We correct the care of tomatoes: why tomatoes do not bloom in a greenhouse, how to help the bushes. Why do tomatoes not bloom in a greenhouse and what to do about it? Why flowering does not appear on tomato seedlings

Growing tomatoes at home is almost a ritual act for any summer resident. Gradually, from an occupation associated with forcing seedlings for further planting in a garden plot, it turned into an independent branch of home floriculture. Especially after the appearance and successful selection of small-fruited varieties, which received the collective name "cherry". Small tomatoes ranging in size from cherries to baseballs adorn the windowsills and balconies of many indoor florists, bringing, in addition to purely aesthetic pleasure, considerable practical benefits to enthusiastic gardeners and without requiring special care. That is why the question of lovers is so relevant - why do not tomatoes bloom?

We will try to answer it in this article.

Why tomatoes?

Natives of Northern Chile and Peru - not large "cherries" growing in clusters on a bush, turned out to be extremely unpretentious and abundantly bear fruit at home, delighting enthusiastic indoor botanists with a solid crop that is not inferior in taste to those grown in a greenhouse or in open ground. Small "cherries" are especially popular for preparing various canned preparations for the winter. Fresh, they can be successfully used for salads.

Fruiting almost throughout the year, they are especially desirable on the table in winter, bringing the aroma of summer and a fair amount of vitamins to the winter table.

Features of care

Growing tomatoes at home at the initial stage of their life cycle is largely similar. Regardless of whether it is seedlings for further planting in open ground or a permanent pet, all tomatoes are characterized by "childhood" diseases. Failure to comply with the mandatory conditions of care can ruin the entire crop, destroying the ripening crop.

This article will be devoted to the features of caring for tomatoes, which are often encountered when growing on a windowsill or on a balcony plantation.

The difficulties that arise before the gardener from the moment of the appearance of thin, delicate sprouts accompany him throughout the entire period of growth and maturation.

These difficulties are associated with a number of factors - both the lack of space for the full development of the root system, and the lack of lighting in the winter months, dry air in apartments during the heating season, and a lot of diseases introduced from outside, to which tomatoes are extremely susceptible.

Let's start in order

The first problem faced when deciding to grow tomatoes at home is seedling diseases. In most cases, the source of these diseases is either insufficiently processed seeds that carry pathogens - usually pathogenic fungi, or contamination of the soil used as a growing substrate.

In the first case, compliance with the rule on the mandatory disinfection of seeds before planting helps.

This is ensured by a single treatment in an aqueous solution of potassium permanganate (potassium permanganate) at a dilution of 1:1000 and subsequent treatment in one of the special preparations, which, in addition to the preventive effect, may have the properties of seed growth stimulants. Such preparations as epin, immunocytophyte, sodium humanate and agate-25 should be mentioned, which have proven themselves very well for preventing diseases and stimulating the growth of a wide variety of vegetable crops.

The second most important condition for the prevention of diseases at an early stage of development is the disinfection of the soil. If you use purchased soil "for vegetable crops" - problems, as a rule, do not arise. Responsible and reputable manufacturers already take care of their disinfection when preparing soil mixtures. Things are more complicated with the land that you bring from your summer cottages. It is literally "stuffed" with a variety of pathogenic flora, which can be fatal for your young pets.

Therefore - tillage with steam - for 20-30 minutes over a boiling container with water, the soil with a layer of 5-7 cm placed on a sieve, or with hot water. The first method is preferable, since it does not entail waterlogging of the soil and turning it into liquid mud.

The soil treated in one of the ways must be kept after treatment for 2-3 weeks to restore normal microflora.

Growing pains

Having safely survived the "infant" age and having acquired a few pairs of true leaves, your pets are still vulnerable to the vicissitudes of life at home.

The main "enemy" of the light-loving alien from South America is the lack of sunlight during the winter months. Even if you have panoramic windows and you live on the thirtieth floor - when short daylight hours and weak solar radiation, reduced to almost nothing by window panes, will certainly do their dirty work and your plants that have grown together can either slow down or completely stop height.

In this case, you can not do without the organization of artificial lighting for the entire autumn - winter period.

