Why are the tomatoes from the same flower bunch grow at different rates?

1. 69

   thumbi7posted 9 years ago

   Why are the tomatoes from the same flower bunch grow at different rates?
   
   This is the photo of tomato plant on my balcony. The tomatoes from the same flower bunch are growing at different rates. You can see two big ones out there. On the same bunch one or two fruits just started to develop. But all of them started flowering at the same time. So I was expecting all the fruits to be big by now.
   What can be done to make all of them grow at the same rate? Is it because of some deficiency? I am using only compost as manure.
   Please suggest
   
   

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2. 68

   lisavollrathposted 9 years ago

   The flowers have to be pollinated by bees or the wind before they produce fruit. It's possible for flowers in a single cluster to be pollinated at different times, which would cause what you're describing. Not all flowers will turn into tomatoes. Variations in temperature will cause tomato vines to stop setting fruit. For example, I live in Texas, and when the temperatures get above 90 degrees, the vines go dormant, and don't set fruit again until the heat breaks. That gives us two tomato seasons, on either side of August. My spring vines have just now started to set fruit again.
   
   Fun fact: you can pollinate tomatoes by yourself, without the help of bees or the wind, by tickling each flower with your finger. The pollen from the flowers gets on your finger, and as you move from flower to flower, you're spreading it. You can also help pollination along by gently shaking the tomato vines, which simulates what happens when it's windy.

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   1. 69

      thumbi7posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you So I need not worry that  the manure used is not enough

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   2. 68

      lisavollrathposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      You might want to read up on when to fertilize. I usually do it as I put the seedlings in the ground, and stop when they start bearing fruit. Fertilizer encourages leaves, not fruit.

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   3. 69

      thumbi7posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks Lisa. I think that is a very valid point. My tomato plant is still growing tall and giving more leaves and flowers.

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3. 60

   Niecey Docposted 9 years ago

   No, its nothing wrong with your compost. They just grow at different rates naturally. The plant doesn't put equal amounts of energy into every extremity at a constant. Sometimes it will put more energy in one direction or another. So one day you might find one of the smaller tomatoes seems to have suddenly grown and overtaken some of the others.
   Same with other plant. My cucumbers for example, I'll be watching one fruit slowly growing and getting ready for harvest then all of a sudden one of the much smaller ones will take over and end up being harvested first.
   
   This is why some gardeners pick off some of the flowers, to discourage the plant from dividing its energy in so many ways, so it will focus its growing energy on a few big fruit instead.

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   1. 69

      thumbi7posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you. That was helpful

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