Better Boy Hybrid tomato

[fixit7]

Here are some pics of my Better Boy Hybrid tomato plant.

Does the plant look healthy?

It only has one tomato bud.

Thanks.

 

[Chuck]

The plant looks good....maybe a little leggy. If nighttime low temps are above about 74F and/or daytime temps are above 92F you will have blossom drop/no fruit set. Also if the humidity is too low or too high it will either not physically be able to pollinate or the pollen is too sticky to pollinate. If buds do not form at all you are probably lacking in phosphorus.

 

[fixit7]

I live in Texas, so it is hot here. What kind of humidity range prevents pollination?

Thanks.

 

[Chuck]

I live in Texas, so it is hot here. What kind of humidity range prevents pollination?

Thanks.

About 40% is too low and above about 65% is too high here in Texas. If you google humidity fruit set tomato you will find many different sets of numbers but the numbers I provided are what I have observed here in Texas for many decades. But in our case it has been way too hot for way too long for tomato fruit set. But, on the bright side, keep your plant growing and when it cools down it will start to set fruit if it has blooms.

 

[Meadowlark]

We don't have a lot of days of ideal temp and humidity for tomato pollination in Texas...especially here in East Texas. As a result, we have to take advantage of those ideal days by having plants ready to flower and set fruit when the humidity is close to 70%...above 80%, pollen grains start to stick together, reducing their dispersal and lowering pollination rates. I don't worry about low humidity below 40%...it just doesn't happen that much here.

That window opens for me in March, April, May and maybe a few days in June and then it is closed again until Oct. and part of Nov. Tomatoes are about the only plant that I believe justifies the frenzy required to get started early in spring and again in fall. If you don't hit the open windows with tomatoes in flower, you simply miss the boat.

On the other hand, if you can time it right, you can harvest tremendous numbers and quality of tomatoes in our Great State.

 

[fixit7]

Thanks for all the replies.
I learned a lot.

I will just keep it growing.

 

[YumYum]

That real dark green growth looks like too much nitrogen to me which could also cause phosphorus and other nutrients to lag behind resulting in less blooms and can also make plants leggy. Not much sun isn't helping matters either.

What kind of fertilizer and how much are you using?

 

[fixit7]

That real dark green growth looks like too much nitrogen to me which could also cause phosphorus and other nutrients to lag behind resulting in less blooms and can also make plants leggy. Not much sun isn't helping matters either.

What kind of fertilizer and how much are you using?

I am using 1/2 cup Jobes Vegetable and Tomato fertilizer in one gallon of water.

I use it about one a week. I have grow light on 8 hrs a day.

Andy

 

[YumYum]

This fertilizer?

That sounds like about twice too much to me. Try 1/4 cup of that per gallon every week.

Can you not put the plant outside in the sun? Does it stay inside or something?

 

[fixit7]

Ok. I will do that. I have the plant on my apt. patio.

If I put it in the courtyard, it would "disappear".

 

[Chuck]

This fertilizer?

That sounds like about twice too much to me. Try 1/4 cup of that per gallon every week.

Can you not put the plant outside in the sun? Does it stay inside or something?

The main question is does the plant produce any blooms now or has it produced blooms in the near past. If the plant has not produced buds you probably are feeding too much as @YumYum stated. If the plant has produced buds but they fell off the temperatures are too high and your fertilization is OK. It also appears to me that the plant is rather sparse on foliage. This could be from not enough light which will also make a tomato plant unable to produce blooms. Have you been pruning the suckers?

 

[fixit7]

My plant has produced one bud and it is growing.

Last I had a Big Boy Hybrid Tomato and it produced 4 green tomatoes.

But it died after a freeze.

I am not quite sure how to prune suckers. I trimmed off the bottom 6 inches of branches.

 

[Chuck]

My plant has produced one bud and it is growing.

Last I had a Big Boy Hybrid Tomato and it produced 4 green tomatoes.

But it died after a freeze.

I am not quite sure how to prune suckers. I trimmed off the bottom 6 inches of branches.

So, your plant produced 1 bud/flower and it set a fruit. A tomato plant should produce dozens of buds/flowers and MANY of them will produce a fruit. What I think is happening is mainly not enough direct light followed by too much nitrogen. Nitrogen produces foliage but without enough sunlight photosynthesis cannot be maintained, thus limited foliage is grown. Secondly, too much nitrogen many times ties up or reduces the amount of P and K a plant is able to uptake. P is what determines buds and flowers on a plant. If the P available as uptake by the plant is reduced there will be few or zero flowers and thus no fruit. I would get another grow light and run both lights 12 hours per day and after a couple of weeks if no buds start to show reduce the amount of fertilizer.

 

[fixit7]

Is this a sucker?

 

[Chuck]

Is this a sucker?View attachment 92380

Yes, that is a sucker. Do I see slightly purple leaves in the photo? If so, the plant has a phosphorus deficiency probably from not enough light and too much nitrogen. And phosphorus is what makes buds/blooms.