It is organized from fluorescent lamps, which are selected in such a way as to best match the natural sunlight in terms of color temperature (5400 K) and illumination parameters - at least 140-150 Lux per square meter of plants.

This lighting can be achieved by using a "package" of three fluorescent lamps - two "warm white" and one "cold daylight".

When these measures are followed, the likelihood of diseases in your tomatoes will be minimized. We should not forget that tomatoes are very demanding on the nutritional value of the soil. You should not rely on fertilizers and nutrient components of the finished soil mixture or on humus, with which you abundantly fertilized your own soil. Plants during the growth period constantly need to be fed with minerals. If you are against the use of "chemistry" - then you should use organic fertilizers for feeding - an infusion of mullein or chicken manure diluted 1 cup per bucket of water. Top dressing with microelements - despite any of your protests, it is necessary to produce. Otherwise, proper development will be impossible.

Timely watering is of great importance. Tomatoes are fairly drought tolerant. But it is by no means worth abusing this and overdrying the earth in pots. Watering must be carried out only with settled and warm (room temperature) water. When watering with tap water, and even cold, it will inevitably lead to illness.

When you are planning a balcony growing option, the seedlings should be dived and transplanted into separate pots one plant at a time. Transplantation is a crucial moment. The main thing is not to damage the root system. The soil for transplantation should be as similar as possible to the one in which the seedlings were grown. You can transplant grown seedlings in the case of indoor cultivation. In this case, an appropriately sized pot is immediately selected and the plant is no longer transplanted.

Flowering and fruiting period

Having safely passed the growth period, your pet will enter the phase of maturity - flowering and fruiting.

Dozens and hundreds of lovers are wondering: Why do tomatoes bloom poorly? It would seem that everything was done in accordance with the recommendations, the plant was watered in a timely manner, fed, organized lighting. But they don't bloom...

The most common reason is not observing the timing of sowing seeds. Even taking into account the fact that tomatoes are natives of the Southern Hemisphere and the crown of summer for them at home is January. The ones you grow on your windowsill or balcony have long been adapted to growth in the Northern Hemisphere. Changed the annual growth cycle. They prefer to bloom and bear fruit in the warm months of the year. In this case, none of your efforts and persuasions will make the tomato bush please you with bright red fruits for the New Year.

The reason for the fall of flowers and the absence of ovaries is the absence of bees, flies, butterflies in your house. (Cockroaches don't count!) which naturally pollinate plants in nature.

Tomatoes, although they have rather nondescript yellow flowers, which are not pleasing to the eye, they cannot do without pollinators. Therefore, when flowers appear, shake it periodically so that the pollen evenly envelops the bush and pollinates the female flowers. The method, of course, does not guarantee one hundred percent success, but it gives hope.

The period of fruit ripening is extremely important in terms of enhancing irrigation. Emerging fruits require much more water than a young plant. Abundantly watering the plant - do not overdo it! Waterlogging the soil can cause fungal diseases.

The fruits of plants grown in room or balcony conditions are rarely affected by diseases. This is facilitated by the lack of contact with other crops and insects, a carrier of various diseases.

It is necessary to harvest the crop as the fruits ripen. It is not worth leaving ripened fruits on the plant for a long time. This prevents the formation and ripening of new tomatoes.

Results

Growing indoor varieties of tomatoes at home is not only an exciting process, but also practically profitable. Of the many hobbies for growing all kinds of garden plants, including exotic ones, on window sills or balconies, growing tomatoes is the most productive and can please you with a fairly solid harvest of several kilograms. It is quite possible to prepare salads from grown fruits, especially if you have onions, dill, parsley or basil next to tomatoes.

Kira Stoletova

Tomatoes are far from the most capricious crop grown in greenhouses, but even optimally selected fertilizers, temperature and humidity do not always guarantee proper development and yield. Sometimes a plant stops producing buds for no apparent reason. Consider why tomatoes do not bloom in a greenhouse, and already formed buds fall off.

Causes of the phenomenon

To determine the reason for the lack of flowering and understand what to Do, you need to consider a number of premises. In most cases, the reason is unfavorable growing conditions.

