21 tomato plants and only 4 tomatoes WHY?

Usc529

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ust got back from vacation and boy did I miss my garden. Everything has grown so much in a weeks time. I have some okra, squash and jalapeño peppers growing so far. Trying to figure out why Im not getting many tomatoes though HELP!!!!!!
 

Ridgerunner

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What are your nighttime lows, especially a few weeks back? if the nighttime lows don't get below 70 you usually don't get many tomatoes setting on. I'm still getting tomatoes that set on a while back but they are thinning out. Did you maybe get yours planted really late so it was already hot when they started blooming?

Do you normally grow tomatoes? What kind if results do you get usually get? What have you done differently this year, location, timing, fertilizer, anything like that. Are you growing varieties you normally grow?
 

ducks4you

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@Usc529 , first :welcome!! from Central IL.
You need to be patient. No matter WHAT is causing more leaves than fruit, you WILL get fruit! Be patient!!! Tomatoes were made to reproduce and make more tomatoes. If you live in a place long enough you will get volunteer tomatoes from the ones that you missed, or the tomates that you put down and forgot about. They emerge late, and almost always produce. I rotate my beds, but I don't pull the volunteers from the previous year(s).
 

YourRabbitGirl

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ust got back from vacation and boy did I miss my garden. Everything has grown so much in a weeks time. I have some okra, squash and jalapeño peppers growing so far. Trying to figure out why Im not getting many tomatoes though HELP!!!!!!
If your soil is well balanced or high in nitrogen, use a fertilizer that is slightly lower in nitrogen and higher in phosphorus, such as 5-10-5 or 5-10-10 mixed fertilizer. If there is a minor shortage of nitrogen, using a balanced fertilizer such as 8-8-8 or 10-10-10.
 

seedcorn

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Questions, 4 ripe or green tomatoes?
What do your plants look like?
Any ground squirrels or other varmits?
 

ducks4you

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I have had tomato seed failure, too. I only have 8 or nine tiny starts, but they are doing ok.
My grand experiment with coffee grounds taught me that ONLY garlic and sweet peppers like to grow in it.
Today I will be cleaning up the compost from 2018 that the cats dumped in my pantry. I keep Looking at it, and now DH, who has suddenly become interested in gardening since HE gets to drive the tractor, wants to spruce it up. I bought 2 more package of tomato seeds to start, since it isn't too late. We will go below 32 d F tonight, a bit late, but the average last frost is April 15th, and you should always plan for the date to go 2 weeks beyond that. I even remember a particularly cold May 5th.
The three "orphaned" kittens, now 2yo, get into E V E R Y T H I N G!!! ALL of my window planting areas get trashed bc of them. If they weren't so docile, they would get the boot. So...my indoor gardening starts has had to be more creative. I use my basement setup with gro lights, and the top of my fridge. They leave the basement alone, and can't jump to the top of the fridge unless they use the stove.
I found the New Yorker tomato seeds that Alex :rainbowflowersent me, including the nice note. I won't even try to start those until next month, when I can put them in the fish tank on the porch with the lid, so that I can REALLY baby them. Sure miss him! 😔
 

AMKuska

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Are you sure it’s not a nitrogen issue? Huge dark leafy bushes with underwhelming fruit production is a sign
 

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