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Plants spitting blossoms

Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2020 9:57 am
by EdieJ
So we got past the aphids and whatever was causing yellowing leaves. There is abundant green growth coming in just at the tops so now they look like something from Dr. Seuss. Putting out blossoms but once the blossoms reach the point where they should be making into tomatoes the stems are separating from the plants. I've picked up several of the larger ones that have been cast off and pulled the flower off and there are tiny tomatoes down in. The plants are in SWC's with a mix of MiracleGro regular potting mix, extra perlite, pine bark, a bit of peat moss and Jobe's granular Heirloom Tomato Fertilizer. I have also given them slightly weak solutions of organic Alaska Fish Fertilizer 5-1-1. Should I be using a different fertilizer maybe? They get sun from dawn to mid-afternoon. At my wits' end!

Re: Plants spitting blossoms

Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2020 11:46 am
by MissS
It could be that it is too hot down there for tomatoes to set or it could be that your plants have too much nitrogen. You may have to wait for the nights to become cooler. For now I would hold off on anymore fertilizer until fruit set begins.

Re: Plants spitting blossoms

Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2020 12:05 pm
by EdieJ
The bad thing is nights are not going to get any cooler for at least 3-1/2 more months 😞 That's why I had started them early so they would set before the hot season, darn it.

Re: Plants spitting blossoms

Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2020 3:33 pm
by Nan6b
If they look like Dr. Seuss plants, it could be they're too denuded to support fruit just yet. I've had ailing plants that aborted blossoms until they recovered.

Re: Plants spitting blossoms

Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2020 9:02 pm
by pondgardener
[mention]EdieJ[/mention], my Estler's Mortgage Lifters are growing well but I have had almost total blossom drop which is highly unusual for me. Other varieties of tomatoes are doing well, so I am hoping for some tomatoes to show you some pictures. As I mentioned before, all 4 plants were started and planted into the ground early, so I am disappointed that things are not progressing as I expected. Temperatures have been on the hot side, with little rain, but they are irrigated on a regular basis. The old idiom stating that "a watched pot never boils" may hold true for now.

Re: Plants spitting blossoms

Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2020 10:31 am
by SpookyShoe
My tomato season is over. Hard for blossoms to set fruit in this kind of heat. Also, my plants are very old. They were set out the last part of February. And they were very large when I set them out because I started seeds too early and they got too big to fit under the lights. I had to drag them in and out of the house. Daytime temps were warm enough for the seedlings, but I was afraid they would not thrive in colder temps at night.

Next time I'm starting seeds later.

Re: Plants spitting blossoms

Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2020 10:55 am
by EdieJ
Pondgardner, thank you for the update as disappointing as it is. It almost feels like someone has dropped some bad Karma! I hope yours do finally start bearing.

Re: Plants spitting blossoms

Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2020 3:40 pm
by pondgardener
[mention]EdieJ[/mention], I checked again this afternoon and noticed some larger tomato sepals(I had to look that term up!) and looked closer and there was a little tomato. And while I was doing some searching, I ran across the linked article which mentioned that possibly there are some tomato varieties that are reluctant to self pollinate and need a little help. And with the humidity that Alabama must have, which can cause the pollen to clump, your plants may need a little assistance to pollinate.

http://www.pollinator.com/tomato.htm

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Re: Plants spitting blossoms

Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2020 4:21 pm
by Growing Coastal
I too have had blossoms dropping from three plants under cover. Now that it is warmer they are being uncovered more during dry spells. Today I went out to buzz the flowers and saw my assistant hard at work, a bumble bee.He is probably better at pollinating than I am as it was a bit humid today and now, showers......

Re: Plants spitting blossoms

Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2020 9:22 pm
by EdieJ
Pondgardner, I am so happy you are finally getting tomatoes. I've been shaking, vibrating, flicking the back ends of the blossoms but still they fall. With baby tomatoes in them. 😭 A nice big blossom I've been watching with a good sturdy stem, I noticed this afternoon that all of a sudden the stem is starting to turn yellow so that one is toast too. So disappointing.

Re: Plants spitting blossoms

Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2020 9:06 am
by MissS
I have Estler's Mortgage Lifter just coming into bloom now. It is not seed from EdieJ, but I will be watching for blossom drop. It is a cool growing season so far so hopefully there will be some tomatoes. Now I'm kicking myself in the head for not asking for some of Edie's seed. If pondgardner's plants and mine both produce, it will be nice to compare pics side by side to see if any changes have occurred.

