Who's growing tomatoes

[Camo6]

Okay. Ducati et al, I need some advice.
I have 2 tomatoes. A Black Russian & a generic tomato. They're both in a 2.5m x1m x1m planter box. They're at one end & a new Chinook is at the other. All 3 are growing like crazy. In fact I've been stunned at how big the 2 Tommie's have grown. Lots of flowers.

The big problem is the flowers all just fall off. They all look fine, then go brown & drop. WTF?!?
I thought it was water/heat stress, but I've been watering them religiously over the last 2-3 weeks and this is the first hot day in 2 weeks.
They also get plenty of fertilizer & seasol.
They're also next to some dwarf beans that produced a decent crop, so there's definitely something buzzing around fertilizing flowers.

Any suggestions?

Google Blossom drop Techno. Might be something to do with Melbourne's late summer. I didn't do tomatoes this year but I've found my hops seem a bit slow to sprout laterals so far.

 

[technobabble66]

Thanks.
Not a single fruit on the Black Russian. 3 tomatoes on the other. I could safely say, with no exaggeration, there've been at least 50 flowers on each so far.
~3% yield.
Not happy, Jan!!

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

I think regular light fertilizing is the go...and keep them moist, especially in the heat.

Letting them dry out then watering is not the best method.

Have noticed when its hot they drink lots of water. So give them water morning,noon &night.

 

[Aces High]

Blossom drop is annoying. If they look great you might be adding too much nitrogen. This causes the plant to drop the flowers and just throw bucketloads more growth out. I think you can get fruiting fertilizer which contains less nitrogen, or just cut back on the fertilizer and add compost and mulch or just seasol which doesn't contain any nitrogen (don't use power feed though)

 

[Aces High]

just managed to delete my last post somehow. couldn't get it to quote property.

Anyway, I reckon it could be too much nitrogen causing the blossom drop. Nitrogen makes the plant grow crazy but stops the tomatoes from growing. I would suggest using seasol (but not powerfeed)


edit... apparently I didn't

 

[Feldon]

Okay. Ducati et al, I need some advice.
I have 2 tomatoes. A Black Russian & a generic tomato. They're both in a 2.5m x1m x1m planter box. They're at one end & a new Chinook is at the other. All 3 are growing like crazy. In fact I've been stunned at how big the 2 Tommie's have grown. Lots of flowers.

The big problem is the flowers all just fall off. They all look fine, then go brown & drop. WTF?!?
I thought it was water/heat stress, but I've been watering them religiously over the last 2-3 weeks and this is the first hot day in 2 weeks.
They also get plenty of fertilizer & seasol.
They're also next to some dwarf beans that produced a decent crop, so there's definitely something buzzing around fertilizing flowers.

Any suggestions?

Given that the plant is well fed and not missing an essential nutrient, I think the watering regime might be the cause of your flower drop problem.

When the plant is in high water demand mode, like today when its 40+ outside, if you dump a load of water on the roots the plant will suck up too much water too fast. The small capillaries in the tiny stem connected to the flowers burst,( at the last 'knuckle' near the flower). The small stem dies and the flower then drops off a bit later on.

So give them water to the roots when the plant is in low demand (eg. in the morning cool)when its not sucking everything it can out of the soil.

Edit: agree that too much nitrogen make a pretty plant, nice and bushy. But it is yield and flavour that's the name of the game. It not a beauty contest. They need potassium (potash) when flowering and fruiting more than nitrogen. Potassium is what gives them that old-fashioned home grown tomato taste. And if you snap off those scabby dead branches at the base before they completely die (still green where they join the main stem) it scares the **** out of the plant. It 'thinks' its in distress and sends bio-chemicals throughout the plant causing prolific flowering (I Will Reproduce Before Death!) and thus more tomatoes.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

NO feeding when the temperature goes over 27, 28 degrees Celsius, don't feed until the flowers appear, give them a bit of a shake when in flower to get the pollen falling ( I go around mine with an old electric tooth brush) and a little bit of tough love, don't keep giving them water every day.

 

[technobabble66]

Thanks for the comments!!

Ok, so it sounds like water stress and a less ideal ratio of nitrogen and potassium are the likely culprits.

Fwiw, they've been getting watered most mornings &/or nights (9-10am & 8-11pm) Or at least once every 2 days in cooler weather.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Agree on the slowing nitrogren and upping potassium

Found keeping the ground damp helps. I flood the garden when the top looks dry, but it also depends on your soil.

But it also depends on variety.

 

[Feldon]

Yeah, I think geography/climate has a bit to do with it too. Melb fluctuates so much that poor tomatoes don't know what to do.

(eg. about ten days ago I was walking the dog with parka and beanie on. Today its 40+)


Edit: Just watching the tennis. Poor bastards.

 

[shaunous]

My tomatoes are growing like my chilli's, absolutely fukin hopeless. About 2in outa the ground. Mine aren't covered though, right out in the open paddock, they cop all the sun, rain, wind, frost and hail. I'm thinking I'm going to have to build a greenery for my beds, never wanted to, but it will probably help my vege produce.

 

[Mattress]

I've been growing beefsteak tomatoes this year.
Started from seed in a mini hot house in August, planted out in early November. (The local rule in Canberra with tomatoes is you don't plant them out until Melbourne Cup day.)
Plants growing well, heaps of flowers, heaps of fruit.

