Tomatoes - Tons of Blooms NO more tomatoes?

[vfem]

I've got 1 marigold tomato just about ready to pick, and 4 cherry tomatoes ripening as we speak. For WEEKS I've gotten lots of blooms and they all fall off the vine and no new tomatoes form? Are they just not getting pollenated? Is this something I need to bring to the attention of the bees not doing their job? They are ALL over my wild flowers and foxglove, but not my tomatoes.

Oh yeah, I'm kind of new here, found this place for the Backyard Chicken forum.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Dodgegal79]

Mine sort of did the same thing, they grew huge, and no tomatoes. My DH went and took an eraser around and pollenated them for me, now I have tomatoes. I'm not sure if there is a shortage of bees this year, maybe there is.

 

[simple life]

I am having the same problem with my squash. Its such a let down isn't it?

 

[patandchickens]

I've got 1 marigold tomato just about ready to pick, and 4 cherry tomatoes ripening as we speak. For WEEKS I've gotten lots of blooms and they all fall off the vine and no new tomatoes form?

What temperature have your nights been - cold nights would be the most common cause.

Good luck,

Pat

 

[poppycat]

I agree with patandchickens, tomatoes need nighttime temperatures to be consistently above 55F to set fruit. You can spray them with an artificial hormone (can't remember it's brand-name) that will make them set fruit at low temps. Some varieties also have a little lower cold tolerance than others.

I moved to Oregon from Virginia ten years ago. Growing tomatoes has been a great source of frustration for me ever since, so I feel your pain. Yet I continue to plant them year after year.

 

[vfem]

I am completely new at planting!

In fact, I'm new at a lot of things. We lived in a condo in the city for many years and finally bought a house with over an acre of cleared land and a pond. I'm so overwhelmed with all the space, but I couldn't wait to get my thumbs green.

My husband built a huge deck and I planted some tomatoes in large pots in the back. They are very green and hardy and doing amazingly well other then lacking tomatoes.

So far I've been planting some flowers here and there, a few shrubs and now I'm gathering seeds daily it seems and trading with farms, neighbors and local nurseries.

(All I've paid for was one shrub and the tomatoes plants!)

My DH is clearing a plot for our spring veggi garden to go next year, and I just don't want to be bummed over the tomatoes and other plants failing to produce next year. We need to grow enough for us and my family.

I'm going to try the erased thing today! I have TONS of blooms... something has to go right. I'll be picking that one lonely marigold today, its finally ripe!

Thanks everyone so much! Glad I found this place.

P.S. - I also live in central-eastern NC. We have some lovely evenings around here. We'd be LUCKLY if it would go under 65 at night.

OH, and where can I go to trade seeds here? That would be awesome. I've got tons of stuff I want to share.

 

[OaklandCityFarmer]

Welcome to the Forum!

I can understand your frustration and feeling overwhelmed but glad that you are keeping a positive attitude and being persistent.

Folks are right when they say that temps are the biggest reason the plants are dropping flowers. Also, since they are planted in pots they may be getting too hot for that reason alone. Make sure you keep them well watered and never let them dry out. A tray underneath the pot will help work as a reservoir for your pots. Mulch them heavily to also help retain moisture.

If day time temps are exceeding 95 degrees consistently and nighttime temps aren't dropping under 75 then you might want to consider bring the tomatoes inside, if at all possible at least at night. This will help them stabilize the temp at night in the hopes of setting fruit.

Near the bottom of the main page of the forum there is a forum for Buying, Selling and Trading Seeds and Plants.

I have grown tomatoes for a long time and have grown hundreds of different varieties. I'd be willing to trade or send you some varieties that are ideal for your situation.

Good luck!

 

[vfem]

Thanks!

I went and tried the pencil and eraser thing with the plants. We'll see what happens. I keep them freshly watered everyday along with some hibiscus sprouts I'm trying. I will try to take them in the kitchen tonight if I can, they've gotten huge though.

I just prepped some pots (DEEP long pots) for some fall lettuce. I'm thinking of trying some red radish too. I'm in such a FULL sun situation it isn't funny. I think there are maybe 2-3 trees left on the edge of my property that the wind hadn't taken down since we got here in May.

I'm going to go check out the trade/sell section, don't know how I missed it.

Thanks everyone.

 

[al6517]

This was happening to me this year, and I thought this year i was a super gardner, I took alot of time with them this yr and my tomato plants are more than 7' tall and look great but no fruit and ton's of blooms.

The weather has been hot and humid, and i have been told that when the humidity is too high or you are watering from the top instead of the bottm the excess moisture clots the bloom pollen so it doesn't pollinate well. Yes I found some bloom set spray and used it right away and now I have MATERS, the spray contains special hormones that allow the bloom to hold, but sometimes it will cause irregular shaped fruit.

I also bought some kind of fluffy make-up brush women use to paint thier faces, and use this to swirl around my blooms to help in pollination, it seems to really get the job done well, works better on maters than on womens faces.

AL

 

[nccountrygirl]