small veggies

I have tomato plants and bell peppers that seem to be producing small fruit. Am I doing something wrong to make this happen?

Not necessarily, you could have planted a cultivar that yields small fruit. Lack of proper nutrients can cause fruit to be smaller than normal.

Farmerdill-what (if anything) will cause tomtoes to take forever to ripen?
littleveggie-I have never gotten bell peppers to produce large fruit like I expected. They tasted fine they just ripened when they were still small.
Lisa

Once you quit fretting over them, they ripen right up. Size is most consistant with cultivar. Of course, crowded conditions lack of nutrients can reduce fruit size from what is normal for that plant. Plants with big peppers have less fruit on the plant than those with smaller peppers.

Littleveggie – right now the heat is your biggest problem. Yesterdays temp. was 97 with a heat index of 109 according to the little gizmo hanging on my wall. I’m a couple of hundred miles north of you so your temps may be just a little cooler. I think Houston is flirting with a recored high for today ... 99

LK

All the other types of peppers I have grown get really large the bells just don't. Littleveggie-there are some bells that are supposed to be really small, but they still taste good.
Farmerdill-I know, a watched pot never boils, but I have always had tomatoes by now. Other growers in my area are having the same problem, our farmer's market just started last weekend because everything is late. I'm happy that my tomatoes are still setting given the 90* weather we are having.

Remember the cooler than normal early spring we had and rain. That probably slowed things down a bit.

Without this information, there is not a lot of advice we can give:

- What Varieties did you plant?
- What Date did you plant?
- How Large the seedlings were when you planted?
- What type of Soil are you planting in?
- Is this a raised bed, containers, or just growing in the ground?
- What Amendments and products did you add to your soil?

You may want to read my article A Crash Course in S.E. Texas Tomatoes:
http://www.settfest.com/2009/01/a-crash-course-in-se-texas-tomatoes/

This message was edited Jun 18, 2009 9:26 AM

Stephanie-Yes, I do remember the cooler spring 27* in early April, but we aren't getting the rain. You guys are hogging it all. (kidding). My youngest son has gotten so impatient that he is picking the tomatoes and eating them while they are still green!
Lisa

I wish we were hogging all the rain!! We've entered that time of year when the 'cap' is sitting on top of us and we have drought-like conditions. Unfortunately, about the only way to relieve this pattern is for a hurricane to hit and we don't want that!

We are always on the dry side of the hurricane. So I'll just keep watering. We had two storms last week that were really bad I will take an earthquake over a tornado anyday.
Lisa

I wish folks who asked questions would come back to see our answers/questions. :(