FamilyNet Newsgate
FR>Hello,
FR>It is my first year to grow tomato. It is beefsteak and I plant one in FR>a 20" planter. I used "Whiteney Farm" organic all purpose plant food. FR>I read that using organic fertilizer I don't have to worry about FR>overfertilize because it is regulated by the microbes or sth machnism FR>like that. I bought a tomato cage from HD which has 4 rings and 3 FR>stalks. Now, the tomato plant grows to almost the tallest ring but I FR>haven't got any flower not saying fruit. I'm wondering whether I FR>should prune the plant, ie cut some tips? When, where and how? My FR>plant may only get 4 hours afternoon sun. It is the best I can do with FR>my location. How bad will this affect the flowering and production?
FR>Really anxious. Some tomato plants on HD shelf start to bear green FR>tomatos. I guess their living condition may not be as good as my FR>tomato. It is much crowded there and the plant is much shorter. Though FR>the finding is encouraging, it also makes me wonder whether I miss sth FR>in growing my tomato.
Old Timer, Tom Cottle advised a simular gardener that she possibly was over feeding her plant, so that it didn't feel threatened enough to want to reproduce its self. He suggested she stop applying fertilizer and only water about half that she had been applying.
Pruneing is best done by pinching off any spoutings in the fork of branchs, and branchs that don't appear to be fruit bearing; especially those above about two feet high in buckets.
Ciao, Ack.