Let me tell you about my tomato issue. A strong wind knocked over two of my pots today and knocked off a dozen almost ready to start ripening tomatoes. I am trying to be calm about this and be greatful for of all the tomatoes I have left.

But as for your problem, it sounds like you need to spray them with Bt or Spinosad. I think they are both OMRI listed for organic gardening. I usually hand pick caterpillars, but yikes, you had two dozen on one plant! For the other plants you may just need to wait a little longer for the buds to set.

Echobelly,

First, I'll say Welcome to Planet Florida. I'm also a New England transplant, N.H. to be exact. Gardening in Florida is an all out war effort. Everything you can ever imagine will try to thwart your gardening efforts. Everything you've ever learned about gardening up north just don't work here. Every hungry bug in the whole universe lives here and they don't like eating weeds anymore than you do. Every critter and bug will find your garden, don't laugh but I even had a llama or alpaca (I'm not sure what it was, probably a Florida deer) munching in my garden. Step one... Make sure you have a fence (preferably a wall like the great wall of china). Step two... Do not try to grow stuff in the dirt here because it is infested with more bugs, make a raised bed with a cardboard barrier against the natural soil, fill the raised bed with organics you buy or compost yourself. Step three... Buy plants or seeds that you know for sure will grow in Florida's weather or else you are just spitting into the wind. Now the good news... if all that fails, you are now a bonafied Florida exasperated gardener.

Lou

Sounds to me like you may have too much nitrogen in the soil. You should have at least seen SOME baby tomatoes, if you're not then lack of set is frequently the result of too much fertilizer...big healthy plants because all the energy from the fertilizer is going into the stems and leaves, not the blooms. What variety are you growing? Regarding the worms, this year BT isn't working for me, the worms are just laughing at it, I've had to go back to Silvia's 50/50 cocktail of spinosad/Serenade and as Anna suggested I'm spraying at dusk so I don't kill off any bees with the spinosad.

Amber, if those tomatoes were almost ready don't throw them away, they will ripen within 2 weeks. Take them inside and put them somewhere NOT in the sunlight. I pick mine just when they start to break off green, otherwise the mocking birds and squirrels will get them...they all ripen inside.

Tom

Hi,I'm brand new to this site,but hopefully I can help you with your tomatoes not setting fruit.I think you are correct,in that you have "blossom drop" or "bud drop" as you call it.It can be caused by a lack of calcium in the soil,which when I lived in the Ft Lauderdale area was a big issue.You can counter it by keeping all the egg shells you use,let them dry & then crush them up into as finer powder that you can.Then sprinkle them around the root zone of your plants & water in.It will take a while for the plants to absorb the calcium,but hopefully you should start to get some fruit set.Keep adding the egg shells during the season.Lastly the plants won't set fruit outside of their temp range(I think it is high 90 & maybe low of 50but can't be sure)but keep in mind later in the season.Hope this helps

I'll try that Tom. It is worth a shot anyway.

You won't be sorry Amber, they WILL ripen and be good as long as they're mature size.

We do have to amend our soils by adding calcium, but it's a whole lot easier to just get a 50lb bag of Garden Lime at HD for $10, it will last you for years.

Night temps above 75F and we're done, but that's not a factor now....

Welcome abord Westhamutd, you'll have fun here

Tom

Tom, how much lime should I use? I have one Grape tomato about 4ft tall with some baby tomatoes, not ripe yet. I would like to add some lime around the root area, just not sure how much to use...Thanks!

Hi N,

A couple tablespoons since you'll be spreading it on the surface. When I'm making Al's mix I usually put 1/2 cup per cubic foot in the mix....

Tom

Thanks Tom!

I didn't see any mention of the dreaded WHITEFLY ! Could that be the cause ? I had no idea of what they were until Tom educated me, now I spray almost daily and have a great frut-set, on the plants he provided.... thanx Tom..... I alternate Malathion, Organocide, and Neem oil... I mix it in a gallon milk-jug and then pour it into a left-over Windex..Lysol Spray.. Clorox Clean-up.... dish soap... jar..... the spray-top works just fine but eventually clogs up but I then just toss it and get another from my stash.... saves having to lug around the heavy gallon sprayer,,,,,,, I can't believe how pricey that Spinosad is.... anyway, I've got a teriffic fruit-set on the 'maters, again thanx to Tom..... sally

Your welcome Sally, be careful with the Malathion, don't use it too frequently...at your young age I'm sure you're not worried about it but for many folks it could be hazardous, and I don't use it. Spinosad is safe for us and I do use it but I not happy about its effect on bees. I think I gave you the maters and SPF the cukes, you two are so close geographically you should probably swap veggies ;-)

Tom

"Gardening in Florida is an all out war effort. Everything you can ever imagine will try to thwart your gardening efforts. Everything you've ever learned about gardening up north just don't work here"

I used to teach a class on Florida Gardening for transplants and the first thing I said was "Forget everything you knew about gardening up north, ESPECIALLY if you're a Master Gardener. This is Florida. You have just moved into the gardening war zone."