My tomatoes are not producing high yields, just very low yields. My tomatoes are in all sun. I'm in zone 9. 4 out of 5 plants bore very little fruit. The soil is organic and 4 feet deep in a raised bed. We have bouts of + 100 degree weather. I have only one plant that is making any fruit! They're all just lots of green and very few tomatoes. Please help. I need to understand what I'm doing. We have tried the beefy tomatoes and they do the worst. The more compact fruits and bushes are doing well. We've trimmed the plants because they grow vigorously. Thank you so much!!!!

There are several 'maybes' I can think of:

Even though organic, your soil is deficient in nutrients. That might cause your plants to look less than bright green. As you didn't add photos, that's a guess. Have you added any fertilizer? If so, what kind? If your plants are green and lush but no fruit, you may have gone a little heavy on the nitrogen.

What varieties are you growing? What is the 'date to maturity'? What date did you plant them out? If you chose very long season tomatoes and planted them June 1, they may not ripen until the end of August. In that case, patience... The compact tomatoes and cherry tomatoes are usually shorter season plants.

Its too hot. Tomatoes set poorly and sometimes even stop setting fruit until its cooler out.

If your plants are blooming profusely but not setting fruit, it means the flowers are not getting pollinated. Time to go out and shake the bushes.

By pruning, you may be cutting off your future crop. New tomatoes grow on the newest stems.

In early morning ! Give blossoms a flick of finger, to help them pollinate. There self-pollinating.
Make note, of which one does best ! And plant those next year.
😎😎😎

Philipwonel said:In early morning ! Give blossoms a flick of finger, to help them pollinate. There self-pollinating.
Make note, of which one does best ! And plant those next year.
😎😎😎

Thanks for taking the time to post! I appreciate the advice.

DaisyI said:

There are several 'maybes' I can think of:

Even though organic, your soil is deficient in nutrients. That might cause your plants to look less than bright green. The soil seems to be "hot" as in a LOT of nitrogen.
As you didn't add photos, that's a guess. Have you added any fertilizer? Yes, 4-6-3

If so, what kind? If your plants are green and lush but no fruit, you may have gone a little heavy on the nitrogen. I think the soil came that way.

What varieties are you growing? What is the 'date to maturity'? What date did you plant them out? If you chose very long season tomatoes and planted them June 1, they may not ripen until the end of August. In that case, patience... The compact tomatoes and cherry tomatoes are usually shorter season plants.

All of the plant details are lost. Next year, I'm going to change marking systems.

Its too hot. Tomatoes set poorly and sometimes even stop setting fruit until its cooler out.

If your plants are blooming profusely but not setting fruit, it means the flowers are not getting pollinated. Time to go out and shake the bushes. Thank you. Will try.

By pruning, you may be cutting off your future crop. New tomatoes grow on the newest stems.

Thanks so much for your time and for sharing your expertise!

AgiP said:

Thanks so much for your time and for sharing your expertise!

Tomatoes are generally self-pollinating. Tomatoes blossoms don't fertilize well above daytime 90F or above 70F at night. That's because the bloom pollen becomes tacky and can't spread.

Type of Tomato is also relevant... I'm getting decent yield on Cherry Tomatoes this summer, at least in Southern CA. I have handfuls of new plants coming up already, including grape tomatoes now. Pics would also help provide visual clues.

Right now, in California it's super hot...100°F+ prolonged drought conditions. Feels like 90s right now and will get hotter through weekend. Ugh. Earlier I posted pics of parsley, watermelons and honeydew getting scorched last month - normally these things seemed fine in warm/hot weather with plenty of sunlight. The tomatoes I have are in 4-6 hour sunlight areas, intermingled with squash family plants. They compete, but in this scorching heat they seem to be mutually shading each other as well.

I do have fairly high nitrogen in my soil, but I also let it process for awhile. Steer Manure @ 78 cents/CU on sale is hard to beat. Lots of ashes from fire-cooking are sprinkled in periodically.. and plus I'll till the soil every few months, loosening it up. The cherry tomatoes seem fine in it, quality shown here. I eat cherry tomatoes, arugula, and dandelion every day - all grow around each other throughout my yard.

That was a great response!! Many thanks!🌱

A consequence of climate change that is seldom discussed is that many plants customarily grown in temperate zones cannot take the excessive heat. They can't photosynthesize and even go into shock when the temps creep into the 90s and particularly when they exceed 100. As the years pass, we are going to have to rethink our gardens and abandon old favorites in favor of fruits and veggies that grow well in, for instance, the hottest parts of Mexico. Right now, varieties we have always planted might get "stalled" by heat shock when the temps soar and need time to recover before they set fruit. Setting fruit is the hardest work plants perform and it's the first activity that suffers when plants go into heat shock. There may be nothing you can do to the plants or the soil to help them along. If your plants are in heat shock, all you can do is keep them alive until the extreme weather passes.

In So. Cal. that is especially true. With the sudden changes we have had this year, those heat waves have shut down some of the Tomatoes, while other varieties, or micro climates haven't been bothered . I planted 5 different varieties this year to test. The two in large, self watering containers shut down during that last heat wave. The three in ground 20 ft. away are going crazy with growth and blooms. The most reliable ones in this part of the country are the cherry/grape tomatoes. Those seem to be impervious to heat changes.

We grow ours in a greenhouse and you are right, the smaller varieties, like tumbler do great in hot weather but the larger ones come to a standstill when I allow it to get too warm.

It is simply way too hot for the tomatoes to set fruit.
The smaller cherry types do far better setting in hot conditions which is normal for tomato plants.

[Thank you for your feedback. This helps!

Something that no one has mentioned is that tomatoes like calcium. I provide mine with crushed tums. It makes a difference, try it.

Tomatoes do need calcium but a lack of calcium wouldn't keep fruit from setting. A lack of calcium causes blossom end rot.

Because of the way calcium is absorbed by plants, you might want to add the crushed Tums to the bottom of your planting hole or dissolve them in water. Economically, you may be better off with a fertilizer that contains calcium.

Another cause of blossom end rot is inconsistent watering, making the calcium unavailable to the plant.