| The flowers at the top of my tomato plants seem to be drying up. I have about 8 tomatoes at the bottom but some of the flowers are not producing tomatoes. Is this normal. The plants are about 3 feet tall and now seem to stop growing. Thanks |
| I think your plants are suffering from heat stress. Blossom drop can be caused by a number of factors including high (or very cool) temperatures. lack of pollination, and perhaps most often, water stress. Regular watering should help and will help produce better quality tomatoes in any case. If the soil is very dry to begin with you may need to do some very deep watering at first -- dig down and see how far the water has reached -- and then after that you can do maintenance watering. These plants need as a rule of thumb an inch or so of water a week, more in hot or windy weather and when the plants are covered with tomatoes. Finally, tomatoes do best in a rich organic soil that is evenly moist yet well drained. On the other hand, an excess of nitrogen can result in overly leafy plants (and an excess of nitrogen early in the season may contribute to blossom drop). I'd just be patient with the plants. When the weather suits them they will develop fruit for you. |
