Re: [tomato] Blossom Drop
margaret lauterbach (Tomato@GlobalGarden.com)
Sun, 04 Jul 1999 15:17:42 -0600
At 04:45 PM 7/4/99 EDT, you wrote:
>I'm having some trouble with blossom drop on several of my tomatoes. I'm a
>novice so I haven't a clue what to do. I do have fruit on all the plants
that
>are having this problem & we're in the midst of a drought & temps in the
>90's. I've been watering however. Some are container grown & some in the
>ground.
>I remember reading that some of you use epsom salts on your tomatoes, but
>don't remember if this is one of the situations that call for it..
>Thanks for your help.
>Kim
>
You have two whammies here, Kim. Tomatoes won't set fruit (blossoms drop
off) above 95 degrees, and they require deep watering. I once read where
tomato roots poked about 20 feet down into the soil. It should be obvious
that sprinkling tomatoes won't get water down that deep. Deep water them
once a week or once every 4 or 5 days in your heat. If you use mulch to
conserve soil moisture, you probably can get away with deep watering once a
week. I used to use an irrigator head, but "level" in my tomato patch
became an unknown quantity, so I'm soaker hose watering. I know tomato
roots can only go as deep as about 30 inches here because we have an
inch-thick hardpan at that depth. I only use Epsom Salts when I first plant
tomatoes. Others may use it at other times. Margaret L