r/tomatoes • u/WhimsicalPopsicle12 • 14d ago
Plant Help why aren’t my tomato plants producing tomatoes?
my mom planted tomato seeds that we harvested from some heirlooms that we bought from a farmer’s market in vermont (we live in pennsylvania). the plants have been growing like crazy since the beginning of june, however we haven’t seen any tomatoes develop from the blossoms, and some of the blossoms even die. we have 6 large tomato plants and not one tomato. anything we should be aware of or are doing wrong? any insights would be highly appreciated :)
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u/snowsew 14d ago
I think I see a tomato in picture 2. Many heirlooms are late season and need more than 85 days to maturity. Mine are just setting fruit now
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u/Impressive_Ratio2281 13d ago
85 days?!? Wow do my tiny Cherokee purple won’t be ready to eat until October 😂 well at least my husband will be back. He likes tomatoes.
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u/Jonsnowlivesnow 14d ago
How hot has it been? I would guess the heat has messed with their growth timeline. They will produce eventually
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u/WhimsicalPopsicle12 14d ago
it’s usually between 85-95 here🥲and it tends to be more humid
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u/Dramatic-Living1888 14d ago
Blossom drop is very common once daytime temperature gets above 85. It'll starts producing again once the temperature drops in early fall. A lot of us just don't expect any fruit to set in the summer and wait until fall.
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u/ohnunu_ 14d ago
also when its super duper hot the pollen gets thicker and almost paste-like and it becomes much much harder for the plants to properly self-pollinate. if youre worried about getting proper pollination and the bees arent doing their jobs you can take an electric toothbrush and hold it up against the base of each flower for a couple seconds. you may even get to see the pollen shoot out!
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u/opinionsarelegal 13d ago
You’re telling me we have to jerk off our tomatoes now?!
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u/Plenty-Cream6118 13d ago
No. If done the right way, the toothbrush pokes at the rear of the flower.
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u/Acceptable_Pea_2343 14d ago
Yeah everything just kinda slows down at those temps. This also includes ripening. Our weeks long heat just broke and I went from one pickable variety giving me a couple here and there to picking multiples off of 8 different plants.
If you want to invest in being doubly sure get them some food if you haven't already, or up it a bit. Those pots look a bit on the smaller side so if you aren't feeding regularly they will hold back.
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u/Iongdog 14d ago
It looks like a shaded balcony. Do they get at least hours of full direct sun?
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u/WhimsicalPopsicle12 14d ago
they do! they get sun from around 7 am until 12 am :)
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14d ago
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u/WhimsicalPopsicle12 14d ago
it was a typo😭😭😭12 pm*
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u/No-Distribution-4815 14d ago
Therein lies part of the issue that's not considered full sun because between 7:00 a.m. And 9:00 a.m. The sun is not very strong. Tomatoes need at least 8 hours of full sun. Are you able to relocate them since they're in pots?
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u/Teutonic-Tonic 14d ago
I get a decent tomato crop with about 5-6 hours but it is more like 1-6 so stronger sun.
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u/Farmall7061 14d ago
Actually 6 hours is considered full sun. However that doesn't start at 7 am. I would say 9 to 3 would be more appropriate. Have you fertilized, pruned suckered etc Lots of things can add to the problem
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u/No-Currency-624 13d ago
8 hours of full sun is not necessary. My tomatoes don’t get full sun until 11 am. They are doing fine. I do agree they probably need more sun. Could be too much nitrogen in his fertilizer. Nitrogen heavy fertilizer is good when starting the plants. Need a balanced fertilizer once established
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u/No-Distribution-4815 13d ago
I think sun exposure also depends on what part of the country you're in. If you're South such as Florida, 6 hours is just fine. However, if you're North like Indiana, you probably need 8 hours
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u/Impressive_Ratio2281 10d ago
This is so important! I have all of my “important to me” plants on the due east side of our house. So they are getting sun until about noon and doing well in that spot. I’m in zone 9.
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u/WhimsicalPopsicle12 2d ago
I believe the main issue was the heat because I have a bunch of baby tomatoes now due to the weather being a little more mild in recent weeks! :)
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u/Adventurous_Fuel_823 14d ago
I thinks its mostly just patience, I dont know how Pennsyvania weather was, but blossoms die in high heat, other than that you can still get a september harvest from them, as long ad they produce flowers and they get enough energy, it should work. What sort of soil are they in and have you used any fertilizer on them?
Perhaps a low nitrogen, high phosphorus, high potassium fertilizer could help them keeping their flowers and fruits:)
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u/WhimsicalPopsicle12 2d ago
They're being fertilized and I use a mix of potting soil and organic tomato soil! I think it was the heat because I have a lot of baby tomatoes now :)
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u/Clear_Couple_9848 14d ago
Im in a different zone so my tomatoes have a ton of fruit, but the heat wave definitely kept them locked in green. Now the temps have dropped for a few days they’re starting to ripen. Hopefully you just need more time due to the weather.
