Tomatoes

[Frank Scanlan]

What tips can you give me to increase tomatoe production.  I did not get many tomatoes from the plants I started in March.  It may have been because the system was new and the fish were not producing enough waste.  Several tomatoe plants have survived since March and remain in the grow bed.  They look healthy.  I've trimmed back the dead stuff and through out plants that did not look good.  Can I expect them to produce or should I get new plants?  Which tomatoe plants work best in an ebb&flow grow bed.

 

Thanks

Frank Scanlan

Coral Springs

[Ned Berndt]

Frank,

As you may know the growing season in Florida is from October to May....tomatoes won't set fruit on their flowers unless the temperature gets below 75 degrees at night.  Try starting new seedlings about now and put in your system in October and you should get plenty of tomatoes...

[Frank Scanlan]

Thanks..   I didn't know about the temperature range.    Do you have any idea if the existing plants will produce?

Ned Berndt said:

Frank,

As you may know the growing season in Florida is from October to May....tomatoes won't set fruit on their flowers unless the temperature gets below 75 degrees at night.  Try starting new seedlings about now and put in your system in October and you should get plenty of tomatoes...

[Dan Ponton]

most of my garden was blooming and then dropping the flower. This happen when it gets too hot like in July, August. This year it was very hot all summer so I got very little fruit.

should get better soon.

[TCLynx]

If some of the older plants look like they want to survive, keep em since they will already have developed root systems and can start flowering/fruiting when the weather and nutrients and sun is to their liking.

If you are getting lots of green growth but no flowering yet, get some seaweed extract into the system since often potassium is limiting in our systems here.

I've had tomato plants grow almost as perennials here in FL if I keep it from freezing but I've usually had problems with potassium deficiency so never gotten as good a production on them as I would like.  For tomatoes there is a fall season that if you can have the plants ready to produce by the time our night time temps are getting down to the low 70's then you can get production from then till a freeze kills them (or protect them from the freeze and you could get production all winter in a warm year through to perhaps April or May depending on where in FL and what the year is like.)

Usually only the grape and cherry tomatoes can manage to produce anything through the summer here.  Summer is Florida's down season for gardening usually.  Only the extreme hot weather crops usually get through the summer well (like Okra, Basil, and the tropical plants.)

[Frank Scanlan]

Thanks...  Is there a brand or source for seaweed extract that is better than others?

TCLynx said:

If some of the older plants look like they want to survive, keep em since they will already have developed root systems and can start flowering/fruiting when the weather and nutrients and sun is to their liking.

If you are getting lots of green growth but no flowering yet, get some seaweed extract into the system since often potassium is limiting in our systems here.

I've had tomato plants grow almost as perennials here in FL if I keep it from freezing but I've usually had problems with potassium deficiency so never gotten as good a production on them as I would like.  For tomatoes there is a fall season that if you can have the plants ready to produce by the time our night time temps are getting down to the low 70's then you can get production from then till a freeze kills them (or protect them from the freeze and you could get production all winter in a warm year through to perhaps April or May depending on where in FL and what the year is like.)

Usually only the grape and cherry tomatoes can manage to produce anything through the summer here.  Summer is Florida's down season for gardening usually.  Only the extreme hot weather crops usually get through the summer well (like Okra, Basil, and the tropical plants.)

[Ned Berndt]

Frank,

I use Maxicrop

[TCLynx]

Maxicrop original liquid seaweed is what I've mostly used.

[Viol8r]

All the leaves were eaten off my plants over night...along with the tomato it was growing...

[Ned Berndt]

look for one of these

[TCLynx]

Those green monsters hide incredibly well and can strip plants so fast!

[Viol8r]

They must, I haven't seen anything on the plants so far. Anyone have a suggestion on what  I could use to deter their eating habits?

[Frank Scanlan]

try Safer caterpillar killer