Tomato plants over 5 ft, but very few blossoms?

Postmanrings · July 2, 2015

here in southwestern Pennsylvania there is been much rain. Most of my heirloom plants are nice and tall and mostly green but each plant maybe has six small tomatoes on each and I see very few blossoms. Never had this happen before any ideas?

digsdirt · July 2, 2015

The first cause that always comes to mind is over-fertilization, especially nitrogen. Often results in beautiful tall healthy appearing plants with few blooms or fruit set. So what and how much have they been fed in the way of nutrients?

Dave

Postmanrings · July 2, 2015

That's the thing Dave, I haven't added anything except when I planted them. I am blessed with rich soil, so hadn't thought of it. It has rained here I think 2 weeks straight. That's the only thing I can think of that's different. I see blossoms at the top of each plant and a few scattered in the center. Here is a pic of a couple Soldacki plants! Maybe as the summer goes on they will start up. Rest of garden looks great.

Mojave · July 2, 2015

Too much water will make the flowers fall off. Maybe it was all the rain?

Postmanrings · July 2, 2015

If the rain tappers off, will they resume as normal producing blossoms?

digsdirt · July 2, 2015

Quote:

I haven't added anything except when I planted them.

But what did you add when you planted them? I agree that heavy rains and high humidity can cause blossom drop but from your original post I got the impression that you have had many blooms to begin with so nothing to "drop".

If they are indeterminates and IF it isn't a nutrient issue and IF the weather settles they should start blooming. If they will set fruit on those blooms all depends on if it gets too hot so that the pollen goes non-viable. But whatever the cause it will be a reduced production since all the lower plant production has already been lost.

If you have the room for some additional plants I'd root some top cuttings off of those and plant them hoping the conditions would allow them to develop a normal cropping pattern. Worth a try at least.

Dave

Postmanrings · July 2, 2015

No, did not have blooms early. Funny though I just noticed my cherry tomatoes are going gang busters? I used either some 10-10-10 or triple phosphate when I planted. I forget which as both bags are open??

squirrel789 · July 3, 2015

Postmanrings,

I had a very similar issue with my container plants this year. Although several other mistakes were made, the constant rain had much to do with keeping my plants from forming flower clusters, besides a few weird ones at the very bottom, and the next 3' of vines above those are pretty much devoid of flowers/fruit (basically what grew during the second big wave we had of constant rain).

Now though, I have found that the non-blooming clusters near the bottom, and the ones on the upper-middle to top parts of my vines (now well over the 6' to 7'+ mark), set fruit just fine after we had some hot sunny weather for awhile. Even the first clusters to form at the very bottom, which never opened and had black dead-looking shriveled flowers barely visible at the tightly closed tips, opened up and set good healthy looking tomatoes that are growing fine. So, if the whole flower hasn't dropped yet, there is still a chance. So they won't grow on the lower parts, but you could get plenty of fruit from the flowers growing on the mid to upper parts of your plants. Yes, conditions have to be right to set fruit, but tomatoes can also be pretty resilient and surprise you sometimes.

I guess my point is that I thought all was lost for awhile, and all I needed was more patience, and some hot sunny weather to dry things out a bit to get back on track. I think the heavy rains can definitely set your flower development back, but any organic material in your mix (or if growing in soil) will have likely have enough N to keep the vines growing during this time. Unfortunately, the plant growth during the wet weather will have minimal to no flower production. I suspect the same could be true of your situation, and you may have great tomatoes forming higher up on your plants. At least that's what happened to mine, so I can only speak from my own personal - albeit limited - experience.

Mine are way behind where they should be for this time of year in my area, but now are setting fruit on almost every flower. Better late than never! The lower third may not be full of tomatoes, but above that, my plants are looking good and I've got some healthy fruit clusters. Yours sound like they have the same potential!

Have hope and patience, and of course look for any signs of stress, disease, or deficiencies. People more knowledgeable than I here on the forum can help you better than I with these other issues.

