A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum Big Plants No Veggies

I planted: tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, yellow squash, bell pepper and egg plant. The plants are getting pretty big but they're not producing any vegetables. The flower spouts then dies a couple of days later. I used vigiro plant food when I first planted and one watering with miracle grow several weeks later, bigger plants still no veggies. Does anyone have any idea if there's anything I can do?

I would say no pollenation. It takes insects to pollenate the flowers.

Donnell, just as Pat says you need bees. But another idea is to self pollinate. Might be a idea to look into if you have a problem.

yet a little paint brush and some crawling on the grown and you can have those plants polinated no problem. I did that with some tomatoes last year.

Although I'm no expert on this, I have solved that problem by gently rubbing the tips of the blossoms together. At times if the blossoms are too far apart to do this without damaging them, I've sacrafised a blossom by snapping it off and then rubbing the tip of it on the other blossoms. This has always been successful for me.

squashes have male and female flowers if you decide to self polinate the female flowers have a small bulb shaped fruit behind the flower leave that one on the plant. Snap off the one that doesn't have that it's the male of the plant.

Usually the plants will start with mostly mail flowers if that is the case with yours all you need to do is pinch back the vine some. The stress with cause the plant to start growing the female flowers. You should only leave about 3 femail flowers per vine so the plant will put it's energy into growing big nice veggies for you.

Good advice, Donnell and it works great.

With my tomatoes and peppers I just moved my hands over the plants. I had a big crop of each last year doing it this way.

The best way to hand pollenate tomatoes is by shaking them or using a vibrator of some kind. That shakes the pollen loose so the flower can use it.

Blossom drop is not caused by lack of pollination.
The usual cause is too little or too much nitrogen. I'd say easy on the miracle grow!
Other factors are excessive temperatures, high humidity, excessive wind, or stress either by insect damage or foliar disease.

Yep, I'd go along those lines too..

I was going to ask what kind of ferts' you're using..
Tooooo much ferts' with high first numbers can cause
lot's of green and not many/much flowers for fruit..

Just wondering if you know that all these plants have different days to their cycles for food?

Did you have any quick drop in the temperatures when the blossoms were on? That would cause it. Frost.

maybe too much fertilizer? Did you mix it weakly like it calls for on the label?