Tomato growers - i'm in trouble

[spidey07]

WTF!!! All flowers are just falling off before they open. Apparently it's called "blossom drop", not to be confused with blossom end rot. I've been growing for 10 years and this is driving me nuts. No flowers = no fruit.

Googling frantically there are many possible causes - temperature swings, cold night spells, etc. We did have an unusually cold spell about two weeks ago where nighttime temps were in the low 50s if not lower. The cherry tomatoes aren't having this problem but all other plants have NO BLOOMS!!! Just bloomstalks where the flowers dropped off. There are NO yellow flowers on my maters, I'm sick to my stomach.

The one key is the blossoms that do start have a yellowing where they meet the actual bloomstalk. Any ideas?

 

[alm99]

What is the pH of the soil? Are the cherries in a different area?

 

[ICRS]

Could it be calcium. I know calcium deficiency could cause blossom end rot.

 

[Specop 007]

gardenweb.com

Not to be an ass, but if you need garden doctors thats where I would go!

 

[amdskip]

I'm not sure but I enjoyed my first tomato of the season tonight on a nice juicy burger, grilled onions, texas toast, good stuff!

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: alm99
What is the pH of the soil? Are the cherries in a different area?

All plants are potted in earth boxes, 4 boxes two plants each. These are large potters about 1.5x3.5 feet. http://www.earthbox.com/

I have not tested the pH of the soil, I have the means to do so however. The cherry plant is in the same box as another variety that I can't recall. It's affecting all plants except the Sweet 100 cherry. They are all within 12 feet of each other with similar sunlight.

What should be telling is the stalk of the blossom is yellowish, on all blossoms. I'm left with nothing but a blossom stalk with no flowers.:frown:

 

[Eli]

Wow! That's weird, I've never even heard of such a thing.

Wish I could help.

Just keep researching, hopefully you can narrow it down.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Eli
Wow! That's weird, I've never even heard of such a thing.

Wish I could help.

Just keep researching, hopefully you can narrow it down.

Never heard of it either, never had a problem other than the "normal" things that can be fixed.

But it's called "blossom drop"

Here's a pic of the hornworms I was battling earlier. You can see his evil Monty Burns "it's mine bitch" jesture.
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/spidey07/hornwom-ev2.JPG

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: Eli
Wow! That's weird, I've never even heard of such a thing.

Wish I could help.

Just keep researching, hopefully you can narrow it down.

Never heard of it either, never had a problem other than the "normal" things that can be fixed.

But it's called "blossom drop"

Here's a pic of the hornworms I was battling earlier. You can see his evil Monty Burns "it's mine bitch" jesture.
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/spidey07/hornwom-ev2.JPG

I was going to say, are you sure something isn't eating them off? LOL

 

[Slew Foot]

Im having the greatest tomato crop ever this year, not sure what Im doing differently except watering less. Only 2 plants but each has over a 100 normal size tomaters coming.

 

[alm99]

There are no spots on the leaves at all? How much water are they getting?

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Eli

I was going to say, are you sure something isn't eating them off? LOL

Quite sure. I take my maters very seriously and give them TLC every night.

Anybody that hand pollinates their maters (me) takes it to a whole nutter level of obsession. Imagine a pot grower caring for his beloved plants to produce, that's me with my maters.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: Eli

I was going to say, are you sure something isn't eating them off? LOL

Quite sure. I take my maters very seriously and give them TLC every night.

Anybody that hand pollinates their maters (me) takes it to a whole nutter level of obsession. Imagine a pot grower caring for his beloved plants to produce, that's me with my maters.

What is the mechanism? Is the plant cutting the flower off because of an external factor?

High soil nitrogen levels?

And..... I know what you mean.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: alm99
There are no spots on the leaves at all? How much water are they getting?

Leaves are very healthy, the whole plant is very happy. If you look at the earthbox link the water is in the bottom and the top of the soil is covered with thick cloth. I only water when the leaves tell me to.

The plant as a whole is VERY HAPPY, but it's dropping just about every blossom. Current fruit is just fine and growing, tastes great. But I can't find a bright yellow flower on any plant except the cherry which is flowering like crazy.

 

[kage69]

I would check your pH first. What are you using for a growing medium? What kind of tomatoes are you growing? What food have they received? I too ran into all kinds of bs with my maters; turned out excessive rain water washed all my minerals and calcium away. But then I discovered CalMag+

FYI peanut meal is supposed to be great for all types of tomatoes, look into that for nutes. I'd go organic if possible. Other than that I would invest in a bottle of Serenade for topical applications. It's awesome!

Now if I could just get the basil to come out right...

And..... I know what you mean.

Heh....*wink* *wink* *nudge* *nudge* Saynomore!

 

[runzwithsizorz]

IMHO, You may planted too late in the season.
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/PUBS/Garden/02949.html

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: runzwithsizorz
IMHO, You may planted too late in the season.
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/PUBS/Garden/02949.html

I planted may 4th to get fruit by july 4th. I've got fruit and already harvesting but there are no NEW blossoms as they're just falling off. They start to form and before they fully open they just fall off.

I'll test the pH this evening.

The only thing googling has that makes any sense is the cold spell from a few weeks ago.

 

[Bryophyte]

Too much nitrogen will do that to tomatoes.

 

[MmmSkyscraper]

Take off and nuke the site from orbit.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: kage69
I would check your pH first. What are you using for a growing medium? What kind of tomatoes are you growing? What food have they received? I too ran into all kinds of bs with my maters; turned out excessive rain water washed all my minerals and calcium away. But then I discovered CalMag+

FYI peanut meal is supposed to be great for all types of tomatoes, look into that for nutes. I'd go organic if possible. Other than that I would invest in a bottle of Serenade for topical applications. It's awesome!

Now if I could just get the basil to come out right...

And..... I know what you mean.

Heh....*wink* *wink* *nudge* *nudge* Saynomore!

I've got a huge basil bush growing in a pot on my patio. They don't like direct sunlight.

 

[imported_Lothar]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: alm99
What is the pH of the soil? Are the cherries in a different area?

All plants are potted in earth boxes, 4 boxes two plants each. These are large potters about 1.5x3.5 feet. http://www.earthbox.com/

I have not tested the pH of the soil, I have the means to do so however. The cherry plant is in the same box as another variety that I can't recall. It's affecting all plants except the Sweet 100 cherry. They are all within 12 feet of each other with similar sunlight.

What should be telling is the stalk of the blossom is yellowish, on all blossoms. I'm left with nothing but a blossom stalk with no flowers.:frown:

Rabbits?