Penelope Periwinkle wrote:

On Sat, 28 May 2005 09:34:50 -0700, "Dr "
wrote:

I'm having problems with my tomatoes, , , ,

4-5 weeks ago, I planted wally world tomatoes in 1/2 wine barrels. The
plants are very large now, but NO FRUIT! they had lots of blossoms,
but since they are going away, I still have no tomatoes.

Wots up wit dat?

The temps have been in the 90's and low 100's, not too hot for the
California High Desert. The plants look great, but no tomatoes!


Google on Blossom Drop.


http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortn...97/tomdis.html

Blossom Drop
Plants fail to set fruit. Cause: Extremes in temperature and dry
conditions may result in poor pollination and cause the flowers
to drop from the plant without setting fruit. Blossom drop on
tomatoes occurs when night temperatures are below 55°F or above
75°F. Control: Water the plants deeply once a week during dry
weather. Fruit set should increase when temperatures moderate.
Hormone sprays, such as "Blossom Set", may prevent some blossom
drop due to low temperatures. However, the resulting fruit are
often misshapen. Hormone sprays do not prevent blossom drop due
to high temperatures.

http://www.agway.com/lawn_and_garden...tomatoes.shtml

Blossom Drop – Tomato plants often develop beautiful blossoms
that mysteriously fall off. This problem is often
temperature-related. Some varieties may drop their blossoms when
night temperatures fall below 55° while high day temperatures
above 90° and night temperatures above 75° may also cause blossom
drop. To prevent it, plant resistant varieties, keep the soil
evenly moist and avoid using high nitrogen fertilizers during the
early stages of plant growth. Also watch for signs of early
blight or bacterial spot that may cause blossom loss.


It sounds like your daytime temps may be too high. As the second
paragraph mentions, some varieties are more heat tolerant than
others. The problem with buying big box store tomatoes is that
they tend to stock "least common denominator" varieties, ie,
varieties that will do well under average conditions.

Around here, in South Carolina, it gets very, very hot in July
and August, and most tomatoes stop producing. If I can keep the
plants going until September, I usually see a second flush of
tomatoes, With a late frost, I can get a decent second crop.

Or, I *used* to see that. Since the War of the spit!Thrips
began, I'm lucky to see tomatoes at all. I have, however, removed
their reservoir, the place they gathered strength while waiting
for me to set out my purty lettle tomato plants. I have removed
all three of the mulberryless mulberry trees, and am diligently
destroying all signs of sproutlets from the roots. Maybe, maybe
this year, I'll have fall tomatoes.

Anyway, I would suggest looking into varieties that were bred to
produce in the heat.


Penelope


Here is the URL for Burpee's Heatwave II.
http://www.burpee.com/shopping/produ...yword=heatwave

It is supposed to withstand heat up to 100° F.


--
Susan N.

"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral, 48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974)