Your tomato plants are healthy and growing well, but they’re not producing fruit. Why? You may have a variety of reasons for this. The most common one is that your plant is too young to fruit.
But if you want to get more tomatoes from your plants as soon as possible, there are several other things that can be done in order to encourage better fruiting:
Keep tomato plants warm.
To encourage tomatoes to fruit, you’ll want to keep your tomato plants at a minimum of 15°C (59°F).
If your growing season is short and cold, it can be difficult to meet this temperature requirement. Here are some ways that you can help your tomato plants stay warm:
Covering the plants with a cloche or row cover will help trap heat around the plant, reducing how much energy it takes for them to survive.
Be sure not to cover them entirely; make sure there’s still plenty of sunlight reaching the leaves so they can photosynthesize.
You may also consider using artificial lighting like grow lights during colder months if you live in an area where it gets really cold outside during springtime – this will bring up temperatures inside without costing too much money or space.
Plant in a sunny location and protect from wind.
If you live in an area with a lot of wind, try to plant your tomatoes against a wall or fence. This will help to keep the plants upright and reduce stress on the stems.
If you live in a cold area, consider covering your plants with row covers during the winter months.
Use plastic sheeting that dries quickly so that it doesn’t trap too much heat around your plants (which could cause fungus).
If you live in a warm area, make sure that there’s plenty of airflow around your plants (i love this one because i havent seen anything about it before).
Feed regularly with a high potash tomato feed.
In order to encourage tomatoes to produce fruit, you should feed regularly with a high potash tomato feed.
This is because the more fruit your plants set, the higher their overall yield will be. But make sure you’re using a balanced fertiliser that contains nitrogen as well as phosphorus and potassium (NPK).
It’s also worth checking that your soil has enough naturally occurring nutrients for healthy growth.
If it doesn’t, add some compost or worm castings to it before planting up your new crop of tomatoes.
Once you’ve got all this sorted out, you can move on to feeding them regularly with a high potash tomato feed.
Pinch out side shoots when plants are 20cm (8in) tall.
Pinching out side shoots when plants are 20cm (8in) tall will encourage more flowers and fruit. The plant’s overall size will not be affected.
Pinching out side shoots will help the plant grow more compactly and focus on growing fruit instead of stems, which can become leggy and unproductive if left unchecked.
Pinch out growing tip once six trusses have formed.
Once your tomatoes are established and have grown their first six trusses, you can pinch out the growing tip to encourage more side shoots.
This will stimulate lateral growth and make the plant bushier. Pinching out is best done when the plant is at least 20cm (8in) tall.
The growing tip is the first set of leaves that appear after germination; if you wait until it’s developed into a full leafy shoot with several pairs of leaves on it before pinching, this may leave you with fewer side shoots than if you had done it earlier.
Taking care of your tomatoes will help them fruit better.
Keep your plants warm. Tomatoes grow best in temperatures between 20 and 26 degrees Celsius (68 to 79 degrees Fahrenheit).
In cool weather, if you’re growing tomatoes indoors, try putting them on a heating mat or warming tray to keep them at the correct temperature.
Make sure they have enough sunlight. Tomatoes need lots of sunlight to produce fruit—they can’t produce any if they don’t get enough light.
You should aim for at least six hours of direct sun per day for healthy tomatoes that will bear fruit well.
Feed regularly with a high potash tomato feed. Pinch out side shoots when plants are 20cm (8in) tall and then pinch out growing tip once six trusses have formed—this helps prevent plants from becoming lanky and encourages more flowers instead of leaves.
Conclusion
As you’ve seen, there are many ways to encourage tomatoes to fruit. Whether you’re starting from seed or transplanting plants into the garden, these tips can help your tomatoes produce more—and better-tasting—fruit.