Garden

Dying tomatoes

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Q: The last two summers my tomato plants died off before the tomatoes were ripe. I used to have plants that bloomed until frost but now they die. What am I doing wrong?

It seems to me you are growing determinate (bush) tomato varieties, which only set fruit once before they die off. Perhaps you chose hanging basket tomatoes, which do the same? Often bush tomatoes set an early crop of fruit, which in your case did not have time to ripen before the plants died off. Indeterminate (vining) varieties go on flowering & producing all season long, ’til first frost. I recommend choosing varieties of both determinate and indeterminate tomatoes to extend the season of harvest. It may also be due to the soil mix, which may lack phosphorous or potash which helps tomatoes form and ripen. Did you use a potting mix with nutrient in it, some of the commercial mixes have none? Did you use a nitrogen-rich additive? (Too much nitrogen means leaves and no fruit).

These are all things to be taken into consideration to solve your problem. Better luck next year!