# Tomato plants **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** gardening\ **Created:** [August 11, 2022, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-plants/969498 "2022-08-11T16:01:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-plants/969498/1 "2022-08-11T16:01:37Z")
A couple (few?) months ago, a neighbour gave us two tomato plants of different varieties. One is rather short, and has green tomatoes on it. They either don’t seem to be getting bigger, or they’re growing very slowly. After all this time, they’re still green. 1. Why is the plant staying short, and why aren’t the tomatoes ripening? The other plant is growing quite tall. It has lots of flowers on it, but I’m not seeing any fruit. 1. Do we just wait? Or should I get a little paint brush and use it to pollinate the flowers? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-plants/969498/2 "2022-08-11T16:02:51Z")
Are they in pots or the ground? Are they getting lots of sunshine? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-plants/969498/3 "2022-08-11T16:08:22Z")
Tomatoes ripen the best when it is relatively chilly at night and warm during the day. It also depends on what kind of soil you have. Also, have you tried some Miracle-gro on the plant? The fruit is green, green green until it isn’t, but my plants started ripening about 3 weeks ago. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-plants/969498/4 "2022-08-11T16:21:17Z")
The best tomato pollinators are bumblebees, normal bees won’t do it as well (it seems their proboscis is too short). The second best tomato pollinator is a battery operated tooth-brush. Tomatos are weird, capricious and stubborn. I have three tomato plants this year, with a total of four tomatos on them. One is smaller than a small egg so far, the others are minuscule, green and hard all of them. Tomatos are not there to make gardeners happy, I reckon. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-plants/969498/5 "2022-08-11T16:32:16Z")
Entirely possible you have [determinate tomatoes varieties](https://www.google.com/search?q=determinate+tomatoes&newwindow=1&client=opera&ei=ki71YsDhMaKjptQPuu2IyA8&oq=determin+Tomatos&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAEYADIGCAAQDRAKMgoIABAeEAgQDRAKMgoIABAeEAgQDRAKMgUIABCGAzIFCAAQhgM6BAgAEEdKBAhBGABKBAhGGABQiQxY3xVgrzRoAHACeACAAe0GiAHpGJIBBzQtMi4yLjGYAQCgAQHIAQjAAQE&sclient=gws-wiz). ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-plants/969498/6 "2022-08-11T16:58:41Z")
Excess nitrogenous fertilizer is a typical cause of luxuriant foliage growth without fruit, but if there are lots of flowers a lack of pollinators may be the problem. There’s a blossom set spray you can buy. > **[Bonide 8 Ounces Blossom Spray Lowes.com](https://www.lowes.com/pd/Bonide-8-fl-oz-Vegetable-Food/4514390)** > > Shop Bonide 8 Ounces Blossom Sprayundefined at Lowe's.com. Bonide tomato and blossom set spray promotes flowering and blossom set. It can also be used to help reduce blossom end-rot for tomatoes and other listed Or as mentioned, vibrating brush devices for pollination, purpose made or otherwise. Maybe insufficient sun/heat slowing ripening of fruit on the other plant? ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-plants/969498/7 "2022-08-11T17:04:42Z")
What are your temperatures like? Around here, tomatoes are a spring/fall sort of crop, because it’s just too hot for the plants to set fruit. Our lows tend to be between 80-83 for a large chunk of the summer, and the highs are often between 95-105, especially in late July/early August. The plants will stay alive, more or less (they tend to get early blight), but even non-blighted tomatoes don’t set fruit once the summer heat arrives. [Understanding High Temperature Effects on Fruit Set of Tomatoes | Purdue University Vegetable Crops Hotline (vegcropshotline.org)](https://vegcropshotline.org/article/understanding-high-temperature-effects-on-fruit-set-of-tomatoes/#:~:text=Maintaining%20temperature%20in%20the%20ideal,90%C2%B0F%20(day).) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-plants/969498/8 "2022-08-11T17:33:18Z")
They’re in pots, and they get plenty of sunshine. They get watered daily, unless it rains. They’re in Miracle Gro potting soil. We have more bumble bees around here than honey bees… and more wasps than either. > [@bump](#): > > What are your temperatures like? Generall in the mid-70s to mid-80s during the day, and upper-50s to lower-60s at night. > [@Jackmannii](#): > > if there are lots of flowers a lack of pollinators may be the problem. That’s what I was guessing. We do have a Sonicare toothbrush. I’d hate to damage the flowers, hence my question about a small paintbrush. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-plants/969498/9 "2022-08-11T18:09:50Z")
I use this device (mostly on indoor plants to cross-pollinate for hybridization purposes): > **[Amazon.com : VegiBee Garden Pollinators VBP-02 Express Plant pollinator, 10",...](https://www.amazon.com/VegiBee-Garden-Pollinators-VBP-02-pollinator/dp/B00CYK1RNS)** > > Amazon.com : VegiBee Garden Pollinators VBP-02 Express Plant pollinator, 10", Red : Lawn And Garden Hand Tools : Patio, Lawn & Garden There are cheaper alternatives. And while it’s less efficient, a small artist’s paintbrush would work too. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2022, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-plants/969498/10 "2022-08-12T22:07:08Z")
