What Causes Flower Drop in Tomatoes? Tips to Avoid it
In my video below and in this blog post, I'm going to cover what causes flower drop in tomatoes. When growing tomatoes, one of the most frustrating things that can happen is for the flowers to bloom and then shrivel up and die off, leaving a little brown stem at the end, and no tomatoes forming in that place. This phenomenon is known as "flower drop," and it can be caused by several factors.
High Temperature The number one reason for flower drop in tomatoes is high temperature. When the temperature increases above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (about 36 degrees Celsius), unless when tomatoes start to drop their flowers because they are not heat tolerant, mainly heirloom tomatoes. Heirloom tomatoes do not like heat at all. So, if you're growing tomatoes in a hotter climate, and your temperature reaches above 100-240 degrees Fahrenheit (above 40 degrees Celsius), use shade cloth, especially during the heat of the day, after 12 pm up until 6 pm. Tomatoes will really need to cool down at least 20 degrees to be under 90 degrees Fahrenheit dew to avoid the flower drop.
Too Much Fertilization The second reason tomatoes are dropping flowers is too much fertilization. If you're adding a lot of nitrogen into your ground, that will grow a lot of foliage and not enough tomatoes. The tomatoes will say, "Oh, we have enough resources. Let's keep growing a lot of leaves." And if the flowers appear on the tomato plants, it will drop the flowers thinking, "I have enough time to produce fruit. I don't need to do that right now." So, do not use a lot of high-rich, high nitrogen-rich fertilizer into the ground. Use slow-release fertilizer, which is low in nitrogen and high in phosphorus and potassium.
Not Enough Sunlight The third reason your tomatoes are dropping flowers is not enough sunlight. If you plant your tomato plants in a shady area that does not receive enough sunlight, the tomato plants will not be able to intake a lot of sun to create photosynthesis to actually create the fruit. The tomato plants need enough nutrients, water, and sunlight to produce the fruit.
Too Much Watering The fourth reason your tomato plants are dropping flowers is too much watering. To stress tomato plants, let the soil dry out just a little bit in between watering, and that will encourage the tomato plants to create more flowers and set fruit because the tomato plant thinks it's running a resource. It doesn't have enough water, so it needs to produce fruit and get it done quickly to produce seed for the next generation. Once the fruit is set on the plant, do not let the soil dry out. So, after the fruit appears on the plant, consistently water your plants and keep the soil moist at all times, and use mulch to retain moisture in the soil as well. Otherwise, you'll end up with blossom and rot.
Not Enough Pollination The fifth reason and probably the main reason your tomato plants are dropping flowers is not enough pollination. If you do not have enough bees and pollinators in your garden, just go around the plants and flick the flowers you can see that the flower is open and it's ready to be fertilized. The way you fertilize this flower is very simple. You just tap the flower so that the pollen drops down from the back of the flower onto the female part of the flower, and the flower gets fertilized. The flowers or tomato plant contains both male and female parts, so if you flick the flowers just