Problem with tomato plants (details)?

They produce few flowers, and no fruit after several weeks.





The soil is tended as it should be. There has never been yellowing or drooping, nothing indicating poor health. The plants have thrived from day one, and grew to be large. They grew as fast or faster than normal, and look perfect. They get not too much and not too little water, not too much and not too little sun. They should have definitely fruited by now, it has been several weeks. The flowers are few, and withering from old age. Only one fruit has come of them. These plants are large, and it is well past time for them to flower and fruit.





Any ideas? I would guess that it is the condition of the soil, but I don't have enough money to put gas in the car, much less for a soil testing kit. If you think it is the soil, then what specific soil condition do you suspect?





Thanks.

Problem with tomato plants (details)?
All of the fertilizer ideas are good--but having experienced this myself, I would suggest you sidedress with a couple of handfuls of plain old Epsom salts per plant. Wait a couple of weeks and week what happens.
Reply:You didn't mention fertilizer. From your description of the plants' growth they are getting enough nitrogen. The key would be whether they are getting enough potassium and phosphorus. I'd feed them with the recommended amount of a good balanced tomato food - Miracle Gro powder is a good one and see whether they set blossoms.
Reply:OK I'm going off the top of my head but this will help u at the nursery.





there is fertilizer for strengthening stems, for increasing foliage, and also for increasing the # of flowers.





Get the one that helps with more flowers.





You could start with new plants if you growing season is long enough, and this time add in the bloom-increasing fertilizer. They will sometimes sell one that is balanced for tomatoes and fruiting plants that need strong stems.





If your plants are otherwise healthy, they just need the kick for blooms.





PLUS you must have BEES to pollinate, or do it yourself...I have tried to grow tomatoes where the bees were not coming around and I had similar problem as you.





With regard to soil - don't try to grow toms up against the foundation of your house or other concrete or it will have too much alkalinity. Toms are happy with something in the middle or slightly acid - but not as much as you would do for azaleas.
Reply:Generally, if tomatoes fail to bloom, the main two reasons are too low or too high night temperatures, and the tomato cultivar itself.





Using a lot of nitrogen fertilizer will cause the plant to produce a lot of foliage, but nitrogen does not have anything to do with the plant changing from the vegetative stage to the fruiting stage. It is the night temperature along with the variety (cultivar) of tomato that determines whether the plant will develop flowers or whether the blossoms will set fruit. If night temperatures are constantly below 55degrees F or above 75 degrees F, most tomato plants will not produce flowers, or will not set fruit. In our area which is zone 2, we have a short growing season (75 days without frost on average) with some very cool nights. I have grown many different tomato cultivars over the years and have had the same results as you are describing - a lot of plant, but no blossoms. Other tomato cultivars grew along side of those fruitless plants and produced many fruits. The same cultivar can vary in fruit production from year to year, depending on weather conditions.





It could be possible that the night temperatures in your area have not been favorable for blossom set on that particular cultivar of tomato, or perhaps you are growing a very late season cultivar. One suggestion may be to try other cultivars in your garden. New ones are being developed that set blossom at lower and higher night temperatures.





One other possibility could be a sulphur deficiency in your soil which results in delayed flowering of plants. Phosphorous also promotes flowering and fruit development and should be readily available for your plants. A soil test will determine if these nutrients are low or adequate in your soil.





You may want to ask neighbours how their tomatoes are doing, and if they are flowering freely, ask them for the name(s) of their tomato cultivars (varieties).





One final suggestion is to sprinkle one tablespoonful each of Epsom salt around a few of your plants and work it into the top inch of soil. Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate heptahydrate) promotes heavy fruit production on my tomatoes.





I hope this will answer your question.