Tomato problems

[Grower556]

Can anyone try to explain why my big boy tomatoes are green and not very big at 110-ish days?

 

[DirtMechanic]

Too much N will do that, as well as cold temps. We are also losing 1 hour of light per month now, some north even more. What are your conditions?

 

[Grower556]

It’s still a steady 85 to 95° where I have my tomatoes. And they are still getting a good 10–11 hours of sun a day. They are in pots.

 

[DirtMechanic]

5 gallon or bigger?

 

[Grower556]

5 gallon

 

[DirtMechanic]

My late season celebrity is producing small tomato fruits. I suspect your planting was late re solar expectations of the dna of the plant. But how one could prove that is past my pay grade.

These plants are living organisms and as such often extend a middle finger.

 

[Grower556]

So you’re saying it was just kind of a “bad” plant? But maybe not in the sense of fruits, but just a pretty late one? If this is the case, What would you say the chances of this happening next season are? If you feel like you don’t know these answers, just leave them alone . Thanks for all the help!

 

[DirtMechanic]

Nothing wrong with the plant, its just that -110 days ago from last week is the last days of May to Early June. Here, zone 8, those daytime temps past 85 put the plant in survival mode. It quits paying attention to fruit but won't drop them though flowers and certainly pollen have distinct and well known problems. The heat does things that are counter-intuitive. Transpiration increases mightily, and one might think "great its drawing more nutrients and water!" but that can also lead to too much of a good thing, especially in the area where phytohormone triggers rely on the quantity of substances in the plant.

ehow.com describes what can happen: “The damage done to a tomato plant in excessive heat can include wilting stems and leaves that become dried and brittle. Also, the tomatoes themselves can be damaged. Their growth can be halted with excessive heat. Even if they look ripe, tomatoes that have been exposed to intense heat can be red outside and green inside.”

 

[DirtMechanic]

@Chuck can you talk about soil temps? The large tomatoes I grew were directly related to your soil temp posts, and catching the spring energy wave just right so the plants had nothing but growth momentum and never were forced to pause like the heat is pausing op's tomato.

*for the casual reader: plants do not accelerate like your car. Over a period of weeks, biochemical changes occur that certainly become an issue when one reads "90 days to harvest" on a package. They are not wrong printing the words on the seed pack. It is just you.

 

[Chuck]

Can anyone try to explain why my big boy tomatoes are green and not very big at 110-ish days?

What is your location and hardiness zone. Are your plants indoors or out? What do you feed them with and how often? And you transplanted into large containers in late May early June?