I hope that helps, and I'm sure you will get some great tomatoes, even if its not the best production year ever. Sometimes bad weather comes your way, but if you've managed to dodge the more serious fungal/disease issues, I think it's far from game over. Out of curiosity, are all your plants indeterminate?

Patience and lots of reading/learning from all the knowledge available here on the Tville forums sure helped me out, as I'm sure it will help you too.

I posted a similar question in the container section, if you'd like to see the informative responses I got the link is here: http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=37057

Best of luck, and let us all know how your season progresses!

Cole_Robbie · July 3, 2015

In my area, we just had the wettest June in the 150+ years of record-keeping. I was worried about my plants not setting enough fruit, but hardly anything blooms when the sun won't shine. Now they look better after having a few warm sunny days.

The up side of not setting very many fruit early on has been an effect similar to the way giant pumpkin growers pick almost all the flowers off a vine except one or two. I don't have a lot of tomatoes, but I certainly have a few huge ones. I have picked several that are over a pound.

zipcode · July 3, 2015

Indeed, no sun, few flowers. There is a strong relation between the two. The plant will start putting out more once the weather recovers, it will have great unspent energy, you'll get tons of blooms upper on the plants.

Father'sDaughter · July 3, 2015

I almost always get one early, low flower cluster on my plants soon after they go out, but the last several years the weather would then turn cool and/or wet and I'd have no more blossoms until things dried out and warmed up. The plants just keep trucking along up their stakes, looking healthy as can be. They did the same this year.

My way of dealing with this is to stick with tomato friendly fertilizers (Neptune's fish/seaweed, Tomato Tone, Texas Tomato Food), and not plant late varieties which may not have time to ripen from the later blossoms.

Postmanrings · July 3, 2015

Thanks, i feel better thinking they will kick in a little later. This has been a great blog for my first post on this site. Just joined last month and reading replies from Germany!!!

digsdirt · July 3, 2015

Quote:

I used either some 10-10-10 or triple phosphate when I planted.

Next year give some thought to alternate sources of nutrients. Both are quite high in phosphorous and since low phos soil is very rare in the US, using them can create skewed nutrient imbalances with the other nutrients and pH issues in the soil. Plus neither provides the micronutrients tomato plants need. So you might also want to give some thought to having a soil test done. Contact your local county ag extension office for getting one done.

Given the weather issues, I am not saying this alone is the cause of your issues this year but it is something to consider down the road.

Dave

Postmanrings · July 3, 2015

Remember now Dave. I did have a soil test done and my county extension office told me to use some triple phosphate. But mostly my soil tested great. Maybe should not have used about a tablespoon of 10-10-10 at planting ??

digsdirt · July 3, 2015

Sorry, didn't know you had a soil test done. Is that info in this thread and I missed it? And no a tablespoon of 10-10-10 isn't enough to hurt anything - or help anything either.

Dave

July 2, 2015	#1
Postmanrings Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2015 Location: Claysville PA Posts: 19	Tomato plants over 5 ft, but very few blossoms? here in southwestern Pennsylvania there is been much rain. Most of my heirloom plants are nice and tall and mostly green but each plant maybe has six small tomatoes on each and I see very few blossoms. Never had this happen before any ideas?

July 2, 2015	#2
digsdirt Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: No.Central Arkansas - 6b/7a Posts: 179	The first cause that always comes to mind is over-fertilization, especially nitrogen. Often results in beautiful tall healthy appearing plants with few blooms or fruit set. So what and how much have they been fed in the way of nutrients? Dave __________________ Dave

July 2, 2015	#4
Mojave Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2012 Location: SF Bay area Z9a Posts: 821	Too much water will make the flowers fall off. Maybe it was all the rain? __________________ Bill _______________________________________________ When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe. -John Muir Believe those who seek the Truth: Doubt those who find it. -André Gide

July 2, 2015	#7
Postmanrings Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2015 Location: Claysville PA Posts: 19	No, did not have blooms early. Funny though I just noticed my cherry tomatoes are going gang busters? I used either some 10-10-10 or triple phosphate when I planted. I forget which as both bags are open?? Last edited by Postmanrings; July 2, 2015 at 10:14 PM.

