Someone recently wrote in with a tomato problem that I’m sure many people have experienced, including me! The question was:
“Last year I had plenty of flowers on my tomatoes but a lot of them withered and dropped off without producing much fruit. Where did I go wrong?”
The answer is:
It’s called Blossom Drop – when flowers fail to set and are aborted by their plant.
This happens for a number of reasons but mainly because air humidity is too damp or very dry and the pollen is unable to do its job.
Mist plants and tap them gently – that helps. Also, you can use the vibration from an electric tooth brush or shaver against the flowers which acts a bit like a bumble bee. Bees are often used by professional growers to help pollinate tomato plants and other fruit.
Sometimes if a plant becomes stressed it also aborts its flowers.
Blossom Drop can be most frustrating when it happen on a tall variety and a whole truss fails to set.
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