Hello Fellow Texan...
I too have most tomatoes on the lower half of the plant..
I don't think it's a lack of fertilizer...just the plant's way of providing shade for it's fruit. As the plant starts to set fruit, I give it a side dressing of fertilizer..5-15-10.
If you show no sings of plant stress, I would just pick and enjoy.

Happy Gardening

Hello, like you folks; I'm doing it in Texas. We are on the North side of Lake Ray Roberts in North Texas.

I have always made the same observation that most of the tomatoes are on the lower half of the plant. I think it is because the plants grow so slowly in the cool, early spring weather. They may set blooms every two inches of growth. As the weather warms, the foliage growth speeds up and the blooms seem to set every eight or ten inches of foliage growth. I think the upper portions of the plants set as much fruit, but it is spread out over more foliage.

I've noticed the same is true in the fall. After the plants come out from the heat induced dormancy in the fall, the weather starts cooling some and the foliage growth seems to slow, but the fruit setting continues on less foliage.

Just my guess.

Ted

I apologize, my previous answer didn't really address the question you asked.

You normally can recognize nitrogen deficiency by yellowing of the leaves. However, if you add nitrogen fertilizer, you may cause the condition to become worse. It may simply speed up the growth of the plant with fruit or bloom set spaced out even more.

I've noticed that my tomato plants usually start yellowing a little when the plants really go into a growth spurt with the change from cool weather to warm weather. It doesn't mean they are short of nitrogen, it simply means the plants are growing so much faster that they can't transpose the nutrients, including nitrogen; from the ground to the stems and leaves fast enough to maintain that deep green appearance.

I don't know how scientific this answer is, but it is my observation.

Ted

Thanks , they look healthy , so I will leave them alone.Again-THANKS
CDGTXS

On another thread someone said this was not normal and could be caused be lack of fertilizer. My question is :what signs can I look for that indicates I need to add fertilizer???

Since I was the one that said that I need to clarify for you what I was saying.

Perhaps there is something in the Texas water that only allows fruit on the lower half of the plant? ;) No, seriously, while it is of course true that your Texas heat will prevent fruit set at various stages of plant growth unless you intervene, that happens to all of us to varying degrees. But that doesn't mean that the plant doesn't need feeding at various stages of its growth so that fruit set, when the air temps allow, can happen.

Indeterminate plants grow in stages. 6-8" of stem and leaves and then a bloom cluster, then another 6-8" of stem and leaves, and then another bloom cluster, etc. and will do so indefinitely until killed by disease or frost. So the potential for fruit throughout the height of the plant is what is normal when the air temps allow or when the gardener provides shade to allow for it.

And just like growing kids they need regular inputs of food. Depending on the type of fertilizer you are using, failure to supply it at those proper stages results in none or limited production.

Liquid ferts have to be replaced regularly because they leach and some use regular fertigation while some use diluted doses every time they water. Granular ferts mixed in the soil are only good for that first growth spurt and then fade away so side-dressing with additional is necessary after each bloom cluster develops. Compost applied regularly as a side dressing or mulch also works well but slower as it requires microbial assistance. Container plants of course need more frequent feedings than do in-ground plants.

But the main point is that a one time or even 2x feeding isn't going to carry the plant through the season. Regular, staged feedings of some sort of fertilizer/compost is required for the plant to develop and produce normally throughout it's life span.

As to the signs to look for: usually by the time you see any real signs it is too late so just shoot for a weekly feeding of a dilute liquid or a monthly feeding of a well-balanced granular fertilizer.

Hope this is of help.

Dave

"Indeterminate plants grow in stages. 6-8" of stem and leaves and then a bloom cluster, then another 6-8" of stem and leaves, and then another bloom cluster, etc. and will do so indefinitely until killed by disease or frost."

So if an indeterminate plant is cut off at the top (a space issue, hypothetically), will the lower part of the plant which has already produced blooms, continue to bloom? Or does a section of an interdeminate which has already produced shut down from further fruit setting?

So if an indeterminate plant is cut off at the top (a space issue, hypothetically), will the lower part of the plant which has already produced blooms, continue to bloom? Or does a section of an interdeminate which has already produced shut down from further fruit setting?

The lower part will not produce more blooms itself but the plant will develop 1 or 2 new growth shoots (often called "suckers") at the leaf branch junction that's just below the break or cut and they will eventually produce blooms and fruit. That "sucker or suckers" now becomes the primary growth stem of the plant but it will be weaker than the original because it is an offshoot.

Think of it as a detour off the highway. It isn't as good a road and in the case of the tomato plant it never actually connects back to the main highway, but it still gets you where you are going...eventually. ;)

Dave