms turn to fruit, you are shocking the plant and the female blossoms come in very slow when the plant is shocked. be generous with the miracle grow. and lots of water
as long as there are blooms I would not handle the plant very much make sure they get watered late in the evening at least twice a week the more you do to the plants the slower they will produce. I had blooms for about a week and now mine are taking off. as long as the plants are bushing out they should be okay but if they are really tall and not much bushing, you should pinch the top off the plant this will make it start bushing out. wish you luck
In the words of Eric Clapton,
Let it grow, Let it grow.
More Related Questions & Answers...