Tomotoes with lots of leafy growth.. not much fruit...

[Jessiebean]

Is there anything I can do to encourage more fruit on my tomatoes?There is a lot of leafy growth but fruit is scarce. I understand the soil might be too rich in nitrogen.. I have grown them where I tried to grow some peas but a fence fell on the pea plants so they weren't there for too long... but maybe the nitrogen is fixed.. also have been using pea straw as mulch...ist there anything I can give the tomatoes to encourage more fruit before it is too late?

[old tree man]

Hi jessie
toms need alot of air movement around them so trim off some of the leaves and add some bonemeal
around the plants mixed in with some good compost lightly forked in careful not to damage the roots
If you have any sucker growth i would keep this trimmed back as this will also take goodness from the plant
all the best
Russ

[Millymollymandy]

I'd buy some commercial liquid tomato feed and give them that as it should be more fast action than using things like bonemeal or wood ash, which although high in potash which is what you need, might take a while to get to work.

[Minnesota]

Is there anything I can do to encourage more fruit on my tomatoes?There is a lot of leafy growth but fruit is scarce. I understand the soil might be too rich in nitrogen

I agree with your too much nitrogen idea. This has happened to me before.
first, don't add anything with nitrogen in it. I don't know of any way to get the nitrogen back out of the soil...except, I'd let the tomatoes grow big and leafy, stake them well, don't prune them, the big leafy plants will take up more the nitrogen, than a smaller plant. they will fruit, maybe just not as soon as they would if there wasn't too much nitrogen. When they do start to fruit, you'll probably get many more tomatoes than you expect. My problem is when I have later harvest tomatoes is, it is always a worry of frost, here in Minnesota we have a short season. I assume you may have a similar issue in Tazmania, huh ?

[DeneciePie]

I had the same problem this year . Plants over eight feet tall and no fruit...UNTIL we slacked off watering in the Fall. Try letting them get dry between waterings. We had a pretty hard frost the first week of December or we'd finally be getting lots of toms now. Stupid plants were covered in green tomatoes of all sizes when we got hit.

Better luck here next year, I guess.

DeneciePie
Still Learning

[Jessiebean]

Thanks for all your replies.. I might hold back on the watering for a few days, get some tomato food happening and... should I prune some of the growth back or not?
There are a few fruit and some flowers but not what I would expect from the size of the plants...
Does anyone know if there is hope I will still get a good harvest?
Itis hot here at present so I hope we don't get any frost anytime soon (as it is the middle of summer here.. but you never know with Tasmania).

[MKG]

Hi Jessiebean.

Definitely too much nitrogen, so next year will be better anyway - but are your tom plants under cover or in the open air? Basically, can the insects get to them? That helps a lot in terms of fertilisation. The nodules on pea roots trap nitrogen and release it slowly, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem in the future.

I hate to disgree with Old Tree Man (cos he's bigger than me) but I wouldn't put any compost at all anywhere near them - that will only increase the nitrogen supply, and there's obviously enough already there. Whatever your crop this year, get that wood ash in, which will tend to restore the balance, and put this crop down to experience. In my experience, toms are plants which react to immediate circumstances rather than well-prepared ones - hence the success of tomato foods.

Mike

[Millymollymandy]

In my experience, toms are plants which react to immediate circumstances rather than well-prepared ones - hence the success of tomato foods.

I agree with that as I grow most of my toms in pots so know what goes in the potting mix and what fertilisers I give them. Had some sad looking plants one year when I gave them a slow release geranium fertiliser rather than weekly liquid tom food - even though the two fertilisers were high potash ones they weren't getting enough from the slow release stuff (obviously they 'eat' it more than geraniums do!). As soon as I gave them a good boost of tom feed they sprang back to life and started producing better!

That year I had loads of toms and some were in bigger pots than others and the size of plant absolutely depended on the size of the pot. I always grow them in big pots but now put them in even bigger pots!

My ones in the soil this year looked very pale green (think it was magnesium deficiency but who knows) so I gave them some liquid general purpose feed and they greened up in no time - and then promptly got blight, but hey ho that's life!.

So yes they do tend to respond pretty quickly.

[spitfire]

i agree with the prior posts, also you really need to watch that any flowers you get on your toms are not knocked off by top watering etc. no flowers=no toms the ideal temp for tom flowers is between 50-90 farenheight. too hot and they dry up and fall off, too cold the same problem i have found that they like consistant watering, nice and deep. but they dont like to be waterlogged. when i have done otherwise i have pale green leaves and flower drop.
i have also used a product in a spray bottle that you spray on the flowers, just like hairspray that helps prevent flower drop in less that ideal conditions.

[Jessiebean]

After many days of fine weather it is now gently raining which is good as I am a wee bit sick and not inclined to water. I have been slightly careful to keep the watering low (height wise) so the flowers aren't knocked off and if I am correct 50-90 degrees f is about 10-32 degrees C which is about the range we have been getting lately- it was 29C yesterday and 19C today!
When the rain stops I will pop some ash around the plants and try to get my crop roations worked out for next time! Maybe the self sown plants which have popped up elsewhere will do better?