Does anyone have any tricks for making tomatoes set fruit during the heat of summer-- I have some huge plants, but the last few tomatoes are about to get ripe and there are no new ones setting--typical of our summer tomatoes-- but I was wondering if Giberellic acid might help like it does on some other fruits such as citrus and strawberries. Has anyone ever tried it? Skeet
hey skeet, i have never tried giberllic acid but there are many sprays you can find in garden stores that are packed with hormones to help your fruit set flowers, increase harvest yield, and increase size of fruit. they have one for peppers,tomatoes, and cucumbers that i saw in a store the otherday but unfortunatley i cant remember the name :/ -beau
Try a paint brush and become a bee :) no seriously if you mean by setting fruit it is not happening then this is one method you can use. also leave some shallow trays of water for the bees to drink if it is hot. We had a fair bit of trouble during the heat and dryness with the bees going AWOL. On the other hand are you hot and humid in yr neck of the woods. That apparently can have an effect as well because the pollen clumps up and will not do its thing as the bees move around. Liz
Do You Fertilize Often? If So The Growth Goes To The Plant Not The Fruit. Also They Need At Least 6 Hours Of Direct Sunlight. For Pollention You Can Use A Q Tip. Good Luck
Thanks all for suggestions, the problem is the heat-- tomatoes will not set fruit when night time temps stay above a certain temp --it think in the 70s-- we stay above 80 most nights now. I recently bought some GA for my citrus trees and was wondering if that could be used to fool the plants and make them continue to set fruit in this heat. I know response to GA can be very concentration dependent, and have no idea what concentration to use. Skeet
Skeeter Yes it is a fairly well known fact among us Fla. gardeners that tomatoes will not set fruit when the night time temp. does not drop below 70 degrees. There is not alot you can do to help it. They do recomend that you plant smaller varieties of tomatoes for the summer months. Romas and Cherrys do pretty well although I have had to shade them in late July and August to help them along. Gene
That Explains Why My Tomatoes Are Doing Do Good This Year. The Tempertures Have Not Been Bad. Well The Next Few Days Are Going Be In The 90's So Quess They Will Slow Down. Maybe You Could Have A Green House With Temperture Controls And This Would Help. It May Be Too Much. Well Thanks For You Ideas