Re: Plants spitting blossoms

Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2020 6:28 pm
by Sue_CT
I don't know what was wrong with my ML plants this year. The branches kept yellowing and dropping while in the house! I planted a few anyway, hoping it is not a seed born disease. They are definitely behind my other plants but seem to have recovered and look small but healthy, so I am crossing my fingers that I get fruit from Edie's seeds so I can save some.

From Edie's 2011 seeds: ImageGarden 6-24-2020 with Edie’s Esther’s Mortgage Lifter by Susan Albetski, on Flickr

I believe this is my ML seed on the left and another of Edie's on the right, but it might be her 2015 seed: ImageGarden 6-24-2020 with Edie’s Esther’s Mortgage Lifter by Susan Albetski, on Flickr

This is a better picture of the difference in size, with the 3 ML plants on the left and other varieties on the right. The others are GGWT, Box Car Willie, Gallego and KB:
ImageGarden 6-24-2020 with Edie’s Esther’s Mortgage Lifter by Susan Albetski, on Flickr

You can see how much smaller they are compared to the other plants in the garden, and they were all from seeds started at the same time and planted out at the same time. I have no idea why there seems to be so many problems with them this year. They look healthy enough to bear fruit barring any other catastrophes, but it will be later and therefore not likely to produce as much as they would have otherwise. But I need just one good healthy tomato from each plant to save for next year. So don't worry too much, Edie. I saved a few of the seed you sent me in case of catastrophe, so I can try again next year. But I still think I will be able replenish your seed a little for you with these plants. They may be little but I think they look pretty healthy considering. :)

Re: Plants spitting blossoms

Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2020 9:55 pm
by EdieJ
I have consistently grown plants from the 2011 seeds since I got them from my Aunt and have never had issues with them until this year. I was hoping it was just me since I was in the hospital for a whole week at the worst possible time. Oh how I hope everyone's plants do well, not just for seed but so y'all can enjoy eating some too!

Re: Plants spitting blossoms

Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2020 1:50 pm
by Sue_CT
Well, went out to the garden and I have good news and bad news. The ML plants are going gang busters and are on track to catch up to others eventually. They seem to have doubled in size, are much fuller and still healthy. They have flowers. The bad news. No little tomatoes yet and I am concerned at what the flowers look like, if they will produce fruit or drop. Oddly, my own ML seed from grow outs I did from Carolyn's seed in 2018, have multiple little tomatoes, but none yet from the plant that came from Edie's 2011 seed. I put a half yard of soil/compost mix this year but have not fertilized yet. I will do that next week as well as spray with Daconil. MY KB plants had some disease on the lower leaves that I removed, the rest look healthy, but I should have started spraying already. It rained yesterday and I can hear thunder in the distance so I will have to hold off a bit more before spraying. If you compare the current ML plants to my photo above you can see how much they have grown in exactly one week. Sorry if the pictures are too large, but I am using larger ones hoping you can read the labels. In case you can't the second photo shows 3 ML plants, the one on the left and the one on the right are from Edie's seeds, and the one in the middle and the one with tomatoes in the bottom picture which is in the row behind this one, are from my seed.


Image7-1-2020 ML tomatoes by Susan Albetski, on Flickr


Image7-1-2020 ML tomatoes by Susan Albetski, on Flickr


Image7-1-2020 ML tomatoes by Susan Albetski, on Flickr


Image7-1-2020 ML tomatoes by Susan Albetski, on Flickr

Re: Plants spitting blossoms

Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2020 3:25 pm
by EdieJ
All of a sudden instead of a blossom here and a blossom there, a couple of my EML's have lots of blossoms. These plants are not directly from the 2011 seeds but are from seed I saved from 2 years ago which those plants came from the 2011 seeds. So if I get tomatoes these will be the "grandchildren" of the originals. Still waiting to see if the plants directly from the 2011 seeds will produce anything 😕

Re: Plants spitting blossoms

Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2020 6:34 pm
by Sue_CT
I have two healthy plants directly from your 2011 seed, so I believe I will have some for you. I just can't believe neither one would produce. Its just a little disappointing that the one ML plant that has several fruit already are from my seed, and not yours. But that doesn't mean I won't get lots from yours, too. It is still early in our season. I only planted them 4 weeks ago.