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advice-please-re-my-tomato-plants
tattianna
Posts: 182
in Fruit & veg
I've grown minibell and moneymaker some plants are outside and the rest are in the conservatory. I feed them once a week and water every 2-3 days, more if they need it and the ones that have friut are all doing well.
My problem is that 4 of the plants (both varieties and plants are in the conservatory) have lots of flowers but no signs of friut emerging. I've kept an eye on them for the past few weeks and they haven't changed and I was wondering if they will ever produce friut or should I just admit defeat with these plants????
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Posts
Probably lack of pollination, Tattiana. They are self-pollinating but need a bit of help which is usually provided by the wind or insects when outside. Indoors, you need to tap the stems with your hand daily to help distribute the pollen.
And too hot and too dry an atmosphere-a conservatory is not ideal.
tattiana you don't need to feed tomatoes until you have at least one truss set ( one bunch of tomatoes) on the plant.
And cut back the feeding to every couple of weeks at most. Toms aren't hungry plants. In fact, they will produce more if left to struggle a bit in terms of both feeding and watering.
Ah Ok so I've made a few mistakes then...not enabling them to polinate, probably too much water & food & perhaps not ideal growing them in the conservatory???
Thanks for all your comments and knowing what I know now hopefully I'll have better results next year.
So back to my plants now...is there any chance they will produce fruit now or is it a bit late for them? I won't be upset if you say give up on them as I've got ample tomatoes that I'm more than happy with
As a conservatory generally keeps warmer than an unheated greenhouse, I think you'll probably get a few fruits if they set now but it will be close! If any trusses set, I would nip off all other flowers and growing points on those particular plants so they can concentrate all of their energy into ripening a few fruits.
I've found a few flowers on mine that have not made fruit, I thought like Bob say's lack of pollination.I will pollinate by hand next year just to make sure, I did that with the strawberrys this year.
Italophile that's good to know let them struggle a bit. I had a peace lily house plant that did not flower for about 3 year's, till someone told me I treat it too good take it near death. I did and it flowers amazing every year now so it's always kept on the brink of death in summer.
Zombie, most plants that flower and fruit are only seeking to reproduce themselves. It's the only reason they exist. In simple terms, if they're chockers with nutrition, they don't feel remotely threatened, they feel no need to reproduce. They will, because it's in their genes, but they will be keener to reproduce if they feel ever so slightly threatened.
thanks for all advice, i was about to ask a question, now no need, as all answeres are here.