The main reasons for the lack of budding:

  • Low air temperature (optimal temperature - 20-25 °) or soil. With a lack of heat, seedlings not only stop forming buds, but also die.
  • Excess heat in the air (over 30°C).
  • Excess or lack of soil or air moisture.
  • Lack of pollination. In greenhouse conditions, tomatoes must be pollinated artificially.

It is possible to determine whether a plant is comfortable in these conditions by its appearance. If the bush has too massive stems and leaves in the absence of flowers, it experiences a lack of heat. A lack of moisture can be easily identified by noticing cracked soil at the roots, curled yellowing leaves and dry tops.

In addition to the main factors that can stop the budding of tomatoes, there are additional ones:

  • lack of lighting and air circulation due to the thickening of the planting of cuttings;
  • deficiency of potassium or phosphorus with a lack of fertilizers;
  • oversaturation with nitrogen with an excess of organic fertilizers (manure, compost);
  • various diseases;
  • treatment of seedlings with pesticides.

Sometimes the plant simply does not have the strength to form buds. Multi-fruited and large-fruited tomatoes are subject to this. In such varieties, it is recommended to control the number of ovaries. It is better to choose tomatoes with medium fruits. They are less susceptible to falling off the ovary.

Mistakes in care

It happens that the lack of flowering or the fall of formed buds on tomatoes is due not only to external factors. Due to the lack of experience or the necessary information, gardeners themselves can do things that negatively affect the budding of the culture.

The most common mistakes are:

  • growing certain varieties from their own planting material (seeds): such tomatoes will not bear fruit;
  • pesticide treatment of bushes that are already blooming:
  • erroneously chosen location of the greenhouse relative to the access of sunlight (lack of heat);
  • excessively dense planting of plants, in which they interfere with each other to grow and develop normally.

For growing in greenhouses, plants that are highly intensive in terms of growth strength and yield are mainly used. These are usually first generation hybrids, marked on the package as F1. It is not worth leaving fruits from these plants for seeds, because. plants with different biological properties could be used in hybridization. In the second generation, these seeds can give a negative result, you can get a powerful plant, but with small fruits of low quality and almost no flowering.

If you correctly and timely establish the reason why new flowers do not form on the tomato, but already formed ones fall off, you can select effective measures to restore the budding of tomatoes.

Prevention methods

After establishing the cause of the plant growth retardation, it must be eliminated immediately. The sooner favorable conditions for the seedling are restored, the greater the chances for the normal growth and development of the plant.

To restore comfortable conditions, you must:

  • Set a suitable temperature in the greenhouse (during frost it is worth using heaters).
  • Water the paths between seedlings with cool water to increase air humidity and reduce temperature. This should be done before noon to avoid condensation.
  • Water the plants with warm water to raise the temperature by a couple of degrees (only if the temperature outside is not more than 15 ° C).
  • Ventilate greenhouses from time to time to get fresh air.
  • Carry out artificial pollination or lure bees by placing honey plants in the greenhouse.
  • Get rid of all empty flowers so that the seedling directs its forces to the formation of new buds.

When watering a plant, you should always pay attention to the temperature of the water. If it is too low, the roots of the plant will be stressed and the budding process will stop.

Tomato is a culture sensitive to fungal diseases, therefore, before planting, it is imperative to disinfect the seeds (manganese solution) and the soil (steam, heating or manganese solution). When a bush is infected with a fungus or insects, it is necessary to start fighting them immediately.

Tatyana Orlova (Candidate of Agricultural Sciences):

One of the simple ways to disinfect the soil in a greenhouse - thermal - is spilling boiling water. Immediately after this, the soil in the greenhouse is covered with a tarp so that it does not cool down quickly. This makes it possible in the spring not only to disinfect the top layer of soil, but also to warm it up in order to start planting work earlier.

Prevention

To prevent problems with budding, regular preventive measures should be taken. Their timeliness can greatly reduce the risk of damage to seedlings.

First of all, in order to prevent the loss of flowers in tomatoes, the culture needs to be taken care of in time.

