Sorry to hear. All i can say is WOW!

Maybe due to all that rain?

That is my guess goodground. I figured once it dried up, which it has, that blooming would resume, but it hasn't. If it does at some point it will probably be too late anyway. I will probably start pulling plants as soon as all the tomatoes are off. I could understand it if the blossoms were simply dropping, but I have never seen them not bloom at all. Maybe some kind of root rot that simply stopped growth but did not cause death?

Use some of these, Hoosier.

Thanks Sey,

I may get some of that but this year I think I'm going to bag it as soon as everything is off. Next year I am going to try some raised beds and containers to hedge my bets. I am going to need lots of advice so get ready!

Not happened before but there have been several reports on it this year. Seems to be spotty too. My community garden had it for couple of weeks but at the house mile away tomato life is same as before. I think it is wise to look into raised bed even just few in off the ground. Texas Tomato food is excellent for improving flowering.

What is Texas Tomato food? Sorry for my stupidity but never heard before

It is just a brand name, made by a company in Texas. It is available on Amazon, I have heard.

It has a (3.1 - 3.8 -7.0 ) analysis. Its uniqueness ( to me ) is that it has high proportion of K, relative to N and P. It is claimed to be good in flowering and fruiting stage.

Sey

Thanks Sey

Full name of company Urban Farm Texas Tomato food and it is liquid fert. People at other tomato forum rave about it all the time. It is very good and you see next day results of sea of yellow blossoms happening. It is not a magic bullet though.

Urban Farm Fertilizers Texas Tomato Food.

Not sure if it’s organic, def not listed OMRI.

But I like the N-P-K proportion: 3.1 - 3.8 - 7.0.

Too few (3) – nice - reviews in Amazon, to decide about
usefulness.

Similar price to competitors.

Me, I stick with Neptune's Harvest Organic Fish and Seaweed Blend Fertilizer (2-3-1) AWESOME reviews in Amazon ( 5 stars from... 53 customers !!! ) The current price for 1 gal. - $ 41.99 - is the LOWEST price I've ever seen. EVER !!! No, I have no connection with the company; just a happy customer. The fertilizer is organic and OMRI listed.

I also use FoxFarm Big Bloom (0.01 - 0.3 - 0.7). Organic, not listed OMRI.

Very happy with both products.

Daniel, Check them out , if you will.

TTF : 3-1 - 3.8 - 7.0 ( apprx 1 -1 - 2 ) vs. NHO : 2 - 3 - 1

They are opposite breeds of NPK ratios, IMO..

Look at TTF ratios of N and K. K is twice higher than N ( K=7 ;; N= 3.1)

Look at NHO ratios of N and K. N is twice as high as K....Just opposite ( K=1 ;; N= 2)

I think the advantage of TTF is that N is low and K is high. This is for flowering and fruiting stage where/when you don't want too much vegetative growth.

MY Home Brew:

1- Alaska MB 0-10-10-

2 - MG 12-4 -8

Mix them 50/50 . You will get : 6 - 7 - 9..... OR

Lets look at another tomato fertilizer with rave reviews : TOMATO TONE.

It has a 3- 4 - 6 NPK ratios. Again, N is the lowest and K is the highest.It is close to my home brew.

I think NHO is too low on K and too high on P.. But then it is ORGANIC.

YMMV

Tomatoes only set fruit when the temperature is between 70º and 85ºF during the day. If it's too hot, fruit won't set. If the plant has too much nitrogen, it will produce many leaves and not many blossoms. If the nighttime temps go below 50ºF, the plant won't produce, either. Maybe when you get better weather , you will get better production.

Well sey, me - and 53 other people (those Amazon reviewers) - think that Neptune's Harvest Organic Fish and Seaweed Blend
Fertilizer ( 2-3-1 ) is a good product.

Sey, I knew those numbers, but thank you anyway. As you can read above I did NOT say that I like NHO's ratios. But, yes, I like FoxFarm Big Bloom ( 0.01 - 0.3 - 0.7 ) ratios. Btw, while I agree that in NHO the K is lower than N or P, the P is still bigger than N, which is a good thing, right ?

If Texas Tomato Food ( 3.1 - 3.8 - 7.0 ) was organic and OMRI listed, I would switch right away.

sey wrote:

> MY Home Brew:
1- Alaska MB 0-10-10-
2 - MG 12-4 -8
Mix them 50/50 . You will get : 6 - 7 - 9.....

Sey, I'm not familiar with combining fertilizers -never did it - but are you sure that things are THAT simple (for N): 0 + 12 divided by 2 = 6 ?

daniel_nyc(7a) ...Sey, I'm not familiar with combining fertilizers -never did it - but are
you sure that things are THAT simple (for N): 0 + 12 divided by 2 = 6 ?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Yes , It is as simple as that: You can combine anything and come up with a final mixture ratios. Combine different vodka with different proofs and get a combined proof.

