My tomato flower dropped off - what does it mean?!?!?!

[sally_cinnamon]

Hi all,
Along with my veggies at home I also have some stuff on the go in my office at work as it closely resembles a greenhouse - my problem is this...
My tomato plant has been doing really well, is about two foot high and has two sets of flowers, one set of which has opened up.  This was all well and good until this morning when I found that one of the flowers had dropped off and one of the others looks sort of dry.  What could have caused this and should I be worried?  ???

[sally_cinnamon]

[Niamh]

I'm sure the great and the good on this site will come to your rescue shortly sally_cinnamon as lunch time approaches, but the flowers dropping off probably means one of two things;

1. the plant is stressed, ie too much or too little water, light or food

2. if it's indoors, the little flowers will not be pollinated by passing insects, so they open, nothing happens, no fruit is set, so they die and drop off. Unless there is such a thing as self pollinating tomatoes?

That's all I got, not even sure it's 100% correct!


Niamh

[sally_cinnamon]

That's been helpful, thank you - I know it has plenty of light as it is next to an enourmous window and I water it from below every time it sucks it all up and have started feeding it when the flowers came so I think I can rule these out but the pollination thing is something I was unsure about (when to do it etc) so will give that a go with the other flowers.  Thanks for your advice, fingers crossed for the other flowers!   ;D

[plot51A]

Tomatoes do self pollinate - but they need some air or plant movement to do so. Try tapping the flower trusses and see if that makes a difference.

[Meg]

Panic!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[amphibian]

Nitrogen build up in the pot is a common cause of blossom drop, caused by over feeding. Conversely too little nitrogen can also lead to blossom drop. Too little light or excesive temperature may also play a part.

[sally_cinnamon]

I've just had a look at my tomatoes and they don't seem to open enough to see any pollen like on a normal flower, how do I get the pollen without damaging the flower?  I'm scared incase I do something wrong and end up with no tomatoes!   :'(

[Robert_Brenchley]

Just tap them, you won't need to do anything else.

[supersprout]

When we were small, my sister and I used to be 'allowed' to tap the tomato plants whenever we visited my mum's greenhouse, as a treat ;D Plus, we wanted those tomatoes!

[growmore]

Tickle the rest of the flowers lightly with a rabbits tail ..If you dont have one use a blusher brush ..But only lightly ..cheers ..Jim

[stuffed]

I had 2 pepper plants in pots on my balcony last year that kept losing their flowers (supposed to be outdoor ones) I put them in my little plastic green house and they finally started to fruit. I don't know why and I know this doesn't help you at all but just wanted to say that I know how confusing this growing your own can be at times. :-\

[sally_cinnamon]

Thanks everyone, I have tickled and tapped my flowers this morning so here's hoping I get some pollination!  And you're right stuffed, growing your own is v.confusing for a newbie like me!  Oh, well - all this new info can be saved for next years attempts!   ;D

[amphibian]

I had 2 pepper plants in pots on my balcony last year that kept losing their flowers (supposed to be outdoor ones) I put them in my little plastic green house and they finally started to fruit. I don't know why and I know this doesn't help you at all but just wanted to say that I know how confusing this growing your own can be at times. :-\

In my experience peppers HATE over feeding and will drop their flowers until nitrogen levels have dropped off.

For pollinating I use a small photographic blower brush.

[stuffed]

I fed them only once but I think it may well have been before the problem as they weren't in the greenhouse when I did it.  I'll remember not to unless it seems needed this year.

[Veggie Mad]

I had the same problem with my tom's last year,  I was advised by someone on this site to spray the flowers with water, this achieves two things: 1) the flowers become moist, stops them drying out and just dropping off 2) the spray gives the flowers a small shake so they pollinate.  Tapping the plant will also help.  Good luck