Blossom set in the heat.

[luke]

Originally Posted by b54red

Carolyn, I don't know why it works but it does. I am just assuming that the stress from high heat causes the blossoms to drop and the added water helps reduce plant stress. I found this trick by accident last year in late July when I thought all of my plants in one of my beds were finished producing and I didn't feel like pulling them out right then because I didn't need the space for my fall tomatoes. So I pruned them heavily and gave them a good dose of MG and turned on my soaker hose. I forgot to turn it off and it ran for nearly two days and made a huge mess. It was nearly a week before I could get near the plants because of the mud. When I did they were loaded with blooms and many had set fruit despite temps above 100 degrees. As soon as my fall tomatoes got to the blooming stage I started heavily watering them and they started setting in the 100 plus weather. I did the same thing this year since we had unusually high heat where it actually got over 100 in May and we have had temps consistently from the mid 90s to above 100 since that time with few nights below the mid 70s. Once the plants start producing I cut back on the watering so the flavor will be better. I am still setting out plants and will continue to do so til mid August. I do not water the new plants heavily but instead plant them deep in moist ground and then not water them until they start suffering; but as soon as they start blooming I start very heavy watering.

luke, I will try to get out and take some pictures this morning of some of the plants that were set out late and have not seen any cool weather. I have been planting through the summer with staggered plantings for several years and the heavy watering when they start blooming has boosted my production significantly. I used to think that tomatoes could not be grown in the heat of mid and late summer. It is not easy nor do the plants or fruit get as large but it is definitely doable. I only started the staggered planting because of my huge losses from fusarium wilt and just continued right into the fall once I saw some success with this method. I really like having fresh tomatoes all season and not just a huge crop for a month or so which I was getting with my previous method of putting out all my plants the same day in early spring.

Thanks for the help. This MS heat has put the brakes on my garden, and I'm scrounging for tomato sandwiches for the kids.

[b54red]

Ok, I got out and took some pictures of my plants and some of the fruit sets this morning. I may have to do this in a couple of posts because I don't know how many photos I can upload in one. The first picture is of tomatoes picked in the last two weeks not counting the ones used and given away. The others are of the plants starting with some set out on Apr. 21 and Apr. 28. The rest will be in my next post.

[b54red]

Here are the rest of the pics I took this morning. The very last picture is of an Indian Stripe that was set out on June 5 and is the first of those set out that late to set a fruit but I have a Cherokee Purple that has two smaller than a dime on it so I'm hopeful some of the others set out in June will do okay.

[b54red]

I don't know what happened to the first photo that I uploaded of the picked fruit but I'll try again. These were picked in the last two weeks and as you may be able to tell most are the dark tomatoes. Sorry for the blurriness. When I took my camera outside this morning the humidity fogged up the lens.

[luke]

That's impressive. Your photos of your plants look better than mine (I'm in South Ms, and the heat killed any fruit set).

I noticed some of your plants look to have been pruned of some of their laterals. I didn't cut mine back (every sucker in a growth joint does get plucked though). Is that one thing you do to increase production?

[b54red]

I cut off some of all my plants to allow better air flow and to keep leaves near the ground from picking up diseases so quickly. I also have to prune of stems showing early fusarium signs on some plants. Spider mites have given me fits this year because of the high temps and the long dry spell we had leaving many leaves just a mess. If I let the stems fork without removing one of them, some plants would end up with way too many stems to be very productive. Since I start with the assumption that I will be lucky if a plant lives more than two and half months I keep any unhealthy stuff pruned off and limit the growth to allow for quicker fruit set. Sometimes I am lucky and a few plants live longer than three or four months. I have five plants set out in March that are still producing while all the rest are long gone. All of the plants I posted photos of were set out since late April.

[luke]

Makes perfect sense. What do you think would happen to some of my plants if I pruned them hard this late in the season?

[feldon30]

Originally Posted by Keiththibodeaux

While plants don't feel the effects of humidity as humans do, or at least I assume they don't, is it possible the evaporivative effect of the water cools the air around the plant. I am thinking of the misting systems being sold now claiming to reduce temps. Just a thought.

Humidity will cause pollen clumping.

[b54red]

Humidity and temperatures can't be the only controlling factors in fruit set or I would never be able to produce tomatoes after May. We rarely see humidity lower than 60% or temps below 90 during the summer and early fall and yet I have consistently had plants be productive during these harsh times. They certainly don't set as well or in the large numbers and sizes that are achieved in the spring; but I usually have enough for normal use and plenty to give away.

[Red Dirt Farmer]

Update to original pollination problem.


Since our nighttime temps have been in the high 70’s to low 80’s, I have been shaking my plants every morning at dawn. I also have increased my watering as my soil drains very well. I also discovered horn-worms so I was shaking, picking, and stomping through the garden. I’m glad the neighbor’s couldn’t see me. The results so far, although still way below par: about 20 small maters and a few peppers on the vine. I am getting some leaf curl now as well.
Ken