Topic: tommy fruiting problems.

[terces]

Hi Everyone,

I have 12 really bushy tomatoes in my greenhouse which are very healthy but have hardy any fruit.

This is my first year and no-one seems to know what to do.  Any sugestions would be appreciated.

[Robert_Brenchley]

What variety are they? Mine are outdoor so they're not really comparable, but some are laden and other varieties have hardly anything. Could you be overfeeding, so you get lots of leaf and no fruit?

[tim]

terces -

1. Are they meant to be bush tomatoes? If not, have you done any pinching out?
2. What are they in?
3. How far apart?
4. Do they have flowers?
5. How tall are they?
5. When were they planted out?
6. What is your watering/feeding regime?
7. Is the 'house shaded/ventilated/
etc!!

[terces]

Hi,  Thanks for getting back to me.

I have been pinching out and the toms cover ranges from cherry to plum to beefsteak.
They are grown in grow bags, 3 to a bag and do have flowers.
They range from2 - 5 feet tall.
They are in a ventilated polytunnel and I water everyday.

I think Robert has hit upon the problem.  I think I have been feeding them far too much.  Do you think they will recover?

[the_snail]

The following things could be to blame.

1. Bad polination. I like to pland marigolds to attract insects to polinate my tomatoe flowers.

2. Insuficiant watering and feeding. If you grow them in growbags then you need to water and feed alot more than you would have to if you planteed them in a open border in the greenhouse.

3. As tim said if they are not a bush variety then pinching out all the side shoots to form a Cordon is essential to put all the growth into the developing fruit and not into new shoots. A good tip is to start from the top and work down when pinching out the side shoots so if you damage the growing tip then you can form a new growing shoot from one of the lower side shoots.

The_Snail

[tim]

Well there's food for thought!! Wish I knew the answers. But here are some ideas. I apologise if they should appear to differ from those offered.

1. They went out when??
2. They have some fruit - where? Which varieties?
3. It is not unusual for fruit not to set until the plants are several feet tall.
4. Watering - yes, but how much? In this weather, we are giving 3l each a day.
5. Feeding - the Book says DON'T feed until the first fruit sets. BUT I notice that, in RHS trials, they fed Peppers 1/2 strength tom feed from 4 leaves onwards.
5. Are the flowers just dropping off? We are getting a lot of that this year.
6. Nothing to do with the case but, whatever the bags say, I reckon that 3 to a bag is too many. Ours are 16-18" apart & they still crowd each other, making good husbandry very difficult.
7. Ventilation, yes. But are you still getting a huge variance of temperature? Even with shading & much ventilation, we go from 53F at night to 90F daytime.

Not an answer, but more food for thought??

[sallyann]

eek, 3l a day!?

Do they really need that much water?? Mine are outside in 9" pots, i water them every day (ish) but i think if i gave them that much water it would all just run out of the bottom?

This tomato growing business is very tricky!

[tim]

Here's something else -

"Several conditions can cause tomatoes to not set fruit. Too much nitrogen fertilizer, nighttime temperatures over 70 degrees F., low temperatures below 50 degrees F., irregular watering, insects such as thrips or planting the wrong variety may result in poor fruit set. Any of these conditions can cause poor fruit set, but combinations can cause failures. If Extension recommended varieties are used , the main reason tomato plants do not set fruit is because they are not planted where they can receive 8-10 hours of direct sunlight daily. Any less direct sunlight will result in a spindly growing, nonproductive plant with healthy foliage."

[terces]

Thanks for all your advice - especially Tim.

Some of the flowers have fallen off but only on 2 plants.  Tommy growing seems like a really tricky business!