Not clear what advice is being asked for. I would just pick off the flowers. I pick off flowers on my plants until they are at least a foot tall. If you don't, and they set fruit, the plants just aren't likely to get that big, and won't support many fruit. You certainly don't want fruit set before plant-out.

I guess if your growing season is REALLY short, you take whatever they give you, whenever they give it to you.

Hi. I just wanted to verify if I should remove the flower heads. It's the first time I've seen them form this early. Thanks for the help.

Like Dan says pinch them off when they are a foot or so tall, if you have a lot of flowers do a few at a time. I usually wait until I plant them outdoors but there are usually just a few flowers on mine.

I keep mine. For southern zones it is perfectly fine to take them off, northern peeps I would disagree. Have been keeping mine and having early fruits. You can not possibly loose "full potential" of the plant that people are worried by keeping buds in at northern climate.

Linda, you don't think the seedlings are too young to start forming flowers? I'm in a northern climate, as you see, Montreal. I am debating. I am tempted to let them go and see what happens. Carolyn said they should be removed.

Sharon, the buds right now aren't getting the nutrients it needs in small pots. That's why most people pluck the flowers in the early stages. I plant my tomatoes and prune the flowers off until about one week after planting outside. Good luck.

Vince, how do you know? Am sure this wisdom works fine for warm zone as 8 though. Thing is attempting to manipulate reproductive and vegetative state of tomatoes is something like advanced calculus for first grader. Quite a challenge, at least from where I stand still studying it.

Sharon, there is nothing like experimenting and figuring out what works for you. For me routinely leaving buds and letting them set flower leaves me with early fruits, great growing plants and plenty of tomatoes. It is totally possible to have rapid changes and ongoing release of energy in same plant.

I wonder, what kind of bulbs/tubes you are using.
Fo seedlngs the bulb type on the cool/blue spectrum side is recommended .

Sey

Sharon - personally I'd remove them and I'd argue most do, but prove to yourself which approach works best for you. Pinch them off 1/2 the plants and leave them on the rest. Then you can see for yourself which works better and the differences it makes.

To me, the real question is why they are trying to bloom when so young as it is often a survival response to stress of some kind.

Dave

Dave, I do not see it as survival response with my plants though. I have early varieties that do start growing and sending buds early and then later varieties that are sitting and growing. Here is major difference we see- often south tomatoes grow 10 ft tall and still loaded, here I will be able to get my tomatoes 10 ft tall but only if I feed it calcium nitrate and manure all the time LOL and sacrifice my yield. So I gotta have mine go into reproductive stage when they are 3 ft tall... so they still grow till 6 ft but produce like crazy.

As to plants not possibly losing "full potential" by keeping flowers on, I guess I just find that hard to believe. It isn't the flowers that suck energy and juices from the plant. It's the fruit they bear. The role of a tomato plant in life is making tomatoes, and once the tomatoes are set, leaves, roots, and stems are just less important. Plants have growth phases and reproductive phases, and one doesn't want to transition from one to the other too early. I agree that one might do an experiment and see if that's right, but I'd be astonished if it wasn't. Now, if the plant can't support fruit, it is smart enough not to set fruit early on, even if it flowers.

But again, if you're gonna run out of growing season, don't pinch!

I agree with Dave that the real puzzlement here is why they are blooming so early.

I agree with Lindalena and never pinch flower buds. Since we are in the north, it's hard enough to get those flowers early! Maybe they are sending out their flowers because they are a bit pot bound? Maybe re-pot them since they'll have to spend another month inside. Last year I potted my biggest seedlings into 1L OJ containers which are much bigger than those Solo cups that people use.

Linda

Thanks for all the replies. They aren't rootbound, I have put them in very deep pots as I have already transplanted into bigger pots. Maybe I'll have to repot again. The plants are very healthy, nice thick stems. I'm using T5 high output lights.

Dave what type of stress would cause that? I have pinched quite a few but I might leave some on just to see. Maybe they like their home too much!

I think I might be leaving my lights on too long. I've cut back by two hours. I'm hoping that will slow things down. My lights will be on for 16 hours. Should I cut back even more?

I can't help but wonder if there's a big difference in "the full potential" between a determinate and indeterminate plant.

I don't see tomatoes as having as distinct a "veg" and "flower" stage as say, marijuana. In fact, the very nature of an indeterminate is that it keeps growing, flowering and fruiting as long as conditions allow.

If I were canning, and growing determinates, pulling early flowers might make a lot more sense. But my Gold Nugget last year never stopped producing - if there were distinct flushes of flowers, I couldn't tell.

<I don't see tomatoes as having as distinct a "veg" and "flower" stage >

It isn't a single stage, it is a series of cycles that alternate back and forth as the plant grows. How obvious to the eye those distinct cycles may be is relative to experience and degree of close monitoring. In other words, obvious IF one knows what to look for. But while each plant has a wide degree of potential depending on the growing conditions provided, there are very different potentials between determinates and indeterminates.

<Dave what type of stress would cause that? >

That's the problem. It can be many things or a combo of things and can be difficult to ID. Basically anything that threatens its survival (from the plant's POV) and indoors is an artificial environment for the plants so difficult to make 'normal'. The obvious ones are root bound, pests, disease, excess watering or markedly inconsistent watering, excess nutrients. The less obvious ones are poorly draining or compacted soil, root damage, ambient air temps (too warm or too many extreme changes), artificial light that isn't full spectrum, lack of sufficient air circulation that allows for stagnant air to develop, etc.

Dave

Sharon, how are your plants doing? I have been thinking that for 4 weeks old plants going to flower would be unusual? I have started my first batch beginning of March and about half of them blooming- they are planted into WOW and I see usual after 7th leaf first blossom set. On a few I see two more internodes above already so second set of blossoms is coming. My second batch started March 23 apprx is at about 4 leaf stage and no blossoms yet. Later started tomatoes had brief period under lights and after first true leaf went into cold treatment- unheated hoophouse with only daylight. So overall I say I do give 12-14 hrs of lights to start, no more. Overwatering presents biggest challenge for me as with cold treatment needs for moisture lessen.

I think maybe the 18 hours under the lights could be the issue? I grew mine with about 14 hours under a T5 and had no flowering on any, stressed or otherwise.

It's my understanding that tomatoes are sexually mature and start producing flowers once they have grown 5-7 true leaves. Flowering is not an indication of stress, instead it indicates the seedling had good growing conditions.

Stress, if severe enough, will cause a delay in flowering. Deprivation of water, light, warmth, nutrients, transplant shock and the presence of pests and diseases are all stressors.

Regarding the pinching of early flower buds, it's kind of a wash. A young, soon-to-be-transplanted plant takes longer to produce a ripe tomato compared to the same plant when it's fully settled into the garden. Having said the above, I never pinch early flowers. It's too risky since we can get heatwaves in June & July which cause later flowers to not set.

Sharon, are your plants still inside?
I planted all my tomatoes on May 3 this year. Last year the tomatoes went into the ground on May 8 and I harvested the first Sungold on June 22.

Daren