Why do I still have so many tomato flowers?

Discussion in 'Edible Gardening' started by Freedom_Spark, Jul 21, 2009.

  1. Freedom_Spark

    Freedom_Spark Gardener

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    Hi everyone, it's my first year with a greenhouse & I planted far too many tomatoes:dh: A few plants with larger tomatoes has every truss full of fruit however, I have baskests of cherry tomatoes, moneymakers & hundreds & thousands which still have most of their flowers, tomatoes are appearing here & there but overall it's a mass of yellow flowers. I tap the plants regularly to try & help with polination & spray them with a mist of water. It said on the hundreds and thousands seed packet that no pinching out was required but I'm worried that they are still putting energy into growing & not starting on the fruit, I heard that the actual growing season is short (I'm a complete beginner) So I'm worried the fruit isn't going to appear soon enough to ripen properly, any advice?

    Here's a picture of one of my 'hundreds and thousands' plants [​IMG]
     
  2. Will Ting

    Will Ting Gardener

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    Flowers looks normal to me FS. :gnthb: but I've never seen tomato plants growing in a basket before!
     
  3. Freedom_Spark

    Freedom_Spark Gardener

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  4. JWK

    JWK Gardener Staff Member

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    They have lots of flowers which is good, but the stems look weak and leggy, not at all like the image on the suttons website, which is a mass of cascading leaves & fruit. You should not have fed them till now, maybe that has caused them to grow like that.

    I'm sure I can see some tiny tomatoes forming at the back on the first truss, so you now need to start feeding with a tomato food high in Potash.
     
  5. Freedom_Spark

    Freedom_Spark Gardener

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    yeah, you're right I think I fed them too early. I'm feeding with tomorite every week now, however, the suttons website is I feel a gross exaggeration of what to expect :) That's my excuse any way!

    Here's a picture of someone's plant I saw on flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/bentobusiness/2750606487/ - alot better than mine but not up to suttons standard.

    I grew a few of this variety in pots also, which aren't as weak looking, however, another variety of cherry tomato I'm growing (I completely forget the variety) Is also looking quite weak with long spindely stems, maybe the early feeding doesn't agree with plants in baskets.
     
  6. Hex

    Hex Gardener

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    Masses of flowers should lead to masses of tomato`s so its a good thing.
    I have a sea of yellow flowers, lots of green toms and a few red ones so far.. patience is the name of the game. Nothing wrong with hanging toms on the wall either :wink:
     
  7. shiney

    shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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    Flowers are good and I agree with John that I can also see some toms forming. The problem you may have when they have formed is that because they have got too leggy the fruit may be too heavy for the stems and they may tend to break. Keep an eye on them and be prepared to support them if this begins to happen. :thumb:
     
  8. pete

    pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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    Difficult to make out, but, is that plant growing under glass?

    Just thinking that could be the reason for the leggy soft growth.
     
  9. Freedom_Spark

    Freedom_Spark Gardener

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    It's in the corner of the greenhouse, it's pretty impossible to grow tomatoes outside in northern ireland, well for a beginner like me anyway :D I'm hoping the fact that these tomatoes are a tiny variety will mean the stems may just be strong enough, if not what kinds of support should I use?

    The larger tomato plants seem fine, here's a pic of one of them, sorry it's not well focused! To me, they seem pretty strong & happy & they've had the same treatment as the cherries :cnfs:[​IMG]
     
  10. pete

    pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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    I'm only guessing again, but if its a hanging basket variety its probably more suited to growing outside on a sunny wall.
    The warm conditions under glass could promote lots of soft growth.

    I dont think it would be easy to support if it gets heavy, it should probably be shorter jointed and and a bit wiry.

    May be a net under the fruit if it should get too heavy might work, hopefully it will be alright though.
     
  11. NatalieB

    NatalieB Gardener

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    Would it be possible to support the growth with a 'fruit hammock' of sorts? Some netting clipped onto the side rails of the greenhouse (can use the clips that you use to insulate with bubble wrap?) and that would give the fruit some extra support but still let the air circulate? I use them for my cucumbers as the cucumbers further up the plant become heavy, and they work great. Also great for melons.
     
  12. rosietutu

    rosietutu Gardener

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    Feeding to early...thats the reason for my plants to have obtained 7 feet....up the south facing wall they to have masses of flowers plus tomatos I have tied them up every where you can they are the cherry type I did resist taking out the side shoots as they are covered in flowers also so hope we have a bumper crop.
     
  13. Hex

    Hex Gardener

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    Cherry tom stems tend to thicken up as the load increases.
    I have some that are already hanging out from the bed by a good 12"-15", defying gravity, and its only going to get worse :wink:
     
  14. Little Miss Road Rage

    Little Miss Road Rage Gardener

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    I've still got loads of flowers on mine too. There's one red one wjich I'm gonna go eat in a mo and the rest are green
     
  15. frogesque

    frogesque Gardener

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    My cherry toms are doing OK if going on the rampage somewhat. Variety: 100s And 1000s, greenhouse grown, builder's buckets with drainage holes, compost: 50/50 loam and 1 year old household 'dalek', Tomorite or equivalent AFTER the first fruit have set. They were getting a bit congested in a 6x6 greenhouse so a lot of the leggy growth was removed, two put back in the greenhouse and one has been left outside near a wall in a south-facing border.

    I like plenty of room for good roots to develop and I keep 'em lean untill those first fruit form. As with everthing, get the roots right and the rest looks after itself.

    Before they had a haircut!

    [​IMG]

    And our first bowlfull - arround 25 toms in all. Yum!

    [​IMG]
     
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