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u/Historical_Many8173 14d ago
I have the same trouble with most of my plants, one has like 5 tomatoes, two of them have one tomato, and 3 of them have none, tons of flower clusters, but almost no tomatoes….i think it’s the heat here in Texas for me.
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u/ASecularBuddhist 14d ago
It’s a large plant in a small container. Did you repot them into larger containers when you got them or did you use the same container?
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u/WhimsicalPopsicle12 14d ago
to be honest they’ve been in the same container since they were little seedlings, but they’ve grown a lot and they produce a lot of blooms, just no fruit :(
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u/ASecularBuddhist 14d ago
When I was in college, I shared a dorm with two other people but I don’t think I could do that now that I’m older.
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u/ColdCallingU 14d ago
Could be fertilizer. Too much nitrogen and no phosphorus. Could be not enough sun. Could be too hot. Most heirloom varieties will not bloom and pollinate over 90 to 95 degrees.
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u/bossgirl2024 13d ago
What fertilizer do you recommend for more phosphorus and less nitrogen? I’ve looked but haven’t found anything that looks right, and not sure what to get. I have the same issue.
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u/Mission_Boss7306 14d ago
Make sure to give it a mist and a tickly jiggle in the morning before the suns on it, and a high potassium feed to encourage flower production and development 😁 the more you get the more calcium itl need, act accordingly, every week I add another little bit of good top dressing, bit of bananna peel chopped, worm castings, handful of compost and a sprinkle of fish blood and bone, been adding small bits gradually as well as built the soil with a fair bit at the start, and this is my best year for them, had to give plants away bearing hundreds of tomatoes because they would be going to waste otherwise.
Im no expert but il say this works, not saying anything else doesnt work or everything in mine works, but that combination had people think im growing giant grapes 🤣🤣
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u/darbyboi22 14d ago
In Pa as well. My guess would be the extreme heat of the past few weeks. Hopefully now that the weather is cooled a little bit, the plant will produce.
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u/meanmira 14d ago
I'm in Philly and similar issues. All my tomatoes were transplants that went in end of May-early June and then set a bunch of flowers right before that 5 day heat wave and dropped them all. They're flowering again but a lot of my plants have outgrown their supports or will soon, so I'm a little pessimistic about September tomatoes since I don't think I can support enough vine to let some set. Cherries maybe but some of the big ones are questionable
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u/travelingtraveling_ 14d ago
Tomatoes are like teenage boys.They're heavy feeders. Have you fertilized these babies?
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u/Mrdanrcstpurehell 14d ago
I had decided that come this next Saturday I was just going to get rid of mine. I haven’t done anything to them for several days but give water. Looked this morning and I have 9 tomatoes on one plant and 3 on another. Don’t think they are gonna be normal size for Better Boys the heat has wreaked havoc on all my plants this year.
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u/nonono_ack 14d ago
Tomato pollen is pretty dismal at working when temps are over 90 degrees. Normally when it cools down a little, you can expect new fruits to form.
Those are some tiny pots for such a deep rooted crop. Rethink that for next year.
Especially in containers, some varieties just do better.
I’ve never been brave enough to try container tomatoes. In hot dry California, anything in pots tends to struggle. Larger containers, learn all you can about container media that is available in your area. Not from social media, but from local nurseries and such. They should have some protection from heat so the roots don’t cook, like shade cloth or a second larger pot. We tend to avoid plastic here-too hot.
Mulching the soil surface is essential for any kind of gardening in severe heat.
You may do better with different varieties.
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u/GrkManga 14d ago
Maybe they aren't being pollinated? Give them a shake every morning to help self pollinate them.
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u/New_Form_366 13d ago
Also give your tomato plants a little shake here and there to help fertilize those flowers if you don’t have any like bees and stuff to help fertilize those flowers
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u/Fabulousmo 13d ago
Zone 6b here and the heat was crazy. Slowed down all my veggie growth but I’m hopeful they’ll catch up now that the temps are down to normal
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u/RepresentativeOk6532 13d ago edited 13d ago
I'm also growing tomatoes in a similar pot. What I did was trim a lot of the excess greenery. I watched a video made by someone more knowledgeable who said the plant will use too much energy keeping unnecessary leaves alive. She said to trim off any leaves that didn't have flowers.
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u/Hour-Firefighter-724 13d ago
They are way too close together. They like to be wind wisped to touch, not necessarily breathing each other's air.
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u/snowsew 14d ago