Tomato plant - any ideas how to encourage it to produce?

[Guns n Roses]

I bought two tomato plants a while ago , one is great ,bears lots of fruit, the other is the big friendly giant, growing to the ceiling and nothing not even a flower, any ideas how to encourage it to produce?

[moloney2]

You need to pinch out the tips of the plant to encourage it to produce fruit, also pinch out the top of the plant. All of your growth is gone into leaf production not fruit so when you pinch out the tips it stimulates the plant to reproduce, in other words lots of tomatoes!:) Feed it with a tomato feed only as well . If your tomato plants are in a conservatory then you should have no problem getting it to fruit this year- if they are in a glasshouse then there might be a problem with ripening the tomatoes. When it has flowers then gently shake the plant so that it fertilises itself- there might not be enough insects to do this for you later in the year.
best wishes with your crop
moloney2

[Guns n Roses]

What do you mean by pinch, they are in the dinning room on the window ledge, very sunny and warm, growing tall!, my other one is fine and i give them both tomato food., thanks

[moloney2]

At the tip of each branch you pinch it between your thumb and forefinger, this growth is soft and easy to pinch out. If you prefer you can cut the tips off each branch with a scissors. The end result is the same as it stops each branch growing more leaves and makes it flower which gives you tomatoes. Where you have them sounds ideal and you should get tomatoes on the leafier one.
best wishes
moloney2

[cascais]

hi guns and roses,

i had the same problem with mine last year,
the solution for me was simple ... plant them in the garden as it was summer season...
since its semptember i am not sure what to do...
maybe a bigger pot, have you tried it ?

all the best

cascais

[dragonlady]

Hiya. Not wanting to contradict other advice given. But I have just finished harvesting my tomato plants. You must pinch out the side shoots that grow between the leafs and the stem, to encourage one main stem. if you dont do this your plant will just produce lots of greenery, and will get taller and taller, but without flowers. no flowers equals no fruit. feed with tomato feed regularly to encourage nice shaped juicy tomatos.
I would say you are too late this year to expect it to flower now. next year try again. I have grown mine outside on a sunny sheltered wall, in louth, at the coast. I have also grown them in an unheated greenhouse this year. yesterday I made about 10lb of green tomato chutney, with small green ones. Hope thisadvice helps. my advice, compost your plant this year, and start early next year.......cheers..mary

[cascade35]

If you pinch the tips with your fingers and remove the bare tips then it should start to bear fruit

[Ocker]

Try withholding water for a few days. This should shock it into producing flowers then fruit. Also never wet plants, always water them at ground level. PS dont let them die !

[Guns n Roses]

Thank you for all your replies, it has been pinched, there is a small flower at the very top, so fingers crossed.

[Guns n Roses]

Just to let you know, we have a baby tomato at last, its doing well, i pinched and clipped it well over the week and it worked, thanks again.