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| Do blossoms dropping symbolize a deficiency? I have a half of my tomatoes in the ground and half in a raised bed with a different mix. The ones in the ground are apparently polinating more consistently however they are all different varieties. A Roma in the ground has 100% pollination on multiple bunches while the Sungold in the raised bed is producing bunches of 15+ blossoms with only around 30% pollination. Should I worry about the nutes in the bed? It is my first time with a raised bed so I am not sure. I used a mix of approximately 1/3 composted redwood, 1/3 native sandy loam, and 1/3 perlite. I have not fertilized yet but my tap has huge amounts of Nitrate. |
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| Link below is to the FAQ here on 'blossom drop' and should answer your questions I think. You don't indicate your location or your garden zone in your post so there is no way to know what weather factors may be contributing to your problems without that info. In generalpollination rates vary greatly from one variety to another so comparing them can be very misleading. And seldom is there 100% pollination on any variety. And if your soil has normal levels of nutrients then excess N probably isn't a factor. Indeed it may be low. Excess phosphorous may be a factor but no way to know without a soil test.. That leaves heat and humidity as the primary causes of problems IF your pollination rates are sub-par. Hope this helps. Dave |
Here is a link that might be useful: Blossom Drop FAQ
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| Thanks Dave, that does help. If you look at the rate of the Sungold (reversed from the OP) it is nearly every tomato on bunches of 6-10 but the fact that the Sweet 100 is producing strings of 15-20 blossoms means that it is not pollinating any less tomatoes only less percent of its blossoms. And I see why Roma is such a popular variety in agriculture, mine has 100% pollination on 5 bunches which i have never seen any tomato do. All in all I am not too concerned, but I might do a soil test out of curiosity. It is my first raised bed and I didn't exactly measure anything in the mix. I am in central CA, zone 9b. Had a good mix of cooler days, rain, and only a few hot ones not breaking 95. Not much humidity. Great year so far, my Sweet 100 and Sungold are hitting the 6 foot mark already which is scaring me. Thanks for the help |
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