Help growing tomatos?

Question

I tried growing tomatos from seeds last year but they never flowered or fruited. I'm trying again with fresh seeds. The plants are about 18 inches tall and I'm about to transfer them to an outdoor planter. What can I do to make sure these plants are successful?

I live in Kansas so the weather is usally very hot during the summer. I got really big green plants last year but no flowers or fruit.

Answer 1

Good answers all. But, you said that you are transferring them to an "outdoor planter". Are you planting the tomatoes in large pots? Or, planter boxes in the ground? That could be some of the problem with your plants not setting fruit and growing big and green.

Tomatoes can be raised in containers, but, frankly, only the very small, determinate (bush) varieties do well. Typically, those are hybrids especially developed for container gardening and the fruit is small.

Tomatoes are deep-rooted vegetables and in most soils will send down a main tap root 3-4 feet, depending on how dense the soil is. But, in a container, the tap root will hit the bottom of the container and wind around the bottom.

A plant sends out flowers and bears fruit because it wants/needs to reproduce. If conditions are ideal, they see no need to reproduce. So, go easy on the fertilizer and water when growing in a container. Never let the plant container stand in a dish full of water. You can water it that way, but let it dry out between waterings.

Make sure that you plant varieties that are suited to your area. Your local nursery and reputable plant catalogs will give you guidance.

Good luck. Hope this added a little to the other tomato growers' advice.

Answer 2

Tomatoes love warmth, so make sure all danger of frost is past before you put them outside. The soil should be warm, not just the air. If the soil is cold, warm it up by putting down a layer of red plastic sheeting. Cut a hole in the plastic for the plant. The red color reflects light back up to the plant in a wavelength that tomato plants prefer.

Fruits only form when the temperature is above 60 and below 85F, so weather conditions are important.

Do not over-fertilize--you will end up with a big green plant with not a lot of fruit. Give them just enough fertilizer to get going and grow.

Keep the soil consistantly moist--never dried out and never soggy.

Plant the tomatos deeply--remove the 2 bottom leaves and place the plant in soil up to the next set of leaves. The tomatos will root all the way along the stem below the soil and be much stronger. Tomatos are one of the very few plants that like to be planted deeper than they were originally.

Answer 3

The question is, are the seeds store bought or did you gather them from a tomato from a past crop? If they are from a tomato you grew yourself, you may have the same outcome. The reason being, most tomatoes are a hybrid variety, meaning that they have been developed from two different tomato types in order to develop desirable growing traits from each parent plant. These types may be more hardy,have higher yields of fruit, be more disease resistant, larger fruit, earlier fruit, etc. The seeds from these "hybrid" types will never grow true to form. Plants grown from these seeds, will revert back to one of their parents, never possessing the right genetic makeup for a healthy and flowering plant.. If you bought them from a store, then you can discount what I just stated.. If you did buy from a store, then they should grow easily and you should get flowers and a stash of summer tomatoes. Just make sure you don't add a fertilizer that has too much "nitrogen". This will cause tall leafy growth, and not enough blooms for fruit setting. Miracle Gro has a very good tomato formula just for tomatoes.. You can get it anywhere. It has been formulated for optimum flower and fruit development for tomatoes.. Hope this answered some of your question.
http://www.growing-tomato.com/Saving_Tomato_Seed.html

...Billy Ray

Answer 4

Hello!
several years ago I planted some tomato plants next to where I parked my car. Every couple of days I would pour what was left of the coke that I had at lunch on some of them. They produced more tomatoes than the ones I didn't pour coke on. I learned this on a gardening show of public TV.

Answer 5

there's a sparkling product on the marketplace that enables you to advance them the different way up. many persons are utilising the tumbler tomatoes in striking baskets, etc. thus far as i'm conscious multi objective compost is only positive. considerable income is that the tomatoes are actually not combating gravity to advance upwards

Answer 6

water and fertilize them if they are in direct heat all day give them plenty of water in the morning,i experimented growing marigold flowers along side my tomatoes last year and did not need to use any type of pesticide to keep the bugs away they don't like the smell of marigolds,good luck with your tomatoes this year

Answer 7

Lots of sunlight, water and a fence to keep away rabbits, they are murderers of tomatoes.

Answer 8

You need to refer to those books about growing tomatoes which on offer. Very informative tips and guides.