There are several rules to follow:

  • Do not create an excess of nitrogen fertilizers in the soil when the tomatoes are in bloom.
  • Before flowering, fertilize the soil with double superphosphate and potassium sulfate.
  • Keep an eye on air humidity: 60% will be ideal in a greenhouse.
  • Adhere to slight temperature fluctuations within 20-25 ° C.
  • Twice a week, abundantly water flowering bushes under the root
  • Periodically loosen the ground for better air circulation.

The most important principles of prevention are methodical and timely implementation, as well as compliance with all recommendations.

Selection of planting material

To minimize the risk of plant damage, it is necessary to know the rules for preparing planting material, caring for the plant and creating optimal conditions for crop growth.

Conclusion

Color falls from tomato seedlings in a greenhouse for various reasons, ranging from external negative factors to gardeners' mistakes. However, all these problems can be corrected if the cause is identified and eliminated in a timely manner.

To minimize the risk, it is recommended to plant several varieties of tomatoes that are resistant to high or low temperatures. In this case, even in the absence of ovaries on one of the species, you can count on getting a crop of another variety.

Very often, especially in greenhouses, flowers appear on tomatoes, but there is still no ovary. Over time, the flowers crumble, and there is no question of any harvest. What to do to tie tomatoes? Let's try to figure it out.

No set on tomatoes: wrong temperature

In tomatoes, pollen matures at night, and pollination occurs during the day. However, in order for pollen to mature, it needs an optimal temperature - not lower than 15 degrees (otherwise it will not ripen) and not higher than 25 degrees. In the daytime, the temperature should not exceed 35 degrees, otherwise the pollen will become sterile, it will not be able to germinate, and the plant will drop flowers.

What to do if tomatoes in the greenhouse do not tie because of the temperature? In the heat, air the greenhouse more often, leave it open at night. You can also whitewash the roof - this will protect the planting from overheating. If the tomatoes do not tie due to low temperatures, water the tomatoes with warm water, install dark containers with water in the greenhouse - they “collect” daytime heat well. In critical cases, heaters will have to be installed.

Ovary stimulants will help tomatoes overcome the heat - traditional boric acid (1 gram per 1 liter of warm water), or Ovary, Bud, Gibbersib, Tomatoton, etc.

No ovary on tomatoes: unsuitable humidity

Again - in greenhouses it often happens not to breathe. High humidity leads to the fact that the pollen clumps and does not have the opportunity to get enough sleep from the anthers. And because of the low humidity, pollen cannot germinate on the pestle.. In the first case, airing will help, in the second - spraying tomatoes with water in the morning (can be combined with the same Bud, boric acid or phosphorus fertilizers needed by tomatoes during fruit set).

Be sure to help the plant to pollinate: in the morning or afternoon, walk around the greenhouse and gently shake the tomato by the stem or trellis, if the tomato is small, you can individually pollinate each plant with a brush (one tomato flower can pollinate not only itself, but also other flowers). In calm, humid weather, this procedure can be done with open ground tomatoes.


Tomatoes not tied? Help them pollinate

Tomatoes do not tie: they fatten

Overfeeding tomatoes with nitrogen fertilizers creates such comfortable conditions for the plant that it forgets to think about offspring: powerful stems, malachite foliage, and few or no ovaries (sometimes even flowers). It is necessary to create a stressful situation for the plant: remove unnecessary shoots and stepchildren (but not all at once, 1-2 at a time), shed the earth once on light soils so that excess nitrogen goes into the lower layers of the earth, then stop watering for 5-7 days, remove nitrogen supplements and give phosphorus-potassium supplements (ash, superphosphate, etc.)

Tomatoes do not tie: it's all about the variety / hybrid

If last year you purchased a tomato hybrid (F1), got an excellent harvest, collected seeds, grew seedlings from them, and tomatoes are blooming but not tied- Nothing strange. When re-grown, many hybrids do not produce offspring.

It may also be the inability of a particular variety to bear fruit well in your climatic conditions. For example, hybrids have already been bred that can tolerate heat of more than 35 degrees, and for some varieties even 30 degrees is a critical threshold. The only thing that can be advised here is to do your own selection and grow proven varieties and hybrids.


A successfully pollinated tomato flower can be recognized by its curled petals.

