Having problems with your tomatoes not flowering?

Following these steps should ensure that your plants will produce beautiful tomatoes, and will help improve the quality and quantity of any yield.

First, consider how long your plants been growing.  It can be anywhere between 8 – 12 weeks before the plants produce fruit, and sometimes all that is required is a little patience.

Have you…

-Thinned the plants?

When plants are about 1” tall, they should be thinned back to one plant per pod.  If this step has not been done, it should be.  Keep the healthiest plant in the pod and cut the others out at the base of the plant. Too many plants growing from one pod can have negative effects on the plants.

- Pruned the plants at the 4-5 week period?

At about 4-5 weeks, the main stem of the plant should be cut in half.  This pruning, along with regular ongoing pruning, will keep the plants short and bushy (like a Christmas tree) instead of tall with leaves just at the top (like a palm tree).   If the plant has not been pruned, it needs to be.  Cutting the main stem in half is not advisable for larger plants (over 6 weeks) but refer to the Tending and Harvesting Guide for pruning instructions – they still needs to be pruned!  Photosynthesis will take place even if there are only a few leaves on the plant, so we encourage you to prune even if there is not much there.  If all of the growth is at the top of the plant, pruning is needed to get the plant back down to a bushy size and shape.

- Set the lights timer to go off at night?

Fruiting plants need complete darkness for at least 7 hours every night in order to produce fruit - this means that the lights need to be synched up to turn off at night time, and that the plants are not exposed to any artificial light during this dark period.

Instructions for setting the “on” time of your lights:

At the time you want the lights to come on, press the “Lights” button and hold it down until the LED light next to the plant selection flashes, and continue holding it until the LED light blinks faster — about 12 seconds, then immediately release the button. Your lights will now come on at this time each day. (It will take several seconds for the lights to come on.)To view a complete chart of the Timing of the Lights and Pump Cycles for the different Seed Kits, click here. 

OTHER FACTORS TO CONSIDER:

Nutrients – Have nutrients been added at regular 2-week intervals?  If you have been adding nutrients every time the light comes on, has it been coming on every 2 weeks?  Pressing reset at any other time than just after adding nutrients will effect the nutrient timer. 

Grow Bulbs –Tomato production will be significantly better with fresh bulbs – they should be changed roughly every 6 months for optimal plant growth.

Type of water being used – if you live in a hard tap water area, or have been using high mineral content spring water, the pH levels in your aerogarden may be unsuitable for plant health, and could cause yellowing of the leaves or lack of fruit.

Read more on our blog here http://www.aerogarden.org.uk/forum/2008/08/19/aerogardenorguk-is-hard-tap-water-stunting-the-growth-of-your-plants/ 

Tobacco Mosaic Virus – If your plant looks like it is actually dying, it may have Tobacco Mosaic Virus. This causes a mosaic pattern on leaves (and even fruit) and causes the leaves to fall off.   A plant affected by this disease will most likely not produce fruit. 

IF ALL OF THE STEPS ABOVE HAVE BEEN FOLLOWED AND THE PLANTS ARE HEALTHY BUT STILL NOT PRODUCING:

1) Rinse and refill the bowl with fresh water and add two nutrients.

A Rinse-and-Refill consists of unplugging the AeroGarden, emptying all the water out of the Bowl, refilling it with fresh water, and putting in two fresh nutrient tablets. This will return nutrient and pH levels to normal if they have gotten outside of optimal range. Please click here for complete instructions on how to do a Rinse-and-Refill.

2) Prune branches back another 1” -2” and drop the lights down, if necessary.   Complete BOTH steps 1 & 2 at the same time.

So, rinse and refill and prune at the same time.  Then give the plants one week to ‘recover’ and blooms should appear within the next week.  It is fine to prune during the recovery period if necessary.