Example :

1- Take 100 cc of 0- 10 -10 : it has 0 cc of N ;; 10 cc of P ;; 10 cc of K

2- Take 100 cc of MG (12-4-8). It has 12 cc of N ;; 4 cc of P ;; 8 cc of K.

3- Add those together : You have 200 cc which percentage wise contains :

6 % N ;;7% P; 9% K..

It does not matter in what chemical form the NPK are. We know they are there..

It is no different than mixing granular type of fertilizer with different ratios. .

Sey

Are you fertilizing with a high-nitrogen fertilizer? If so, that could be the problem. Too much nitrogen can inhibit flowering and fruiting because it makes the plant invest its resources into leaf growth. Flowers need phosphorus, and fruits need potassium. A tomato or general vegetable fertilizer should work well. I use Jobe's granular tomato and vegetable fertilizer for all my fruiting veggies, and it works well.

I've had great results from fish fertilizer on herbs and veggies that are not fruiting (greens, etc.). My mother and I share a garden, and she was giving her fruiting plants fish fertilizer and had big, green, healthy-looking plants, but she wasn't happy with their productivity. I switched her over to the tomato/vegetable fertilizer (high phosphorus, moderate potassium, low nitrogen) and we saw an immediate uptick in flowering and fruiting. I think knowing when to change up the nutrient balance is probably key.

Thank you sey, for clarifying it.

Good info gorbelly, tx.

Texas Tomato Food explanation on why they cannot call their fertilizers organic: "Hi there......I don't see why not, since there will be no interaction. The only reason we can't call our ferts organic is because the certifying agencies simply don't know how to classify hydroponic-grade components. We are left in a "grey area".

If you talk to them, they love hydroponics, and they know hydroponic vegetable production worldwide is entirely dependent on mineral concentrates. They're ok with that. But they can't get themselves to allow refined minerals to be called organic, which is a head-scratcher.

We really confuse the issue by combining minerals with our proprietary distilled organics. Maybe some day we'll come to a compromise.".

TTF is basically organic as they stated above. This is a response they answered on TV as to why they are not certified organic. Best stuff I Have ever used!

daniel, check Texas tomato food website for reviews, most people buy it there rather than on Amazon.. I buy it from their website rather than Amazon.

Jennie

Yes, Jennie, fertilizers are compatible and do not interact. Actually what we get in the bag or bottle are mixtures made separately.

I am not into organics but it has a very clear definition, that is : whatever is derived from ORGANIC source i.e. animals and plants (living organs) . So the mineral s (like Epsom salt, rock dust , lime, etc) are not organic.

Sey

What about... NATURAL ?

I see sometimes: "NATURAL and ORGANIC."

daniel_nyc(7a)

What about... NATURAL ?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Everything that exists is natural, me thinks.

It is a misconception to think that any man made thing is NOT NATURAL. But if insects, eg, make them are considered NATURAL.!!!

In the great Darwinian natural philosophy, man is one of the hands of nature and so whatever man makes is also natural.

So that is why the term ORGANIC is used.

Sey

Two
definitions of the word NATURAL:

>existing in or formed by nature (opposed to artificial):

> existing in or caused by nature; not made or caused by
humankind.

Sey
wrote: > It is a misconception to think that any man made thing is
NOT NATURAL.

Sey wrote:
> Everything that exists is natural, me thinks.

A robot
is a NATURAL thing ?

A little
confused here.

I too as many others tomato growers buy TTF directly from manufacturer, great customer service and they send it right away. I think their claim about no more BER is hyped but you do get more blooms and better production with it.

As for fert discussion re natural, organic- it is all marketing gimmicks to me and political games. Unless you want to have cert of course, nobody cares to play that game. What is your BRIX? tell me your number and I tell you if you have good nutritional program going. It is that simple in my mind.

As for NPK numbers I was listening to Harley Smith lecture who is genius with hydroponics, he was saying that when plants are heavily growing fruits they can run out of all stored potassium as fast as 3 days. So he recommends for heavy fruiting stage drop N and increase potassium. Could be why TTF does so well.

@lgteacher, those temps are not set in stone. Depending on other conditions, you can bump them ten degrees or so higher. Curiously, I find that as-lush-as-possible foliage can help those conditions here in a sunny dry hot garden where spaced airy growth isn't necessarily a good thing.

"Maybe when you get better weather , you will get better production." Yeppers.

Thanks for the replies all.

lgteacher, temp isn't really the issue as the plants would still flower but just not set fruit. I don't use a lot of fertilizer but what I did use was several months ago. It is more a matter of the plants just shutting down reproductively. Fruit is still ripening and small tomatoes still growing. I thought is was interesting, as I have never seen this before. They might resume, but I think this is a prelude to them being done a soon as they are bare.