| I have 4 tomato plants growing in my basement. I started them in September and they seem to be thriving and blooming. They are in a window where they get direct sunlight. I have a plant light that comes on at 4:30 in the afternoon and goes off at 10:00at night. The plants are blooming and I have fertilized them with Miracle Gro. The blooms seem to be drying up though and falling off. Do you have any ideas how to solve the problem? |
| Your question is pretty complex. When growing plants out of season that you expect to flower and set fruit, you need to duplicate the summertime environment that the plant expects. If your plants are flowering and then the flowers are dropping off, it could be that the nighttime temperature is too cold, the plant has too much nitrogen fertilizer and not enough phosphorus, there's not enough sunlight during the day, or that the blooms were not pollinated. Fruit won't set if it's colder than 55 degrees F. After flowers open, gently shake the plant to transfer pollen between the flowers, or use a small paintbrush and dab the inside of each flower to transfer pollen. Hope that solves your problem. The prospect of harvesting aripe, juicy tomato in February sounds wonderful! |
