Tiny Tomatoes

[GuyfromRVA]

I grow heirloom tomatoes in Richmond, VA. Often fruit will set but will remain tiny (1/16-1/8") for several weeks before it starts to grow. Does anyone have an idea about what's going on? How do I get these little fellows to grow sooner?

[amideutch]

Hey Guy, there are a several reasons that can cause your problem. Variety, where you are growing, how you are growing, weather conditions while growing and we can go on and on. Is it happening with all your plants, some of your plants, some of the time or all the time. So many variables. The more information you give us the better we are able to answer your question and sometimes you will be able to answer the question yourself. Ami

[GuyfromRVA]

Ami,

It happens with almost all of my heirloom plants--I haven't taken notes. I grow Azoychka, Rose de Berne, Black Krim on a regular basis. I've noticed this problem with other varieties too: Kalman's Hungarian Pink and Mexico for instance.

This may be related, but my plants don't really seem to "come alive" until the August heat hits. I'm in Richmond, VA so it's not like it's cold in June or July.

One other issue might be sun. I have a couple of plants that get more than six hours of full sun. Some get less, and they are obviously less productive. I don't notice a relation between the tiny tomatoes and the amount of sun.

[Suze]

I was thinking something along the lines of lack of nutrients during a critical stage in development.

Do the particular fruits that do this eventually end up to be normal sized for the variety/varieties you're growing?

[GuyfromRVA]

The tomatoes usually end up being normal size.

[shelleybean]

This may be totally different from what you're talking about but I'll tell you what I've noticed. If I get a couple of bigger tomatoes on a cluster, I notice some really tiny ones that have been pollinated and just kind of wait there. When I pick the bigger ones, the little ones finally begin to grow. It's like they're waiting for the plant to have enough energy to grow them, waiting their turn. This is the first season I've really noticed it but I see it on all the varieties I have out there except for the cherries.

[GuyfromRVA]

Shellybean,

Thanks. I've wondered and noticed the same things. Could it be light-related? My plants don't get eight hours of full sun. What about yours?

[Suze]

Lack of light/direct sun can certainly slow things down.

I used to grow a lot of my plants in containers and would put many of them along the perimeter of a large concrete parking area. Some would get placed under the overhang of my house on the back patio.

Early in the season, because the angle of the sun is so low, there wouldn't be much difference in the sunlight *all* plants received. Thus, fruitset would be about the same (on avg) across the board.

Later on, when the angle of the sun changed, the ones under the overhang would end up only getting 4 hours or so of direct sun, and varying amounts of indirect sun.

This seemed to delay fruit maturity up to a couple of weeks, which (as a side note) was fine with me as a way to stagger the harvest.