Not all buds pollinate. Those that don't will fall off. It can help if you shake the cages a couple of times a day.

No, you didn't kill your plants by overwatering. They will be fine.

Lew

I'm fairly new to gardening too, but I will pass on a bit of information that I was given by another member here. Since your garden has been planted recently, they might just be busy where you can't see them. Tomatoes especially, will seem like they aren't growing because they are building their root system. They have to get a nice large, strong root system, because when they start growing, they'll really take off and they need the roots to support the rapid growth. When I first planted mine in the garden, it was about 3 weeks to a month before I started seeing a big difference. I posted on here about how they appeared stunted and I thought it was maybe a soil nutrition issue or something. But now it seems like every time I go outside, they're bigger. I'm blown away at how fast they grow once they really get going! The peppers still seem to be growing pretty slowly, but for me it's all just an experiment since I have no reference point. Perhaps your plants just need a little more time?

I doubt you could have drown them just by soaking them one time. Think of it this way, mother nature doesn't always give us perfect weather. If you had a rainy day, they would most likely still be fine. If you had a rainy week, that might be another story. :)

This is my first garden this year too. I'm so excited! I actually just harvested my first two tomatoes off the Better Bush yesterday. Way earlier than I would have thought, but I started them indoors almost two months ago. Didn't start from seed, bought the plant from the garden center. I have four Marglobe plants in the garden and I think I've just about lost one to disease. I've tried everything to help it recover but I just don't think it's going to. Oh well, at least I still have the others. I'll just have to plant something else in there. I am a little excited to do that because I ran out of room in the garden and there's so many things I want to try! I definitely was not born with a green thumb, but I'm getting there. I'm terrible with house plants but I finally found one I can't kill! It's a Peace Lily. It's beautiful and it gives me very clear signs whenever it needs anything. Which is exactly what I need in a plant! It recently just exploded with blossoms, so that's a small kind of victory for me.

Good luck with your garden!!! :) Hope you get a nice yummy harvest!

You asked about the yellow tomato bud and it and the petiole it's on will fall off b'c it's rotted from too much water.

I'm sure blossoms will be appearing on that plant and your others and in the meantime your soil should be drying out from the flooding so the new buds won't be exposed to too much water.

So all should be well in the near term.

Carolyn

Thanks everyone. This season is going to be my learning experience, so I'm hoping that I can make it through the season with at least a few plants alive. I think my biggest concern is watering. I live in central Texas and it gets in the upper 90s in the spring. I get worried that the plants are going to dry out so should I water every couple of days, or once a week?

Hi TeXasbaby,

As a general rule, tomatoes need an inch of water every week. An inch of rain is exactly that, water that is one inch deep. One inch of rainfall equals 5.6 US (4.7 Imperial) gallons of water per square yard. Cool weather or soil with lots of clay needs will be less, hot weather or sandy soil will need more.

Dig down with your finger about 4", is the growing medium wet, dry, or just right? If it is wet, don't water, if dry then water. If it is just right, check again the next day. Water deeply once or twice a week. Watering daily encourages shallow roots which means the plant is affected more by variations in soil moisture. In my garden during the heat of the summer (90 degrees F and higher), I water deeply every 4-5 days, early spring I may only water every 8-9 days and when the weather is moderatly warm (70-80 degrees F), about once a week.

Mulching heavily (to a depth of 6 - 8 inches) with compost, straw, hay, rotted leaves, grass clippings, even shredded paper or sheets of paper or cardboard helps maintain a consistent moisture level.

I hope that helps.

Betsy

You must learn to watch your plants and recognize signs
of water need. If they're wilting, definitely water them,
no matter what the general rule states. Keep an eye on
your soil too. Like you said, it's a learning experience.

How much you water depends entirely on your climate and
conditions. What works great for a person in one part
of the country could be entirely wrong for a different part
of the country. In SoCal, I have to water a lot due to the
dry, hot conditions of summer. When I lived in Chicago, I
watered less since there was humidity and rain.

Blossom drop can have many reasons. Of course, you're
familiar with the overwatering, but too cool temps or too
high temps or high humidity can also be culprits. My
plants generally don't set fruit until the nightime temps
reach 55 deg and above.

Good luck and good learning.