How big are the pots? As a patio gardener, I learned the hard way to only grow cherry tomatoes in pots. Slicing tomatoes need more soil than my pots can hold. I got plenty of foliage, but few, and small, tomatoes. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2022, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-plants/969498/11 "2022-08-13T01:53:41Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > How big are the pots? Not big. But I am loath to contradict SWMBO. I tried a paint brish on a few of the blossoms today. There’s like a ‘cone’ in the middle, so I’m not sure I was reaching what needed to be reached. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2022, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-plants/969498/12 "2022-08-13T02:06:13Z")
**Johnny** , have you been pruning your tomato plants? Tomato plants produce suckers, which take the plant’s energy that otherwise could be put into producing tomatoes. The idea is to remove these suckers, so you get tomatoes more quickly, and bigger tomatoes besides. I’ve grown tomatoes for years, and have found that while it’s not strictly required for an acceptable crop, pruning helps. Especially in my climate (southern Alberta), pruning helps me get tasty and fine tomatoes faster than I might otherwise. Here’s a link to more information: > **[all-about-tomatoes.pdf](https://ronpaulgardencentre.com/wp-content/uploads/all-about-tomatoes.pdf)** > > 230.79 KB ---
**Author:** ![AllShookDown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d9b06d/32.png) [@AllShookDown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllShookDown)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2022, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-plants/969498/13 "2022-08-16T13:17:37Z")
Could they be an heirloom variety that’s green when ripe, like Green Zebra? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2022, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-plants/969498/14 "2022-08-16T18:09:41Z")
I doubt it. The neighbour’s husband is a veteran, and he gets (too many) tomato plants free from the VA. I doubt they’d have fancy ones. > [@Spoons](#): > > Tomato plants produce suckers, which take the plant’s energy that otherwise could be put into producing tomatoes. The idea is to remove these suckers, so you get tomatoes more quickly, and bigger tomatoes besides. I’ll give that a look when I’m home. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-plants/969498/15 "2022-08-18T19:59:24Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > They get watered daily, unless it rains. hmmmmmmmmmmm ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2022, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-plants/969498/16 "2022-08-20T23:01:08Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > > [@nearwildheaven](#): > > > > How big are the pots? > > Not big. I’ve grown – and am growing – full-sized tomato plants in 5 gallon pots in a greenhouse. They get a fish emulsion/seaweed mis nutrient boost every week or two. They don’t get pruned except for removing suckers lower on the plant which would droop down and contact the soil. They do get tied up – though they’ve made it to the top and are working their way back down again. Some of the tomatoes weigh well over a pound. Most modern tomato varieties self-pollinate within the blossom before the blooms even open. So I doubt it’s a pollination issue. And if the nights are down in the 50’s I doubt it’s a temperature issue. Have you supplied them with more nutrients since planting? If so, are you using a mix intended to support fruiting? Do you know the names of the varieties? The short plants are probably determinants, as I think somebody already said, and won’t ever grow very tall. The fruit may be staying green because it’s a late ripening variety, or just possibly because it’s a green-ripening variety; though those don’t usually look when ripe exactly like an unripe green tomato. If the one variety is setting fruit and the other isn’t, it’s possible the tall variety is unsuited in some fashion for your growing conditions; or that the shorter variety is unusually well suited for setting fruit in those conditions. If the pots are small, the shorter variety may be better suited for producing in those pots. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2022, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-plants/969498/17 "2022-08-20T23:22:34Z")
Went out with the Sonic toothbrush today. I was intercepted by SWMBO. She wouldn’t let me use it (with my head). I have to go to the drug store tomorrow, so I’ll see if they have a cheap electric toothbrush there. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-plants/969498/18 "2022-08-22T03:32:49Z")
Since SWMBO forbade my use of the Sonic, I bought a battery-powered, 10,000 Hz electric toothbrush for six bucks and massaged all/most of the blossoms with it today. The smaller plant has several tomatoes on it, which have been green for about six weeks. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-plants/969498/19 "2022-08-22T05:03:36Z")
Can you post pics? It may well be a green-when-ripe variety, but as mentioned upthread, those look different from standard red tomatoes that are simply unripe. On a side note: genuine unripe tomatoes make _fried green tomatoes_ which are delicious. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2022, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-plants/969498/20 "2022-08-25T14:15:16Z")
Haven’t gotten to taking pics. One of the tomatoes on the small plant is starting to turn red. (Oddly, it’s not one of the first tomatoes to grow.) As I said, Saturday I massaged the flowers on the large plant. I noticed there are some small tomatoes starting to grow on the lower half; but I can’t say they weren’t already starting, or if they started after I used the toothbrush. ISTR there were some flowers down there, and I don’t see them now. Yesterday I massaged the flowers again. I saw a little pollen a couple of times, so I assume its getting on the stigmas. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-plants/969498.md?page=2)