Tomato flowers not setting fruit. Why?

[Crandrew]

Originally Posted by desertlzbn

ha ha, I am what is known in my family as the "over engineerer" cause I always over think and over build every thing. I guess I cut down the tooth brush so the vibrations will be stronger on the flower truss. May not be necessary, but that works best for me.

no worries, whatever works.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Grogarden

I have some beautiful heirloom tomato plants in my garden, all different varieties. They look perfect and have nice blossoms, but the blossoms won't set into fruit. In fact, I don't even see any pollen on any of the flowers or when I brushed up against them. My plants are sucker free, and I've only fertilized them twice with Peters tomato food. Our weather has been a little hotter than normal for this time of the year, and we've been running on the dry side for a while, but they've been getting a daily watering. I just can't figure it out.



Can anyone help? Thanks!

I think you are getting a little anxious too early. Most of the plants I see in the picture are about the size you start seeing good fruit set beginning if conditions are right. I have a whole bed of plants about that size that haven't set yet and I am not worried since the bed with the plants a few weeks older have set very well; but I did a couple of heavy waterings when they started blooming. As you said it has been fairly dry for the past couple of weeks but we got a good rain yesterday. I hope you got it too. The daily light watering is not good for the plants at this stage; that is more useful when fruit is ripening and during very dry weather to prevent splitting yet maintain the plant. During those really hot dry weeks you should water heavily during the blooming stage for a day or two then lay off and see if the fruit doesn't set. With all the wind we have had the past few weeks I don't know if you really will get a huge benefit from the toothbrush. My plants have been shaken so hard that quite a few got broken.

[johnbro2]

My neighbors think I'm nuts, until they see the crop and just need to barrow a few mater's to tide them over till theirs come in. If at all. LOL

[Grogarden]

The electric toothbrush thingy worked! I have 8 marble sized green baby tomatoes on Abe Lincoln, Giant Belgium, and Aunt Ginny's Purple.

I used a sonic electric toothbrush with interchangable heads, so I just pop off the top, no engineering required. Which is a good thing for me, because last time I used a saw I ended up with 6 stitches in my thumb.

The really cool thing was on some of them, when I touched the flower with the toothbrush, this little *poof* of pollen burst out from the flower.

Thank you Thank you Thank you for your hints and tips everyone!

[oyytu]

Question? What part of the plant do you touch with the toothbrush...the flower or the vine to shake out the pollen.

[janezee]

So glad for you! Enjoy those maters!

j

[lapk78]

From my experience, it is specifically an ULTRA-SONIC toothbrush and not a regular electric toothbrush. The ultrasonic vibrations mimic those of a bee. A regular electric toothbrush might not vibrate at a sufficient frequency to release any pollen. I've gotten very good fruit set from my old ultra-sonic. I just press the bristles against the backside of the flower while touching the front with my other hand. Usually, I see a cloud of pollen float from the flower.

-Lyle

[kath]

I use an old sonic toothbrush without the head attachment, touching the vibrating metal piece to the tiny flower stem. Aim for a dry time of the day for best results.

[dipchip2000]

Where do you purchase a sonic toothbrush?
I thought I was using the right one but was not.
All electric toothbrushes are not sonic vibrations.
Where to buy and model if you know.

thanks

ron

[desertlzbn]

I use a regular ol battery operated toothbrush that I bought for 4 dollars from big lots. I don't think that you have to use anything fancy or expensive and that just a regular old battery powered toothbrush would work see my picture to see how I modified it just an exacto blade

[checkerkitty]

Originally Posted by dipchip2000

Where do you purchase a sonic toothbrush?
I thought I was using the right one but was not.
All electric toothbrushes are not sonic vibrations.
Where to buy and model if you know.

thanks

ron

You can pick up a sonic toothbrush at a pharmacy like CVS or Walgreens. They should also have them at Walmart, Costco, Target or your local grocery store. You can also find them at Amazon. There is even a version that takes AA batteries, now.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_sc...a5578968934213

I have two different versions of these. My old one, that doesn't hold a charge very long and is semi broken, is the style with the entire toothbrush head and collar that unscrews and comes off. It is in the Essence series. I keep it plugged into a socket in the kitchen and use it for the tomatoes ONLY. It's actually pretty disgusting looking now! I also have one of the Flex Care models where the toothbrush part is very short and sits on a metal pin in the top of the handle. I pulled the brush part off and used the pin on the flowers in an emergency when my stand-by toothbrush was between charges. I liked my old, broken toothbrush a little better.

Now, all that being said, there may be other brands of sonic toothbrush. I've never looked. You also might ask around to see if anyone has an old one that they aren't using. You might also see one on Craigslist or second hand somewhere else.

If you end up getting one new, you can buy a new toothbrush head and use one for you and one for the tomatoes. It is the best toothbrush I've ever used, hands down.

Christy