any help would be appreciated. we have great cherry tomato plants growing -
almost 5 feet tall. but the flowers are just dying with no tomatoes
sprouting. anyone know why? they are in buckets on our porch thanks

Kathleenabuck wrote:
any help would be appreciated. we have great cherry tomato plants growing -
almost 5 feet tall. but the flowers are just dying with no tomatoes
sprouting. anyone know why? they are in buckets on our porch thanks

Just a guess on my part but it sounds lik elack of pollination.
Maybe a q-tip and gently poking into each one???

What would you "POKE" into each one with the Q-tip?

You don't say where you live, but if the temps are cool, the fruit won't
set. If the temps are 90+ the pollen may be damaged or killed and again no
fruit set. Insects can be a problem, but probably not here if you've got
other tomatoes that are setting. Extreme nutrition imbalance such as high N,
low P,K no calcium can all have a profound effect. I'd say one of these is
most likely your problem unless there's something else you're not telling
us.

"John DeBoo" wrote in message
...
Kathleenabuck wrote:
any help would be appreciated. we have great cherry tomato plants
growing -
almost 5 feet tall. but the flowers are just dying with no tomatoes
sprouting. anyone know why? they are in buckets on our porch
thanks

Just a guess on my part but it sounds lik elack of pollination.
Maybe a q-tip and gently poking into each one???

This sounds like more of the dreaded "blossom end rot" which is sopposedly
due to uneven watering. I am not sure how to define "uneven" except that its
important to water deeply and come just short of saturating the soil. Do
this only after the plant starts to wilt slightly. Doing this too often will
drown out the plant, too little and the plant could die. As I have read the
best way to tell is to deep water, then allow the plant to go as long as it
can without wilting. Once it starts to wilt, then water again. This will
tell you how often to deep water the plant.

Also as stated nutrient imbalances could be a problem. It doesn't sound like
NPK problems, since the plant is growing nice foilage, and should have a
strong root system to have grown so tall (usually poor roots are indicated
by a stunted plant). Calcium could be a real issue in a bucket, as this
nutrient is rather easily leeched out of soil outdoors if there is
significant rains for a long period of time. If in a bucket this could have
been leeched out very fast. Calcium cannot be packed with NPK fertilizers
becuase it becomes chemically unstable. I would look into having a sample of
your bucket soil sent off for testing if your problem persists. You could
buy an inexpensive kit to do this yourself, but many agricultural extensions
will do this for free and can test for calcium, magnesium, and the like,
which the "over the counter" kits rarely test for.

"V_coerulea" wrote in message
.. .
You don't say where you live, but if the temps are cool, the fruit won't
set. If the temps are 90+ the pollen may be damaged or killed and again no
fruit set. Insects can be a problem, but probably not here if you've got
other tomatoes that are setting. Extreme nutrition imbalance such as high
N,
low P,K no calcium can all have a profound effect. I'd say one of these is
most likely your problem unless there's something else you're not telling
us.

"John DeBoo" wrote in message
...
Kathleenabuck wrote:
any help would be appreciated. we have great cherry tomato plants
growing -
almost 5 feet tall. but the flowers are just dying with no tomatoes
sprouting. anyone know why? they are in buckets on our porch
thanks

Just a guess on my part but it sounds lik elack of pollination.
Maybe a q-tip and gently poking into each one???