July 3, 2015	#8
squirrel789 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2015 Location: SW Missouri Zone 6b Posts: 121	Postmanrings, I had a very similar issue with my container plants this year. Although several other mistakes were made, the constant rain had much to do with keeping my plants from forming flower clusters, besides a few weird ones at the very bottom, and the next 3' of vines above those are pretty much devoid of flowers/fruit (basically what grew during the second big wave we had of constant rain). Now though, I have found that the non-blooming clusters near the bottom, and the ones on the upper-middle to top parts of my vines (now well over the 6' to 7'+ mark), set fruit just fine after we had some hot sunny weather for awhile. Even the first clusters to form at the very bottom, which never opened and had black dead-looking shriveled flowers barely visible at the tightly closed tips, opened up and set good healthy looking tomatoes that are growing fine. So, if the whole flower hasn't dropped yet, there is still a chance. So they won't grow on the lower parts, but you could get plenty of fruit from the flowers growing on the mid to upper parts of your plants. Yes, conditions have to be right to set fruit, but tomatoes can also be pretty resilient and surprise you sometimes. I guess my point is that I thought all was lost for awhile, and all I needed was more patience, and some hot sunny weather to dry things out a bit to get back on track. I think the heavy rains can definitely set your flower development back, but any organic material in your mix (or if growing in soil) will have likely have enough N to keep the vines growing during this time. Unfortunately, the plant growth during the wet weather will have minimal to no flower production. I suspect the same could be true of your situation, and you may have great tomatoes forming higher up on your plants. At least that's what happened to mine, so I can only speak from my own personal - albeit limited - experience. Mine are way behind where they should be for this time of year in my area, but now are setting fruit on almost every flower. Better late than never! The lower third may not be full of tomatoes, but above that, my plants are looking good and I've got some healthy fruit clusters. Yours sound like they have the same potential! Have hope and patience, and of course look for any signs of stress, disease, or deficiencies. People more knowledgeable than I here on the forum can help you better than I with these other issues. I hope that helps, and I'm sure you will get some great tomatoes, even if its not the best production year ever. Sometimes bad weather comes your way, but if you've managed to dodge the more serious fungal/disease issues, I think it's far from game over. Out of curiosity, are all your plants indeterminate? Patience and lots of reading/learning from all the knowledge available here on the Tville forums sure helped me out, as I'm sure it will help you too. I posted a similar question in the container section, if you'd like to see the informative responses I got the link is here: http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=37057 Best of luck, and let us all know how your season progresses! Last edited by squirrel789; July 3, 2015 at 12:33 AM.

July 3, 2015	#9
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	In my area, we just had the wettest June in the 150+ years of record-keeping. I was worried about my plants not setting enough fruit, but hardly anything blooms when the sun won't shine. Now they look better after having a few warm sunny days. The up side of not setting very many fruit early on has been an effect similar to the way giant pumpkin growers pick almost all the flowers off a vine except one or two. I don't have a lot of tomatoes, but I certainly have a few huge ones. I have picked several that are over a pound.

July 3, 2015	#10
zipcode Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Romania/Germany , z 4-6 Posts: 1,582	Indeed, no sun, few flowers. There is a strong relation between the two. The plant will start putting out more once the weather recovers, it will have great unspent energy, you'll get tons of blooms upper on the plants.

July 3, 2015	#11
Father'sDaughter Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: MA/NH Border Posts: 4,919	I almost always get one early, low flower cluster on my plants soon after they go out, but the last several years the weather would then turn cool and/or wet and I'd have no more blossoms until things dried out and warmed up. The plants just keep trucking along up their stakes, looking healthy as can be. They did the same this year. My way of dealing with this is to stick with tomato friendly fertilizers (Neptune's fish/seaweed, Tomato Tone, Texas Tomato Food), and not plant late varieties which may not have time to ripen from the later blossoms.