The only problem is the bastards wont ripen and just keep growing.
They are huge!
Will be great once they are ready, will only need one slice per sandwich.

zucchinis, silver beet, cucumbers, carrots, beans and corn going great by the way. Capsicum and squash not so well.

 

[WitWonder]

I've had major issues with the fruit splitting on mine. Quite a good crop from the grosse liss but lots of split fruit which apparently is due to erratic watering. Mine are on the retic but apparently my occasional watering by hand in the evening might have been what's done it? Still got quite a load off the cherry variety.

 

[SmallFry]

Spotted 3 fruit on my Jalapeno's today. Very, very happy. Hopefully this is just the start, and my Habanero's will follow soon.

Tomatoes are still mostly green, and splitting, so interesting to read WitWonder's advice above.

Will water them tomorrow morning, when it's not so hot.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Splitting tomatoes is common, as with most fruit.

Caused by sudden uptake of water when given lots of water after a dry spell.

Basically the plant pumps as much water into the fruit as possible and the skin splits.

Fruiting plants use fruit as water storage, when there is lots of water the plant fills the fruit, then as the ground water dries up, the plant uses the water within to survive.

 

[Bribie G]

Can't grow a decent tomato to save myself, anyone care to share the secret?

-Browndog

Probably too hot daytime temps in Ipswich, I never had much luck even on Bribie Island but they grow like the clappers from Grafton South.
The daylight saving helps as well.


h34r:

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Daylight savings FTW.

Poor old QLD....their gov is to involved in harrasing the general public. Shame.

 

[JDW81]

The daylight saving helps as well.


h34r:

It makes the tomatoes (and basil) grow well, but fades the curtains something shocking.

 

[Bribie G]

Actually the tomatoes are pretty dumb and just go with the flow, as opposed to the higher forms of wildlife.

For example I always fed the magpies and kookaburras at 5 o'clock but when daylight saving came in they knew to queue up at 6 instead. Now that's smart.

 

[Aces High]

This year I built a shade house poly tunnel thingy. I bought some conduit from the recycling centre for about 10 bucks. It bends to a point, so I put in star pickets, cabled tied a length of conduit to each and bent them over and joined them in the middle with more cable ties (what would I do without cable ties). did the same thing 3 more times, ran a rib down the middle (cable tied of course) then pulled over and attached 60% shade cloth. I'll pull it down again around march.

Perth summer just gets too hot otherwise and there is zero moisture in the air, so things like tomatoes just don't survive. Its made a massive difference. Ive got tomatoes, cucumbers, all sorts of peppers and chilli's, egg plant, broccoli corn, beetroot and about 15 other things that I couldn't be bothers listing all going great under the shade tunnel.

 

[technobabble66]

Looks great, Aces!
Amazing what that extra bit of protection (/effort) can do.

A handful of ash (for the potash) went onto the toms this morning, plus a good watering in the cooler parts of the day: 10pm & 9:30... while it was only 35*C.
So we'll see if that brings on the fruits.
I also chucked some on the hops (& cumquat, lemon, lime, kaffir, & blood orange). Can't hurt I assumed.

OT: My chinook from DrS is going crazy! (at least for a <1yr old). It's even just started putting up extra, new bines.

 

[flano]

I back onto the bush/national park and the possums are enjoying my tomato's .
I have had to pick them green to stop them having one big bite out of all of them.
The chicken wire must work as a ladder .

I have two types.. one is little grape version the other is big ones. The big ones are the most popular.
I used a lasagne layered vege patch technique to grow them in.

They are going great.
so is my perpetual spinach , chillis , cucumbers, rocket and herbs. Just tanked rainwater .

 

[wide eyed and legless]

I have just about all of my veggie patch under the shade cloth, I was using the lighter one but now use the green heavier cloth, I was worried about the tomatoes ripening until I read that it is the heat which will ripen them not the sun.

 

[shaunous]

All plants go off temperature change, that's how they know what season it is, and that's why sometimes they get real confused, like lately around here, spring had scorching summer temps and the plants were all over the shop.

I'll build a shade setup like yours Aces High, neighbour done the same thing, good idea, it's the price of the shade cloth that scares me. I get a coupla plants going great guns, buk fukall, most of them get smashed to the enth degree, no middle ground, it's full blown storms, to droughts and not much time off in between.

 

[SmallFry]

I back onto the bush/national park and the possums are enjoying my tomato's .
I have had to pick them green to stop them having one big bite out of all of them.
The chicken wire must work as a ladder .

Try using the green, plastic trellis from Bunnings, and give it plenty of slack. Apparently possums don't like climbing anything that's not stable.

Put some of the possum spikes along the fence last night to stop them getting at the strawberries I've got growing. This morning, strawberries are fine, but they've gone & chewed the succulents instead. Cheeky buggers.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Shotguns are also effective

 

[shaunous]

Shotguns are also effective

Make sure you pick the lead shots outa the tomatoes and strawberries though, you might crack a tooth.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Rock salt

 

[shaunous]

Rock salt

Used to work in the old slug gun for toads

 

[SmallFry]

Rock salt

And _that_ is why your ratatouille never tastes right. Too salty.