why aren’t my tomato plants getting any fruit on them?
December 30, 2009 by
Filed under growing scallions
they are brandywines and are growing very well with lots of flowers but no tomatos’. my garden used to be the manure pile from horses for years. i took all the manure out and treated it with amonium sulfate 3 years ago and made it into my garden(fenced off from the horses of course
). everything else in there is growing great(squash,cukes,corn,lettuce,radishes and scallions) but nothing on my tomatos. do i need to test my soil to see if i’m lacking in anything?
Ask a gardening expert… but I suspect your soil, because of its origins, is still TOO rich for tomatoes. Or maybe the ammonium sulfate is the culprit…. the ph may not agree with the tomato plants. The nursery will be able to tell you what ideal growing conditions are, or why flowers fail to develop.
It may still be because the soil is too well fertilized, so the plant is going to all growth. Too much nitrogen causes the plant to be very leafy, and even blossom, but not set fruit. You may want to test your soil. If it is lacking nitrogen, the leaves would probably be yellowed or pale green. It doesn’t sound like your soil is lacking nitrogen.
Another cause of not setting fruit is temperatures staying over 80*F.
A third could be from lack of pollinators–potentially because of pesticide use, but not necessarily so.
If three years have past, I would assume any organic matter and/or additives you placed there have been incorporated into the existing soil by the micro and macro organisms to a near neutral pH.
You also say you have other fruits and vegetables growing in the same area without any signs of distress.
My guess would be either heat or lack of or sporadic watering. If the tomatoes are wilting on a regular basis, chances are the flowers and or developing ovaries are aborting due to the stress.