No tomatoes

[Dr.Pepper]

I'm having problems with my tomatoes, , , ,

4-5 weeks ago, I planted wally world tomatoes in 1/2 wine barrels. The plants are very large now, but NO FRUIT! they had lots of blossoms, but since they are going away, I still have no tomatoes.

Wots up wit dat?

The temps have been in the 90's and low 100's, not too hot for the California High Desert. The plants look great, but no tomatoes!

Ron C. =============================

[GA Pinhead]

Has it been above 75 at night? Have you tried hand pollinating?

John!

Dr [e-mail] wrote:

[Dr.Pepper]

Yes, it is above 75 degrees at night. I don't know what you mean by "Hand pollinating"

R>Has it been above 75 at night? Have you tried hand pollinating?

[GA Pinhead]

Tomatoes don't like that... fertilization is poor above that.

A small paintbrush, like model painting, works well, act like a bee!

John!

[Katra]

When you see fresh blossoms, flick them gently with your finger... I do it all the time now and it really does increase "sets".

[Jim Carlock]

I'll second that. All you need to do is just lightly tap the chutes with your fingertip, or a light flick like your flicking whatever you flick.

-- Jim Carlock Please post replies to newsgroup.

[Sue]

Thanks for asking this question. I just subscribed to this group because I'm having the same problem. Had it last year, too. I live in the San Joaquin Valley with temps in 80's and 90's. We do get cool at night, unlike you. Sue

[Sue]

We have lots of wind here. Wouldn't that tkae care of the pollinating? Sue

[GA Pinhead]

Might be blowing it too fast?

John!

Sue wrote:

[Rez]

I had this happen last year. This volunteer tomato came up in the front flower garden, grew into a HUGE plant and bloomed like crazy all season long, but it never set a single fruit.

Conversely the two "free from the garden show" tomatoes in the back garden both had plenty of fruit.

I've only planted one tomato this year... I forget where I got it, but it was such a good-looking plant (strong and symmetrical) that I didn't care what variety it was. As it happens, the tag said "variety: tomato" (*real* informative :) It has just finished its first flush of blossoms and since the flower stems seem to be thickening rather than wilting, I assume it set fruit, but it's a little too early to tell.

Where exactly are you? We're sure not getting 75F at night here!

I'm a couple miles NW of Antelope Acres (15mi. NW of Lancaster), and while we've got as high as 98F during the day, every night has cooled down at least to 60F, and it got down to 36 only a week ago.

Weather history at Fox Field, Lancaster (I'm in this microclimate):

last two digits to see more or fewer hours at once.

~REZ~

[Sue]

I don't think so. They're fairly well protected. Maybe too protected. I just went out and tapped the blossoms a bit as someone suggested. I may try the paintbrush thing. Sue

[Penelope Periwinkle]

Google on Blossom Drop.

Drop Plants fail to set fruit. Cause: Extremes in temperature and dry conditions may result in poor pollination and cause the flowers to drop from the plant without setting fruit. Blossom drop on tomatoes occurs when night temperatures are below 55°F or above

75°F. Control: Water the plants deeply once a week during dry weather. Fruit set should increase when temperatures moderate. Hormone sprays, such as "Blossom Set", may prevent some blossom drop due to low temperatures. However, the resulting fruit are often misshapen. Hormone sprays do not prevent blossom drop due to high temperatures.

Drop ? Tomato plants often develop beautiful blossoms that mysteriously fall off. This problem is often temperature-related. Some varieties may drop their blossoms when night temperatures fall below 55° while high day temperatures above 90° and night temperatures above 75° may also cause blossom drop. To prevent it, plant resistant varieties, keep the soil evenly moist and avoid using high nitrogen fertilizers during the early stages of plant growth. Also watch for signs of early blight or bacterial spot that may cause blossom loss.

It sounds like your daytime temps may be too high. As the second paragraph mentions, some varieties are more heat tolerant than others. The problem with buying big box store tomatoes is that they tend to stock "least common denominator" varieties, ie, varieties that will do well under average conditions.

Around here, in South Carolina, it gets very, very hot in July and August, and most tomatoes stop producing. If I can keep the plants going until September, I usually see a second flush of tomatoes, With a late frost, I can get a decent second crop.

Or, I *used* to see that. Since the War of the Thrips began, I'm lucky to see tomatoes at all. I have, however, removed their reservoir, the place they gathered strength while waiting for me to set out my purty lettle tomato plants. I have removed all three of the mulberryless mulberry trees, and am diligently destroying all signs of sproutlets from the roots. Maybe, maybe this year, I'll have fall tomatoes.

Anyway, I would suggest looking into varieties that were bred to produce in the heat.

Penelope

[GA Pinhead]

I am trying Solar Set this year. We will see.

John!

Penel>

[The Cook]

Here is the URL for Burpee's Heatwave II.

is supposed to withstand heat up to 100° F.

[Penelope Periwinkle]

Yeah, there are a lot of new tomatoes that are supposed to be more heat resilient. An old variety that does well in heat is Arkansas Traveler.

Penelope

[Sue]

Thanks for the info. I'm sure it must be the heat. It was 98 degrees today. :o( The only places we have near here to buy tomato plants are Wal*Mart and K-Mart. I wasn't checking for any heat tolerant varieties. Lots of farms around here grow commercial tomatoes so I assume they select their varieties carefully. Just in case, I was out yesterday with a small paint brush following someone's advice. Several of the blossoms fell off with just a gentle touch.

Next year. My favorites are the Sweet 100s (cherry type). They seem to do OK in the heat. I haven't had enough regular sized ones in the last couple of years to can. Sue

[Penelope Periwinkle]

Heat Wave, Sun Master, Sure Fire, Solar Fire, Solar Set, Sun Leaper, Ozark Pink, Homestead, Tropic VFN, and the list goes on.

You just have to play with the different varieties and see which one does best in your area.

Penelope

[Nick Apostolakis]

hello,

i had one similar problem recently . the tomato plants were very big and the tomato production quite low. one tomato in about 12 plants. what i did was to prune the plants enough to increase the sun,air, insect penetration in the plants and push them from leaf and stem production to fruit production.

all these happened two weeks ago. now each plant has 5 or more fruits without any other interference from me. since i live in Crete Greece our days are quite hot and the plants dont seem to mind. when we have only

25 degrees of celsius it is a cool day.

i hope this helps a bit

[Sue]

Thanks. The plants that are really big have hardly any tomatoes. Too much energy going into plant growth. One plant looks stunted and is loaded with them. It will take me a lot of courage, but I may try your method. Not much to lose if it doesn't work. :o( Sue

[Dwayne]

You might also try slapping them. Don't hit them hard enough to break the plants, but enough to get their attention. That tip was in a "Growing Tomatoes" hand book. We have tried it and it worked.

It will also depend on whether the seeds used to product your plants were determinate or indeterminate. Indeterminate will bloom and put on tomatoes all year, the rest put them on once and then quit.

Dwayne