For what other reasons there is no ovary on tomatoes:

- some diseases (in particular, rot)

- excessive processing of tomatoes from diseases with chemicals that affect the quality of pollen

- lack of phosphorus and potassium and "distortions" in nutrition in general

- lack of moisture

- dense plantings, lack of light

- sudden changes in temperature

- strong liming of the soil

We have looked at the main reasons why there is no ovary on tomatoes and why the ovary on tomatoes falls off. Be sure to pay attention to the weather, the presence of wind, sun and help your tomatoes, spray the tomato for the ovary, apply the right top dressing for the tomato in a timely manner - and you will definitely have a good harvest!

Tomatoes, though not the most whimsical plants in the garden, can also cause a lot of trouble. Increased susceptibility to diseases, exactingness in the composition of fertilizers, temperature and humidity, all this makes caring for them a little difficult. But it happens that everything seems to be in order, the plant does not get sick, it is fertilized, but it just does not bloom. For what reason tomatoes do not bloom and how to deal with it, you will learn from this article.

Possible causes and solutions

Why, nevertheless, tomatoes do not bloom despite the fact that all the conditions for their fruitful development have been created? There may be several reasons. Firstly, overfeeding the plants with fertilizers, then they actively increase the green mass, but at the same time do not form inflorescences. Secondly, the lack of nutrients, when the plant simply does not have the strength to bloom. Thirdly, temperature drops or too high a temperature at which the inflorescences are sterilized. Fourth, illness.

The list is endless, so let's take a closer look at some of the options and see what to do in each case.

seedling quality

The quality of seedlings and seeds plays a very important role. It is possible that the manufacturer has acted in bad faith in the storage, packaging or processing of seeds, and now they are not suitable for fruitful cultivation. To avoid this option, be sure to check the seeds before planting for germination, and also disinfect them.

fertilizers

If the seedlings have grown into large and beautiful, thick, green bushes, but there are still no ovaries, you may have overdone the nitrogen fertilizers. As you know, nitrogen stimulates greening of plants, but at the same time it does not contribute much to flowering and fruit formation. You can deal with this by adding sawdust to the soil, which will absorb some of the nitrogen fertilizers, and in a few days you will see how your tomatoes bloom.

It so happens that the reason lies in the lack of fertilizer. Tomatoes without phosphorus and magnesium are especially affected. Try to maintain the balance of substances in the soil throughout the season. Alternatively, use a yeast fertiliser, so that the plant receives a safe dose of fertiliser.

Remember that you need to feed a tomato no more than 4 times during the entire season.

Air temperature

It often happens that tomatoes do not bloom due to too low temperatures if they are in open ground. At the same time, too high a temperature in the greenhouse can also lead to tomato infertility. A comfortable range of air temperature from 16 to 30⁰С, higher or lower, puts tomatoes in a state of stress in which they do not bloom. What to do in this case?

When tomatoes grow in a greenhouse and suffer from high temperatures, it is worth ventilating the room as often as possible, covering it from sunlight and creating shade. If the temperature, on the contrary, is too low, then the room should be insulated, for example, by laying rotted manure in the spring as biofuel.

If the temperature in the greenhouse is too high at night, then this may also be one of the reasons why the bushes do not bloom: they spend all their energy on breathing. Again, you should ventilate the room or install water containers that will take some of the heat onto themselves, as well as maintain air humidity in the greenhouse.

lack of lighting

Tomatoes do not tolerate either an overabundance of sunlight or its lack. It is important to maintain a balance between the first and second. Most likely, the lack of light lies in the excessive planting density, shaded bushes do not bloom, because they “do not see” the meaning and light. Stabilize and thin out the tomato rows thoroughly to give more room to grow. Most likely, after this procedure, the tomatoes will bloom. Thinning is necessary every few weeks to keep the beds from turning into a thicket.

Weather

Sometimes plants do not bloom due to bad weather. If on the eve of the flowering period it was rainy and cloudy, this is the reason. The thing is that the pollen becomes too heavy, and pollination becomes impossible. In this case, you will have to make a solution of boric acid and spray the bushes to attract insects that pollinate the plants. If tomatoes grow in a greenhouse, then insects will not help. What to do in this case? Shake bushes with your own hands to help them pollinate.

