First fruit and no more flowers????

[RomanX]

Two of my 'mater plants have set fruit: the plants keep growing taller, the fruit keeps growing, both the plants have many more flower buds but neither have any more flowers.

Tumbling Tom (red) flowered even before being planted out (2 days after the last frost date), was hand-pollinated the same day it was planted out and set its lone fruit about 3 days later. Fourth of July had 3 flowers simultaneously about a week later and set 3 fruit.

The plants are in containers on my patio, get over 8 hours of daily sun, are watered daily, get MG Tomato Food weekly and (once they flowered) get 1 tbs calcium nitrate weekly in their water.

The containers are 5-gallon shop buckets with two 1/2 inch drainage holes 1 1/2 inches up from the bottom; they are filled with a mix posted by OSU - a 1:1:1:1 blend of peat moss, compost, MG potting mix and perlite. For a moisture barrier, they are topped with 1 inch of cedar red rubber mulch.

What am I doing wrong??

(First time grower. . . . can you tell??

[Stvrob]

Sounds like the proportion of nitrogen was increased after they flowered (ie the addition of extra CaNO3). I think if anything, the proportion of potassium and possibly phosphorus is what should increase. If you are happy with the size of the plant and the foliage is green, you might back off on the nitrogen. In a 5 gal container I cant imagine you want the plant to get too big.

[JohnJones]

If the plant foliage looks healthy I wouldn't worry too much. Cool weather can stall fruit production this time of year. Just keep them healthy and they will probably make you tired of tomatoes by August. Long season. Patience grasshoppa...

[RomanX]

I forgot to add: also in the container mix is 1 cup Espoma pelleted garden lime (dolomite) and 1/4 cup 5-10-10 slow-release Tomato & Vegetable Plant Food

[Stvrob]

Originally Posted by RomanX

I forgot to add: also in the container mix is 1 cup Espoma pelleted garden lime (dolomite) and 1/4 cup 5-10-10 slow-release Tomato & Vegetable Plant Food

In that case I would skip the weekly CaNO3 unless there is some sign of N deficiency.

[schill93]

Originally Posted by RomanX

I forgot to add: also in the container mix is 1 cup Espoma pelleted garden lime (dolomite) and 1/4 cup 5-10-10 slow-release Tomato & Vegetable Plant Food

You mention you are giving plant MG 5-10-10, but I am unaware of MG with that NPK. Is the fertilizer organic or inorganic? If it is organic, than you may have a problem as your soil has not had time to break down. Also the slow release is not always the best for tomato plants. Better to use their water soluble 18-18-21 if you must use the MG. http://www.amazon.com/Miracle-Gro-10...7P6FJXE5Y43T2Q

As another poster said. If they are showing good growth and they look healthy and are nice a green, you might hold back on the Calcium Nitrate. A 5-10-10 is hardly an over kill in the nitrogen department though. How many days has it been since they have been planted in your 5 gallon bucket?

If it were me, I might lose the slow release and switch to a granular all purpose fertilizer if you are not trying to grow organic. Growing organics in containers can be tricky, though some more experienced gardeners have done so. The amount and how you feed them differs depending on what type of watering you are doing. If you are top watering, you will need to feed them weekly (lighter strength at first and heavier as they get larger). If they are being watered in a closed system like a Earthbox or global bucket (where it siphons water up from the bottom reservoir), then you need to add a least a 3/4 cup of granular fertilizer towards the top of bucket (not slow release) for a single tomato plant and probably another cup 1/2 way through the growing season. And once they start to set fruit supplement with CN.

The problem is most likely the fertilizer you are using or the particular tomato plant you are growing. Are you growing more than one variety tomato? Need to check that NPK and brand name you are using again I think.

You also mention that you are supplementing your fertilizer by adding Calcium Nitrate.
Are you also adding some Epsom salt with that?

Just re-read your post, and you are referring to your plants flowering 4th of July. This is May. Must be missing something.

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