Only 1 tomato for 20 plants?!

Ok, I've got 20 tomato plants in the ground as of last Sunday, 7 of them as of June 30th and I started tham all in doors in late March. I'm growing Romas and Big boys, 10 plants each. But so far I only have one lonely tomato. I thought the other plants would follow suit within a few weeks, but they haven't. Almost all of them have blooms, but just my one little tomato. I added a slow release fertilizer into the soil before planting, Any ideas?

Maybe they haven't been out long enough to be pollinated?

Kristie

Tomatoes are self-pollinating. Thump the blooms a little bit to encourage pollination. Tomatoes fruit only when the temperature is right between 60 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. If you had hot days or cool days in Colorado, you won't have any tomatoes. Your best bet is to ask local gardeners what varieties they planted in your area and copy them next year. For now, give them a bit of shade in mid-day, mulch copiously, and water more (if soil drainage is good) to keep temperatures down. You should see fruit start to set in a week a so....

Shameless plug:
Best Tomato (s) for North Texas

If you're gonna do a shameless plug, you should at least provide a link ;)

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/747368/

Thanks guys.. I didn't expect much fromt he ones I just planted, but the ones that have been inthe ground for 3 weeks, I thought should definitley have some fruits by now. By thumping the blooms to you mean tap them lightly? I've never heard that term before.

The days have been in the high 80's reaching 90 a few days of the week,but we did have a string of long hot days and I've been watering like crazy. I'll definitley get them mulched soon to help the soil stay cool. But, maybe I'll start to see some tomatoes soon. Its been partly cloudy with more clouds in the afternoon and we have scattered showers inteh forcast for the next week. The high country is known for its cloudiness and sparactic rainshowers between 3 & 6 pm.

Hopefully I see more than my 1 little roma here soon.

I think it took awhile from the time I saw my first tomato to the time I saw more. I've had tomatoes on my plants for about 3-4 weeks, and none have turned yet....

Kristie

Thanks for the encouragement Kristie!

You have had your tomatoes in the ground for three weeks? It normally takes two to three months from transplant. If you transplant large blooming size plants you may get some tomatoes earlier, but usually other than the ones already on the plant, they will hold off untile they have firmly established a root system.

famerdill, thats good to hear. All of my plants were blooming size at transplant (due to my late prep of the garden). I'm just happy I didn't do anything wrong. Should I fertilize to help speed things up or not?

No problem Highcoutnrygardener....I think we've talked about our tomato babies since attempting to start seedlings inside.....good luck!

Kristie

Yep, each type of tomato has a Days To Maturity (DTM). That means the number of days from the time you plant the tomatoes in the ground. Here is a cut and paste on the Roma'ss:

Roma (Open Pollinated) (75 days; 2 ounces; standard red plum, tolerant to early blight; determinate; resistant to VF)

So 75 days from the time you first planted them in the ground. Remember, that DTM's are an estimate and could be longer or shorter depending on climate, weather and other growing conditions.

For the BB's I cut and pasted a link from in Dave's for you. The DTM is 69-80. http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/31299/

It doesn't matter how big your plants were when you put them in the ground, they still need their DTM before you will get fruit.

As for feeding them, it is my understanding that you can feed them when you put them in the ground and then feed them again when you see flowers. Too much food will result in lovely foliage but no fruit! Trust me, I overfed in my first year and ended up with very disapointing results. ;(



This message was edited Jul 20, 2007 5:29 PM

Just an update. I have another tomato! Its pea sized tomato growing on a different Roma plant that has been in the ground for almost a month. I'm definitely having some for fiath in these little guys now. I haven't fertilized again yet, but I might this weekend, and just dilute to house plant strength.

Now how long is typical for them to ripen. My first tomato is a little less than 1/2 full size right now. After they get to full size, how long is normal for them to be harvested?

Your answer is above.

Well, as I said I've had cherry tomatoes for 4-5 weeks...this weekend I found a few ready to pick!

Good luck with your maters!

Kristie

Well here's an update. I now have over 15 tomatoes started. They are still on the small side, but some of them are showing signs of bugs. I don't actually see the buggers, just noticing some brown spots as iff soemthings muching on the maters. Anything I can spray onthem that will kill the bugs and still keep my little guys organic?

Also, I'm about to fertilize for the first time since I've put them in the ground. i am going to use MG's tomato feed, do I feed them at the roots, or with a spray over the whole plant?

http://ipmofalaska.homestead.com/files/homemadepestcontrol.html

Here's some homemade remedies to make sprays for plants. I don't know what bug is affecting your tomatoes, but this should give you an idea. I have had a problem with aphids on my watermelon plants...I used an alcohol spray(1 cup rubbing alcohol to 4 cups water) and sprayed it on the aphids. It drastically cut the amount of aphids...I read it may take awhile to completely kill them(you have to apply it a few times) but it is effective.

As far as the feed, what does the package say? I know tomatoes take in a lot of water through the foliage, so I don't see how spraying the whole plant would hurt. I believe the fertilizer I have says to get the foliage and everything wet.....just make sure its not too hot out when you do it. Do it in the early morning or evening.

Congrats on the tomatoes! See, if you're patient, they will come! ;)

Kristie

kls - Thanks for the tip. I've never actually seen any of the bugs in my garden on any plants. I think it might just be ants and other little critters. Is it safe to spray the veggies with the alcohol mixer you mentioned to keep them from eating them? Or would this hurt the taste of the veggies for me.

I honestly don't know.....I'd imagine washing off the tomato would get rid of any taste....maybe someone else has abetter idea?