Tomatoes not flowering

[natale]

Hello all!

I've been growing tomatoes in this container for a few months. The plant is growing tall and fairly healthy, but not flowering or producing fruit. There are a few other herbs, cayenne peppers, and borage growing in the same pot. Obviously, I need to repot some of these tomato plants, because they're pretty crowded in there, but I can't figure out why they won't flower. Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks!

 

[DirtMechanic]

how have the temps been during that time?

 

[TomatoTango]

Could be too hot, lack of phosphorus, or even the pots. I’d repot and then fertilize with a bloom solution. Have you fed them anything yet?

 

[alp]

Could be too much Nitrogen. Please check the NPK numbers. Also use a smaller pot might help. As @DirtMechanic points out, temperatures also play a part.

Hope the following helps

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/make-tomato-plants-bloom-56972.html

 

[Kayrn]

I did not see any flowers. This suggests the nitrogen is too high. Potassium and/or phosphorous are lacking. Definitely replant without the other stuff.

 

[natale]

how have the temps been during that time?

It's been colder than usual for the season, but it gets up to the 80's in the daytime and down to the 40's at night, throughout the past few months.

 

[natale]

Could be too hot, lack of phosphorus, or even the pots. I’d repot and then fertilize with a bloom solution. Have you fed them anything yet?

It's been hot enough that some of the greens bolted because I didn't water them enough. The average temp for the past few months has been mid 60's. I used some kind of regular potting soil/compost mix. I guess I haven't really added any fertilizer or food. I have some "miracle grow nature's care" plant food. I also read about banana peels being helpful, so I could try those things. Do you recommend a certain tomato bloom solution?

 

[natale]

Could be too much Nitrogen. Please check the NPK numbers. Also use a smaller pot might help. As @DirtMechanic points out, temperatures also play a part.

Hope the following helps

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/make-tomato-plants-bloom-56972.html

Hey, so I think the NPK numbers are .3-.5-.3, but I also may have used a different potting mix than the one I still have stored. If I used this potting mix, its called Big Rootz and I've attached a photo of the bag. I'm pretty sure that the soil in this pot is a mixture of all sorts of potting soils that I reused. I was not super organized in starting my garden this year. In general, I reused soil, used a variety of different soils, reused pots, used seeds that were a couple years old, used seeds that I took from store bought produce, etc. So...there are several factors simply in the way I started all of these plants to begin with.

You said a smaller pot would help? I was thinking the tomato plants were over crowded in the pot and needed more space. The tomato plant is sharing a pot with a few tiny chili pepper plants as well as a couple borage plants, but the tomatoes are definitely growing more than anything else in the pot. May I ask why you suggest a smaller pot?

Also, based on your link, I may not be watering enough. I water about once a week, but less if its been colder or raining, although they are under an awning and don't receive any rain water. Also, because of the awning, they may not be getting enough light, Although some of the other plants I've put out there seem to be doing ok. Mainly the Borage, which seems strange to me.

Because the tomatoes were growing more than anything else in the pot, I rotated it so they're in the back and stuck them back and upright with stakes, as they were growing outward...toward the sun.

Kind of a lot of info and multiple factors...maybe too many...but please let me know if that helps or if you, or anyone, has any ideas about what I could do. Thanks!

 

[natale]

I did not see any flowers. This suggests the nitrogen is too high. Potassium and/or phosphorous are lacking. Definitely replant without the other stuff.

So repot the tomatoes by themselves and add potassium and phosphorus, which will lower the nitrogen content?

 

[headfullofbees]

Are they bush tomatoes?

 

[alp]

Please have a look at this link

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/make-tomato-plants-bloom-56972.html

Tomatoes need a lot of heat and light and they are hungry plants. Now that they are this big, it might not be a good idea to put them in smaller pots. I am sure this link will help.

 

[natale]

Are they bush tomatoes?

They are either cherry tomatoes or Rutgers. I planted cherry, Roma, and Rutgers, but I'm pretty sure I planted the Roma tomatoes inside.

I guess I've learned at least one lesson here: to use better labels on the pots or keep better track of what I planted where and when.

 

[natale]

Please have a look at this link

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/make-tomato-plants-bloom-56972.html

Tomatoes need a lot of heat and light and they are hungry plants. Now that they are this big, it might not be a good idea to put them in smaller pots. I am sure this link will help.

Thank you. I clicked the link in your previous post and my guess is in might not be warm enough and they might not be getting enough sunlight as well. I'm not sure if that NPK number made any sense...but I'm going to get some food for the tomatoes for sure and possibly move a few plants inside, under a controlled environment.

I also realized that it's only been just over a month since I planted the seeds. Maybe once the weather warms up a bit and I feed these guys, they'll bloom?

 

[headfullofbees]

Rutgers is a US variety, but, I believe, determinate?
They usually grow THEN produce tomatoes, which may explain why they are not flowering yet.
Similarly, many cherry varieties are determinate, and that's what makes them suitable for baskets and pots.
Roma can also be determinate, so may act as I've suggested the Rutgers may.
So you very possibly have three varieties of bush tomatoes.
Crowding tomatoes makes them fruit earlier, to beat the competition, although it does seriously reduce the overall crop.

A month is not an overly-long time to wait for flowers.

So, repot them, giving each more space, and all should be well.

 

[natale]

Rutgers is a US variety, but, I believe, determinate?
They usually grow THEN produce tomatoes, which may explain why they are not flowering yet.
Similarly, many cherry varieties are determinate, and that's what makes them suitable for baskets and pots.
Roma can also be determinate, so may act as I've suggested the Rutgers may.
So you very possibly have three varieties of bush tomatoes.
Crowding tomatoes makes them fruit earlier, to beat the competition, although it does seriously reduce the overall crop.

A month is not an overly-long time to wait for flowers.

So, repot them, giving each more space, and all should be well.

Oh cool! I'm happy to hear that all should be well if I repot them!

Yes, they are a US variety and a bit of a cheap brand, as are the cherry tomatoes. I just went out to try to prop them up a little bit and found the vegetable labels down in the soil. So you're right, I have two types of bush tomatoes growing. I didn't really know anything about varieties of tomatoes in that way! Learned something new! I put some more stakes in for now, until I can clear out a space to repot them, and they're growing kind of all over the place, like they can't figure out which way is up. I'm guessing that's because I didn't put cages or stakes up to help them stay upright, because they grew so fast. I didn't realize how tall the plants actually were until just now, when I untangled the droopy, weak, and seemingly confused stalks.

So I'm guessing lack of sunlight and the low night time temperatures are affecting them as well. The tomatoes and borage have strong stalks and large leaves at the bottom, but the tops of each stalk are weak and droopy. I broke several leaves, just trying to get them in place and top off the soil with some nutrients. So I'll have to figure out how to get them exposed to more light.

It doesn't make a whole lot of sense though. Everything in that pot is growing really tall and weak...leggy, I suppose, while in the pot just next to it, all of the plants (yarrow, anise, freakish borage plant) are staying really low to the ground around the Traveler Palm. That giant mustard green-looking plant is actually borage! (The pots full of dead succulents to the right of the plant pictured are orphan plants from my next door neighbor).