Help! My Precious Yellow Blossom!

14 years ago

HELP! I was examining my last remaining healthy tomato plant and checking the yellow blossoms and accidentally knocked one off (it was a little dry and shriveled looking, so I barely touched it and it came off very easily). The entire bud didn't go---just the yellow petaled flower itself---and what remains is the green "bracket" (not sure what term you use for the green "fingers" that hold the blossom) and a tiny pale green ridged bump in the center. Is that the tomato or is it just part of the bud?

Thanks for any responses. I could just kick myself. I am positively lethal to tomato plants so far...

Jessie

If the flower came off but not the whole bud, does that mean the tomato that would have formed there is doomed?

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Comments (11)

holly-2006
14 years ago
It's the tomato, Killer.
glitterglass
Original Author
14 years ago
HAHAHA!

Your response was so humorous that it *almost* eases the pain.

Thanks...at least now I know what I'm truly capable of.

-Killer
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holly-2006
14 years ago
Oh good - my response was meant to make you chuckle. I was afraid that it came across as rather harsh.

Early in the season, I've been known to go through the garden pulling those dying blossoms off and then yelling "Look, I can grow tomatoes!"

It's so much fun being a noob.
glitterglass
Original Author
14 years ago
Aw, you sound like a woman after my own heart... hahaha. Well the good news is that I see 4 tiny little suckers budding in its place on different branches, so I am just continuing to hope against hope that I get even one little tomato. I'd be so proud of that baby, I'd be liable to push it around in a stroller.

I just read in another post that you should feed your tomatoes weekly. I've done it a few times but definitely not weekly. I've used fish fertilizer and tomato tone. Thoughts?
holly-2006
14 years ago
I was using the 1/2 strength Fish Fert every Friday (so as not to ruin my neighbor's weekend). It was great up until the plants got some sort of wilt and blight. Now they're just hanging there all dried up, brown and crispy.

Hopefully, the tomatoes still hanging there will ripen. Can't say that it was a total disaster as I've managed to get 14 zip-lock bags of frozen toms so far.
catman529
14 years ago
Those "brackets" are sepals, the part you knocked off is the corolla and anthers, and probably the carpel got knocked off too, leaving you with the ridged green bud, aka "baby tomato". If it got pollinated it should grow, just wait and see...
glitterglass
Original Author
14 years ago
O.o

catman, I don't know, but I could hug you! Is it really a baby tomato?! I hope it got pollinated. Oh please oh please. Can you pollinate them yourself with a tiny brush or something similar?

Jessie
terrybull
14 years ago
you dont need fish emulsion! if you are using a stroller then you could just stop and breast feed them.
glitterglass
Original Author
14 years ago
I would probably start lactating at the sight of a tomato, true. I never thought breast feeding would come up in a tomato forum, but I appreciate an offbeat sense of humor ;)

I don't have fish emulsion anymore anyway... doesn't go far with my sprawling hill of flowers. Makes me wish I still kept an aquarium just so I could continue bottling my own emulsion---learned that trick from a pet store several years ago. Unfortunately my fish went to heaven last year so that's no longer a possibility. But seriously, if you know any friends or neighbors with fish... tell 'em to save you some scum next time they clean the tank!

Jessie
soultan
14 years ago
Is this a deja vu or did I just dream about already replying to an almost identical post once?
glitterglass
Original Author
14 years ago
Hi soultan,

I just checked my other post in the forum and I think what happened was that this post was originally a follow-up to some of the responses in the post I made on August 31st. When no one responded, I must have gotten impatient and made a new post about it. I apologize if that counts as
double-posting.

Jessie