skip to main content

Growing Tomatoes

Tomato flowers drying up, without setting fruit

aftermidnight Zone7b B.C. Canada

13 years ago

I'm growing Cherokee Purple for the first time, the plants look healthy lots of flowers but they are drying up to a crisp. This bed is on an automatic watering system and they are planted in Sunshine mix No.4. Everything else in the bed is doing fine. What am I doing wrong and can I fix it?

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (10)

mudster
13 years ago
How's your weather been? Tomatoes don't set fruit if nighttime temps are consistently over 70 (which doesn't seem like it would be a problem on Vancouver Island). You'll also read that they don't set fruit if the daytime temps are consistently over 85 -- but that's never seemed to be true where I am. 95, maybe, but we have hot summers here, and 85 isn't a problem.
aftermidnight Zone7b B.C. Canada
Original Author
13 years ago
Daytime temps wouldn't have been a problem we've only hit 90 a couple of times, we're having high 70's low 80's, nighttime temps have been over 70 just a few times so I don't think that's the problem. We've had such a cool to down right cold wet spring this year. Maybe they just need more time to settle down and do their thing :).
Related Discussions
UGH! Tomatoes setting fruit in the house! Too early?
Q
Comments (4)
Since you have them in Gal. pots my guess is that you will get tomatoes without doing more potting up. You may need to water twice a day and provide fertilizer at intervals. The problem is that the yield you might expect is going to be a fraction of what you could have from unrestricted root growth. So if it isn't too much bother save these plants and trim off a few if the lateral branches to make more plants. You have a host of options but you very likely could have the first tomatoes on the block if you can continue to care for these plants. Next year plant a few weeks earlier and have a plan for protected early planting outside your house. You might even want to experiment a little this spring.
...See More
Mr. Stripey - flowers drying up
Q
Comments (8)
Yes, all of our plants are in containers. Mr. S's (and many other tomatoes that are doing fine) are in a 12inch tall by 12 inch wide pot, only slightly tapered - so I think about a 5 gallon pot. They are NOT on auto watering; we water about every other day and water DEEPLY - water runs out the bottom of the pot and the top of the soil is not dry, although not wet either, when we water. We have never fed our container plants because we start with new container soil (we are only on our 2nd year). They were all planted....at the same time that I think was after Mother's Day here in Northern VA. I have given my "bad" looking pepper plants, and one lemon boy tomato, coffee grounds and egg shells that have helped many of them. We had fuzzy white bugs (either mealy bugs or aphids, not sure) and we used neem oil 7-10 days apart for 3 weeks. Neem oil did not seem to affect ANYTHING except the cucumber. Thanks for your time and attention!!!!!!!!
...See More
Hydroponic Tomato Leaves are drying up, Help!
Q
Comments (0)
Help, my hydroponic tomato is slowly dying and losing one set of leaves every few days. The lowest branches starting to dry up one set at a time. The top leaves look healthy though. Any idea why? No noticeable pests. Lots of water (this is a wick system) with ph of 5.5 and and 2500 PPM of the standard hydroponic plant food mix. I note that the pH is a bit low so I added more tap water which increases the pH to 6.2 and 1500 PPM. Oh, and it's starting to flower. Is that a factor? Email Comment
...See More
Help: Tomato leaves curling and flowers drying up
Q
Comments (33)
Note that spraying twice a day with water opens you up for fungal disease. That might be a good tactic in a desert environment, but I wouldn't do it in Queens. A wash-down at first is great, then I would spray something like neem or permethrin. Then repeat that every few days for a while. If your plants survive the next couple of weeks, the problem should subside as the weather gets less conducive to the mites.
...See More
daislander
13 years ago
im on VI too and lots of our night time temps are in the low 50's not 60's, nights are cooold. Im really worried about fruitset to and think am going to rig up a cover for nighttime.
taz6122
13 years ago
Start shaking your plants. Greenhouse growers do this regularly because they don't get wind or insects to pollinate them. I spank my plants early in the season and again when the plants slow in production from the heat/humidity. Pollen getting sticky and clumping together is what causes non pollination when the plants are outside.
aftermidnight Zone7b B.C. Canada
Original Author
13 years ago
Taz, thanks for the explanation I have heard about shaking the flowers and had already started doing this but wasn't sure if would help or not. After reading your response I went out, had a look and found several tomatoes just starting to form. We've had a very weird spring and early summer here, finally the weather seems to have sorted itself out. This was a first for me, tomatoes not forming fruit in all the years I've grown them. Never had to spank the plants before :).

Annette
praxxus55712
13 years ago
I prefer to give my tomatoes a good olde fashioned frowning followed by a mild shun. :)

Kidding of course. I heard about the spanking/slapping thing too. It does work. Tomato abuse! LOL
taz6122
13 years ago
Much better to abuse than things that fight back or hurt my hands and they reward me ;)
bigrich
13 years ago
I always feel the urge to smoke after I spank them though. Weird.
aftermidnight Zone7b B.C. Canada
Original Author
13 years ago
LOL... Now stop it you guys, you're cracking me up and if my tomatoes start cracking too, it's all your fault.

Annette
digdirt2
13 years ago
Hope they don't crack but they sure will blush! ;)

Dave

Related Stories

EDIBLE GARDENS Summer Crops: How to Grow Tomatoes

By Marianne Lipanovich

Plant tomato seedlings in spring for one of the best tastes of summer, fresh from your backyard

HEALTHY HOME 12 Ways to Set Up Your Kitchen for Healthy Eating

By Becky Harris

Making smart food choices is easier when your kitchen is part of your support team

ENTERTAINING Eye-Catching Centerpieces Beyond Flowers and Fruit

By Catherine Funkhouser

Use your imagination to create a tableau that reflects your surroundings, creates dramatic tension or elicits surprise

BATHROOM COLOR 8 Ways to Spruce Up an Older Bathroom (Without Remodeling)

By Liz Miller Interiors

Mint tiles got you feeling blue? Don’t demolish — distract the eye by updating small details

LIFE Kitchen Traditions: Tomato Season Meets a Family Legacy

By Tiffany Carboni

Somewhere a Sicilian great-great-grandmother is smiling at a bowl of American-made sauce

MOST POPULAR How to Get Rid of Those Pesky Summer Fruit Flies

By Mitchell Parker

Learn what fruit flies are, how to prevent them and how to get rid of them in your home

ARCHITECTURE Houzz Tour: Fresh Ideas in a Former Tomato Packing Shed

A formerly metal-clad structure is now a beautiful wood home designed to capture the light and preserve open space

GARDENING GUIDES 8 Cactuses Bring Spring Flowers to Dry Gardens

By Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting

These prickly desert plants transform in spring with the arrival of their colorful blossoms

4 Easy Ways to Renew Your Bathroom Without Remodeling

By Vanessa Brunner

Take your bathroom from drab to fab without getting out the sledgehammer or racking up lots of charges

LIFE How to Make Your House a Haven Without Changing a Thing

By Alison Hodgson

Hung up on 'perfect' aesthetics? You may be missing out on what gives a home real meaning

Sponsored

More Discussions

Has anyone heard of a storage tomato? Looking at Giallorosso di Crispi

4

"Purple" tomatoes?

4

What tools and materials for planting tomato

0