Weak root system

An undeveloped root system is a sentence for flowering tomatoes. Why roots do not develop well and what to do? First of all, regularly pinch and pinch, remove damaged and yellowed leaves. Mulching the soil will help to cope with the trouble. Make sure that the plant receives enough moisture and nutrients.

Diseases

Finally, the last of the options that answers the question "why" - diseases. The tomato is a culture sensitive to fungal diseases, so if you have not carried out prophylaxis against late blight, the tobacco mosaic virus, then this is one of the possible reasons for the lack of flowering of the tomato. Infected plants cannot remain in the greenhouse, so they should be removed, and the remaining ones should be carefully treated with antiseptic and antifungal drugs.

Video "Tomato flowering and fruiting stimulator"

From year to year, the yield of tomatoes varies, this is especially noticeable when grown in open ground. In greenhouses, suitable conditions for plant growth are established artificially. However, often even there the flowers either do not bloom on the bushes, or fall off for no apparent reason. Fruits in both cases are not tied. Let's figure out why tomatoes do not bloom in greenhouses.

What do plants lack?

Most often, flowering does not begin due to unsuitable plant conditions. If this happens in open ground, then weather conditions are to blame. In a greenhouse or hotbed, conditions are created artificially. If you do not ventilate it in a timely manner or excessively humidify the air, then you should not expect a good harvest. First of all, tomatoes need warmth, these plants will not produce flowers or fruits in the cold.

However, you should not create conditions close to tropical for them. At 35 degrees above zero, the pollen becomes sterile. Do not water them with cold water or ventilate the greenhouse at outdoor temperatures below 15 degrees. Due to the prolonged coolness, the flowers do not bloom, and the pollen does not ripen.

Creating temperature conditions is not so difficult, while timely watering and irrigation will have to be worked on. Tomatoes tolerate drought only if it caught them at a suitable stage of vegetation. If at the time of flowering you do not water the tomatoes, then the inflorescences crumble and you should not wait for the fruits. Due to cracked and dry soil, oxygen is poorly supplied to the roots. High humidity is also dangerous - pollen clumps, plants begin to get sick with fungal infections.

Common Causes

Not only weather conditions can lead to the absence of ovaries, gardeners name more factors. Flowering is unproductive in the following cases:

  • bushes planted too close create a shadow for each other (especially often this reason reduces the yield of cherry tomatoes);
  • passion for nitrogenous fertilizers;
  • lack of phosphorus and potassium;
  • there are no ovaries due to a lack of stem strength (this problem occurs in plants with large fruits in weight or with long tassels to form a large number of tomatoes);
  • diseases.

Another problem may be self-harvesting of seeds. In this case, the tomatoes bloom double flowers, but you should not expect a large number of fruits from them.

Often, treatment with chemicals leads to empty flowers or the complete absence of inflorescences.

Ways to deal with the lack of flowering

So, most often the inflorescences do not bloom due to adverse conditions. You need to fight them according to the rules:

  1. If, after planting the seedlings in the greenhouse, cold weather sets in, then it is necessary to install heating equipment. These can be heaters powered by electricity, or potbelly stoves.
  2. The air temperature, which is several degrees below 15, can really be raised by watering the plants with warm water. In an open space, dark plastic bottles filled with water can be placed between the bushes, they will act as heat accumulators. They must be removed at night.
  3. Above the plants planted in the open field, you can install arcs on which you put a dark covering material. At night, additionally cover the greenhouses with burlap and blankets. Because of their size, greenhouses cannot be insulated in this way.
  4. Use only warm water for irrigation. If your dacha has a water supply or a well, then in the morning draw water into barrels, and start watering only in the evening.
  5. With the onset of heat, ventilate the greenhouse, open greenhouses. Do not close the door tightly at night to allow the pollen to ripen.

If the above methods of creating favorable conditions did not help, then it is worth turning to other measures. Remove from the bushes all flowers that have not formed ovaries. Thanks to this event, the plant will direct its forces to re-flowering. It will already be successful. As a preventive measure, it is necessary to correctly pinch tomatoes, follow the technique of forming a bush.