so when is it time to give up on certain plants?

[checkerkitty]

Hi everyone! I'm new here and could use some advice. I'm in the San Antonio area and have been having a big problem with blossom drop. It is unseasonably warm here now. Our normal average high is 80 degrees and we've been steadily hitting the 90's already. I started some JDs Special C-Tex Early Black in January. I put out large seedlings, most over 12 inches tall in mid March. The fruit they had on them are already starting to ripen. I have 11 of those plants out plus a mixture of other tomatoes. I have been losing all of my JD's blossoms, from what I can see. I water about once a week using soaker hoses. I used some Rocket Fuel and a little epsom salts in the bottom of each hole. I side dressed once with Tomatone. Most of my plants are a minimum of 4 feet tall. I've also been losing blossoms on the other varieties like Big Beef, Paul Robeson, Berkeley Tie Dye (which only has 2 blooms on it ), and even a little on the Sun Gold. I've been shaking the cages lightly to help the pollen drop.

So, when do you give up? The weather is not going to get any cooler and I'm assuming the weather is the culprit. I'd hate to be a plant butcher but I don't want to water plants that won't produce anything. We're already under water restrictions. I have some supposedly heat-set hybrids planted as an insurance policy: Phoenix, Heatwave II, and Tycoon. My Lemon Boys seem to be setting about 50% of the time. This is the first time I have planted such a large number of tomatoes. I have also never planted this many non-hybrid plants before.

Any suggestions? I'm a little sad over all of this.

Christy

[ireilly]

Try b54red's suggestion of watering heavily every few days?

Maybe it will help.

It's pretty cool here now, rains have come through the past week or so.

Always a challenge!

http://www.tomatoville.com/search.php?searchid=728023

See post #9

Walter

[Suze]

Late April seems a little early to give up on any further possibility of fruit set. You never know, it might actually cool off a little in the next week or two.

I sure hope so, at least.

Even though you mention being under water restrictions, once a week in this kind of weather probably isn't enough and could be contributing somewhat to the blossom drop.

I've never been one to water a lot, but I'm watering at least 2x a week right now because it is so hot and dry. Normally, in late April I would be watering every 4th or 5th day.

[creister]

It is too early, even in your area to give up. You could also try spraying with seaweed twice a week. Supposed to only be in the 70's here tomorrow.

[b54red]

If I was you I would prune out any unhealthy of spindly growth and then give the plants a good dose of liquid fertilizer followed by heavy watering. Before beginning the heavy watering try picking as much of the blushing fruit as possible to prevent splitting. The heavy watering is not something I do with very young plants but with good mature plants like you describe it can be a real boost to fruit set especially later fruit set. Once you get a good fruit set you can go back to a more normal watering schedule. I have been able to extend my production dramatically using this technique during times of high temps.

I would also check to see if you have a heavy infestation of spider mites as they seem to love hot dry weather. If you do then I would also spray them every other day for a week or so to bring them under control. I use a heavy dose of soap with a little Permethrin in it and after 30 minutes try to spray off the soap so it doesn't damage the plant. Do this either early or late and make sure you get the undersides of the leaves where they thrive. I usually have to do this sometime during each growing season when the plants are suffering in the heat.

[feldon30]

It sounds like you are doing most of the same things I do. I would hold out hope for another wave of fruitset if temps drop for a few nights in a row. But some years we don't get it.

[checkerkitty]

Thanks for the advice! I'll wait a while and see what happens. I'll try watering more often. I put water on them today and they were last watered on Saturday. I guess we should all keep our fingers crossed and hope for some cooler weather. The weather channel is predicting cooler weather over the next 10 days. I'll be chanting "SET! SET! SET!" everytime I go outside.

[feldon30]

I go out with an electric toothbrush in the morning and touch the stems near the blossoms.

[b54red]

I was going to try shaking the plants this year but there has been no need. The wind has beat some of them half to death. They have been shaking non stop for weeks now. At least we didn't get the tornadoes that hit further north in our state yesterday.

[linuxman51]

Originally Posted by b54red

I was going to try shaking the plants this year but there has been no need. The wind has beat some of them half to death. They have been shaking non stop for weeks now. At least we didn't get the tornadoes that hit further north in our state yesterday.

I was just about to ask if you guys made it out alright, it's a mess up there. We didn't get much down here, ton of wind, little rain, but it sounds like Tuscaloosa and Bham got it pretty hard and Cullman got completely thrashed

[acorn]

Way too early to give up. Its already in the 90's here in Tucson and I'm still getting tomatoes to set. I'm watering every couple days though and hitting the blossoms with an electric toothbrush around dusk in the evening everyday after I get home.