My beefy tomato plant has only 2 fruits

I have 3 tomato plants in separate container for each variety. They get about 2 or 3 hours morning and 3 hours afternoon sun. I water them everyday since they came from the nursery pots in end of May. I was hoping to see abundance of grape tomatoes and more beef tomatoes but so far there are only a few fruits on all 3 plants.

Ok, so what did I do wrong with them? It's July already and we only have another month of sun before the rain comes. What do I need to do for them to produce fruits?

I live in Portland, OR zone 8 I guess? Thanks for your help.

Are there blooms on your plants, or just foliage?

Hi tucsonjill,

Thanks for your response. There are a few blooms but most of them died off. I don't see any help from bees or butterflies in the area, but I read here that tomatoes self pollinating so I won't worry about that anymore.

hocasatown - have you had a lot of rain lately? If pollen is wet it doesn't move around too well. When you water, are you careful to only water around the roots? Is the weather where you are in the mid-80's or higher? Tomatoes don't set fruit in hot weather. Are your nightime temperatures in the 40's? Tomatoes prefer it a little warmer.

Sometimes I wonder why we grow them at all (sigh)

You're right in that tomatoes are self-pollinating, however, HoneybeeNC has a good point--if it's been rainy, the pollen may be clumping up, preventing pollination. You might want to get out there in the early morning and shake the plants very gently to scatter the pollen a little bit and assist with pollination. I know someone who likes to get out there with an electric toothbrush to jiggle each individual blossom, but I always thought I'd feel a little silly going that far! :)

Jill, who does hand-pollinate squash with a q-tip while wearing a white lab coat... :)

Oh no I did not know tomato's dont grow in weather hotter than 80.. well that explains my problem we are in the 90's to 100 in the day and 70's at night.....

The plants will continue to grow, just not set any fruit. However, if they're healthy, let them keep going--when it cools down they'll be back in business!

Yep MissJestr,
Keep 'em alive till the cool weather rolls around and watch 'em start cranking out! Nothing more inspiring than to see a veggie plant hit its optimum growing condition and then starts to do its thing just like clockwork!

Sweet, I will do that since I really looked at them yesterday and there were no blooms...But they are green and growing still

Thank you all for answering my post. Looking back and comparing your notes - I have done everything wrong in the beginning. I watered from the top so no wonder no fruits. I didn't know tomatoes don't like hot temperature. The leaves are yellow now. I thought since they need lots of water and sun being in pots. I will try to shake the plants for better pollination.

HoneybeeNC, why do we stress ourselves over a few tomatoes?

Here is another photo.

tucsonjill - mostly foliage to answer your question.

I thought tomatoes liked it hot, although not as hot as it is here now (high 90's to low 100's). We had some unusually cool - for us - weather in June in mid 70's and they did not grow as much. Mine are all in pots, so I guess I can move them to get filtered shade from queen palms in late afternoon. I wondered why I was not getting any new fruit setting. The green fruit is just turning red now. Now, I don't expect 'cool' weather till late October and even then we have been know to have 100 degrees. Will they hold out that long?

Pollinating with a q-tip makes sense! I was 'caught' by my teenage DD taking the male flower off and 'mating' it in a pumping fashion with female flower. She pronounced that was just 'WRONG'!. LOL
Lynda

so should I move them to get afternoon shade? they are in pots as well...

I Believe tomatoes need 6 to 8 hours of sun so if they get that, maybe something set up for late afternoon shade?

In really high heat, tomatoes do appreciate some afternoon shade. And you're right, while they're in pots, they do need extra water since it's easy for them to dry out. Can't tell from your pic what size pot you're using, but they like a big pot--if you can do at least a 5 gallon, your plants will thank you for it! Otherwise, that's a very nice healthy looking plant you've got there!

Tucson Jill... LOL you know we are having that really high heat you are talking about.. Tomorrow I will move them to the other side of the house to get them out of the afternoon sun, and they will get plenty of morning sun

Your soil may be too rich in Nitrogen. If it's too rich, the plant will put on more foliage than fruit.

Barbara Barker
Author, Container Gardening for Health: The 12 Most Important Fruits and Vegetables for Your Organic Garden

Funny you should mention that, the water was tested and it has alot of Nitrates and is not safe for infants to drink.. I got the notice a few weeks ago.. I am on well water.

Jill & Barbara

Thank you for the nice comment on my plants. It's been really hot up here even for Portland, Oregon. Jeez Louis - The pots are small and I added a lot of Sphagnum, is that Nitrogen rich? This is my first time doing a garden so next year I won't be making the same mistake. Thanks so much!!!

This message was edited Jul 19, 2009 10:15 PM

Hocasatown,

Sphagnum does a good job of fixing nitrogen in the soil, but I don't think it would create a problem for your tomato plants. A bigger problem might be your container size. Generally, tomatoes are grown in 5 gallon or larger sized containers. If you grew a compact variety, it might not be a factor. The larger containers retain more water and insulate the plants a little better than small containers.

Thank you! I'll keep that in mind for next year.

Tucsonjill, I have a sunshade over my garden that is sopposed to lower temps by 15 degrees while still allowing sun through. Do you think that with all the 100+ degree weather we have been having here my tomato plants will start to grow fruit? Right now my grape tomato plant has lots of flowers and my early girl has a few small fruit but the flowers on it died off.

When growing tomatoes in pots, I prefer at least a seven gallon size - but I have found two tomato plants will grow well in one ten gallon pot.

Right now, I have 25 gallon pots with four or five plants in each. I have crowded the pots together to keep the sun from the sides of the pots as much as possible - I think the roots don't like it when the sun heats the soil too much.

I also have lots of tomatoes growing in the ground, and they are doing splendidly.

The neighbors are happy with all the "free veggies" - one of them tells her hubby she's going shopping at her favorite store :)

This is my second year growing tomatoes and I have learn a little more about tomatoes. I have lots of stubborn tomatoes that won't ripe. In addition to not having ripen tomatoes, two out of five got fusarium. I had to dig it up and be done with tomatoes for 2010. This is a photo of my green cherries.

Is it safe to eat tomatoes from the plant that was sick?

I wanted to show you that I have a plot in a community garden and my tomatoes get to grow from the ground.

i would eat tomatoes from a sick plant, but I am a SAVAGE!