Return to the Growing Tomatoes Forum | Post a Follow-Up

 o
Growing but no flowers

Posted by tyrion2001 North FL (My Page) on
Sat, Jun 1, 13 at 7:45

About 2 months ago I planted 4 Mr Stripy tomato plants. They seem to be doing very well for the most part. They are all up to about 2 1/2 to 3 ft tall and green but they are not flowering at all. About 3 weeks later I planted 2 more plants of a different variety and they are flowering already. Any idea why there are no buds? They are planted in a location that provides sun from sunrise to about 2 pm and are shaded for the rest of the day. They are in about 50% organic soil 30% black cow 20% local soil. I am watering them about 1 time a week with the moderate temps we have been having. Any help would be appreciated.


Follow-Up Postings:

 o
RE: Growing but no flowers

Be patient, if you search the forum here (bottom of page) you will find some discussions about Mr. Stripy They take a while. I have purchased them in the past and they often times took longer to produce than others.

Here is a link that might be useful: Discussion about Mr. Stripey

This post was edited by Moorlord on Sat, Jun 1, 13 at 8:02


 o
RE: Growing but no flowers

They also look a little underfed and could a good dose of fertilizer. How much sun are they getting? Looking a little leggy.


 o
RE: Growing but no flowers

I agree with ED.

They don't look very strong and are lanky and not full. Are they getting enough sun ? 5 + hours daily?


 o
RE: Growing but no flowers

  • Posted by bets z6A ID (My Page) on
    Sun, Jun 2, 13 at 9:19

"They are planted in a location that provides sun from sunrise to about 2 pm"

@ edweather and syesonn, considering that sunrise in most location is now around 6 am (or earlier) those tomatoes are getting about 8 hours of sunlight.

I'll agree the foliage is sparse looking and the plants are lanky. It also looks like some of the lower leaves may be yellowing.

Tyrion, I notice there are bricks at the front of the bed the tomatoes are in, is that a raised bed? How's the drainage? Are you checking the soil moisture down about 6" before you water? And how much water are they getting?

Have you fertilized the plants at all? Tomatoes are pretty heavy feeders. If you have not fed them, I'd suggest an application of a balanced liquid fertilizer, followed in a couple of weeks by a balanced granular feeding (for a slow sustained release) unless the bed they are in is more like a container, in which case you probably need to repeat the liquid feeding at about half strength every week or so.

Betsy


 o
RE: Growing but no flowers

My bad. Didn't read the whole post. Although sunrise to 2pm is probably only about 5-6 hrs of decent sun because it takes a few hours to rise to where it can really help. I've grown tomatoes with only 5 hours of sun, and they were very lanky.


 o
RE: Growing but no flowers

I actually had just given them a dose of the bloodmeal fertilizer the day those pictures were taken. They are not in a raised bed and the drainage is pretty good. Under the soil is mostly sand. I am watering them about 1x a week with a soaker hose. How dry am I looking for the soil to be 6 inches down? What causes the yellowing towards the bottom?


 o
RE: Growing but no flowers

Bloodmeal? Awfully high nitrogen for tomatoes. Excess nitrogen often leads to lots of leafy growth - although I sure don't see that here - and few blooms. What P and K have they been fed? Suggest a much more balanced fertilizer.

I realize you indicated the hours of sun but what about the intensity? Is it full sun or shaded, dappled sun. They are still very lanky plants with quite long internode lengths. That symptom is almost always a result of too little sun exposure.

What causes the yellowing towards the bottom?

Over-watering.

How dry am I looking for the soil to be 6 inches down?

Essentially dry.

Dave


 o
RE: Growing but no flowers

Ok so rookie mistake getting a fertilizer with no P or K. I am guessing now I should try and find a fertilizer with 0 N to balance them out a bit. Is that correct? Can anyone reccomend one? Preferably organic.


 o
RE: Growing but no flowers

It would be better to get a fertilizer with all three nutrients (NPK) and use it instead of the bllodmeal. There are no organic sources of P or K that release as rapidly as bloodmeal releases N. Tomatotone is a good quality balaced organic fertilizer that would be available fairly quickly. You would add that every two weeks.


 o Post a Follow-Up

Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum.

    If you are a member, please log in.

    If you aren't yet a member, join now!


Return to the Growing Tomatoes Forum

Information about Posting

  • You must be logged in to post a message. Once you are logged in, a posting window will appear at the bottom of the messages. If you are not a member, please register for an account.
  • Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review your post, make changes and upload photos.
  • After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
  • Before posting copyrighted material, please read about Copyright and Fair Use.
  • We have a strict no-advertising policy!
  • If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
  • If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.


Learn more about in-text links on this page here