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Tomatoes budding too soon

megamoo

megamoo

I have a bunch of different varieties of Tomato plants that are still large seedlings. I put them in the garden bed about 2 weeks ago and they are only about a foot high and a couple have set out flower buds at the top already. Here in Australia it's the middle of spring and its been quite hot so I don't think they should be budding yet.

I obviously want them to grow up tall and bush out a bit before they start putting all their energy into making flowers and fruit.

I think in Hydroponics the vegetative growth formulas have more nitrogen but I'm not sure ???

I've pinched off the buds and the suckers and given them some fish emulsion.

Anyone know why they'd flower already and what I should do to get them to grow tall?
 
I've done all types of experiments with tomatoes, and in my experience, pinching flowers does not increase yeild. Its the first set that usually gives you the biggest and best tomatoes. I prune to 3 vines. So I prune all the suckers up to the first flowers, then I let the next sucker grow. And then prune all the suckers up to the next flower set, then let the next sucker grow, etc. Also, most of my plants are 13ft tall, and my black cherry is 16ft tall.

I also grow in the earthtainer, and I do no pruning at all to those, and the plants are just as big.
 
what type of tomatoes are they? the reason being if they are an determinant type they will have a couple of production runs in the season and indeterminant are giving you fixed vines - incorrect pinching could hinder your production.
 
Burning Colon said:
what type of tomatoes are they? the reason being if they are an determinant type they will have a couple of production runs in the season and indeterminant are giving you fixed vines - incorrect pinching could hinder your production.
Click to expand...

I'm growing a few different varieties of green and stripey and purple ones. I chose them because they are not the usual red. Most are vines, only a couple are bushes.
We actually had a massive sudden downpour today with some gusty winds and a few of the bigger plants fell over. It's obviously time to support them. I've staked them back up until tomorrow when I can hammer in some star pickets and string a few lines of wire across the top of them.

The last time I grew tomatoes they didn't flower until they had grown up to my chest height, but these ones aren't even above my knee. I have already pinched the buds off so its too late to not :P I also put up a shade cloth screen when they were first transplanted because the beginning of spring was really hot and the sun is harsh here. They are probably settled in enough to get the full sun now.
 
might also due to the plant being in a small pot? too small a pot? that usually forces my plants to flwoer earlier than expected.
 
I usually pinch off early flowers to give the plant time/energy to get to a good size before fruiting, and I also don't like to have fruits anywhere near the ground where they are hard to pick and more likely to have issues with bugs, mold, fungii etc.
 
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