Finally ~ some fruit!
Return to DiscussionsWhat a frustrating year for tomatoes, and I've heard from other gardeners that they've had problems with fruit set. I think we have picked about half a dozen little tomatoes this year, darn it! Have any other naked growers been having a problem like this?
We did get the plants in the dirt a little late, but I keep feeling I did something wrong with my amendments and told the plants to keep going vegetal. Tons of flowers have formed all along but most haven't turned into anything ~ that is until yesterday when I was looking closer and one of our Gardener's Delight plants has turned the corner with maybe twenty-five small globes of deliciousness FINALLY hanging on the vines, yay! I'm hoping we may get a salad or two of our own produce now.
Most every other varietal has languished with nothing, or one fruit forms and stays static. Nothing from Black Crim but a couple piddly green ones; the Roma was a new type for us and it's got a few, one maybe pickable before September is here. One Brandywine about a month ago and about zero from Rutgers, & Mortgage Lifter.
Any input from other people who garden with their fruit showing?
We have enjoyed a tomato bounty this year, but conditions here have been near perfect for growing them. There are many reasons the fruit is not setting, but the most common are: 1.) High temperatures (over 95 during the day and 72 at night), 2.) high humidity (causes flowers to be too sticky to pollinate), and 3.) poor pollination. It's difficult to diagnose from afar, but these are the first ones to look at.
We have enjoyed a tomato bounty this year, but conditions here have been near perfect for growing them. There are many reasons the fruit is not setting, but the most common are: 1.) High temperatures (over 95 during the day and 72 at night), 2.) high humidity (causes flowers to be too sticky to pollinate), and 3.) poor pollination. It's difficult to diagnose from afar, but these are the first ones to look at.
How helpful of you to give these pointers, NTL!
We've had some very hot and sticky days here in Va in the last few weeks, so maybe it has to do with 1&2 but the high bug visitation makes me think not 3. Regardless, thanks for the tips and I'll hope the downward turn in humidity & temps of late might offer some late summer output.
An early war with deer eating the leaves and such, the only thing really thriving is the basil ~ and we can't give it away fast enough! Got Pesto?
I got our tomatoes in the ground and then we got rain and more rain. The plants grew and were 6ft tall ( I used string lines to keep them off the ground). When it wasn't raining it was very hot and humid so we had end rot. I threw out a lot of tomatoes cause they were rotting on the vine. Chickens liked that since they feasted on them. The rest of the garden didn't do as well either. Corn was trying to pollinate when it was raining and ears were very small.
The final stage of tomato growing for the year has been reached, and we did end up getting enough maters to entertain with a few good caprese salads and a hearty gazpacho with only our tomatoes in it (minus the tomato juice my recipe calls for and we bought). But now it's clean up duty with the lanky branches of spent plants sullying the look of our small yard. If the rain stops it's out of the ground for those guys and more sun for the cilantro that's coming up all over the place underneath that canopy of brown. They had wintered over last year and threw about 1,000,000 coriander all over the place before I took it all out, so now it's taking advantage of things and we'll be enjoying its leaves very soon. Winter garden planting time is upon us (if not late, like last year)!
What do you do with a pound of coriander, all you nude cooks?
The basil is still going strong, and if I'm quick about it I should be making a quart or more of pesto. But a low of 39 on Thursday says YIKES, time to harvest that overly-abundant herb! The greenhouse is about to get re-built and loaded up with the rest of our outdoor plants.
What's in your garden to deal with?