I've heard about mule plants and I think it would be awful to get one, but so far I haven't - luckily, and I grow the same number of plants as you.

I assume that you didn't over-do the nitrogen in the container?????

Mule plants do happen though :(

Linda

Incomplete or damaged seed genetics is usually given as the cause.

Dave

Isn't a mule plant technically one that doesn't produce any flowers at all?

Or very very few.

Dave

Thanks for comments , Linda , Dave, gorbelly .

The last one that I pulled ( 2 days ago ) had healthy foliage, but no flowers. Few other ones , I remember, had some small sicky buds that never developed into flowers.

Sey

Sounds like a very rare occurrance. So why did you experience 5 out of your 40 plants? Doesn't sound genetic to me.

Maybe you are right, nc.

The other reason could be the weather. I cannot blame soil, fertilizing, care .. Since there were plants next to those mules that are doing pretty good.

Interestingly, only one of those was grown from the seeds that I grew in 2016. The rest were acquired.

Sey

Are any of those from seed from tomatoes that were store-bought? Perhaps they were harvested too early for seed to develop correctly?

gorbelly , no. they were mostly the seeds that i got from fellow gardeners. But I suspect the weather. Our night temperatures almost 98% of the time dipped into 50s. and rarely stayed above 60F.

Sey

Weather was the same for all plants, right? Then how could the weather be the cause. Traded seeds are often inferior due to lack of knowledge on how to prevent crossing, collect, and save.

Dave

Male Sterile Tomato Plants

A SURVEY OF CYTOGENETIC CAUSES OF UNFRUIT- FULNESS IN THE TOMATO

Just to clarify, "bull" plants and "mule" plants describe different phenomena, yes?

I think Dave has a point. This past year I had NO germination problem with any of my own saved seeds and with those bough off the rack. But donated seeds were mostly problem. Actually I gave up on couple of them.

My seed saving method gets rid of poor seeds. After fermenting I put the batch into a tall glass, fill with tap water, stir, pour the floating pulp and seeds out. I only keep the ones that sink right away.I dont need that many seeds. I want to save the best ones.

Sey