Tomato flowers dropping

[Southern Gardener]

I have a BUNCH of tomatoes that will be ripe soon, but the newer flower are turning brown and falling off the plants. Help?

 

[vfem]

I had this happen when my plants got the blight last year. Check there leaves for any signs of fungus, or mildew or brown/yellow blotches.

Check for insect activity around the stems, and near the roots.

Any signs of blossom end rot on the ripening tomatoes?

 

[Hattie the Hen]

I have a BUNCH of tomatoes that will be ripe soon, but the newer flower are turning brown and falling off the plants. Help?

Hi SG

I find this site very useful with regard to tomato growing -- it is full of valuable information.

http://www.kdcomm.net/~tomato/


This is the direct link to page dealing with flowers dropping off.

http://kdcomm.net/~tomato/Tomato/blossom.htm


I hope it helps as it is miserable to have things like this happen after you have nursed the plants along for so long. I lost my entire crop to late blight last year & I was devastated. This year I am growing them in a new place, in my front garden instead of out back. I am still bringing them in at night so far (still too cold to leave them out).

Good luck for a good crop this year!

:rose Hattie :rose

 

[vfem]

Just like Hattie, I had a loss to blight last year... if you catch it early enough and treat it well sometimes you can save a few plants. You'll have less of a yield but some is better then none.

Did you mulch around the plants? Hay, straw, grass clippings...ect?

We'll help as much as we can, I promise!!!

 

[bid]

Hopefully it is something simple...like high temps and/or high humidity. I know I have blossom drop every year due to that. Depends on when it starts as to how good the tomatos do for a particular year. Not much you can do about that 'tho. One idea to help you determine the reason.

 

[Southern Gardener]

Thank you for the info! I'm thinking it's extreme temps:

Enviromental causes:
Temperature - Excessive temperatures (low or high) will produce blossom drop by intefering with the pollination or fertilization process. Generally, day temperatures above 90F or night temperatures greater than 70-75F will interfer with fruit set resulting in the loss of flowers. Research has indicated that higher night temperatures have more of an influence.
High Humidity - can effect either the release of pollen from the anthers or the adherence of the pollen grains to the stigma

We've had temps as high as 94 the past couple of weeks and very high humidity and night time lows are 69-70. The only leaves that are turning yellow at the bottom are my Brandywines - the rest look great. The tomatoes on the vine all look great with no sign of BER. I've mulched as best I could with hay - I can barely get in that jungle. I won't make the mistake of planting too close next time. So I wonder if they will produce any new fruit later?

 

[vfem]

Thank you for the info! I'm thinking it's extreme temps:

Enviromental causes:
Temperature - Excessive temperatures (low or high) will produce blossom drop by intefering with the pollination or fertilization process. Generally, day temperatures above 90F or night temperatures greater than 70-75F will interfer with fruit set resulting in the loss of flowers. Research has indicated that higher night temperatures have more of an influence.
High Humidity - can effect either the release of pollen from the anthers or the adherence of the pollen grains to the stigma

We've had temps as high as 94 the past couple of weeks and very high humidity and night time lows are 69-70. The only leaves that are turning yellow at the bottom are my Brandywines - the rest look great. The tomatoes on the vine all look great with no sign of BER. I've mulched as best I could with hay - I can barely get in that jungle. I won't make the mistake of planting too close next time. So I wonder if they will produce any new fruit later?

If that is the issue... no worries, they should continue to bloom again for more fruits later.

 

[Southern Gardener]

Oh good! I'd hate to think that was all the tomotoes I'd get.

 

[hoodat]

You said you had a lot of tomatos already set. The vines may have all they can handle for now and be thinning themselves. If that's the case they will resume setting when some of your tomatos ripen and the plants have the energy to set more. Just be sure there is plenty of potash, calcium and phosphate in the fertilizer.

 

[wifezilla]

I would crunch up some egg shells and put them next to the plants just to make sure it isn't a lack of calcium causing your issues.

I put oyster shells in the hole when I transplanted mine to outside. I don't think I have ever had healthier tomato plants.