From:
owner-greenhouse-tomatoes@Lists.MsState.Edu
[mailto:owner-greenhouse-tomatoes@Lists.MsState.Edu] On Behalf Of Gary Hickman
Sent: Friday, October 22, 2004
3:13 PM
To:
greenhouse-tomatoes@Lists.MsState.Edu
Subject: Re: greenhouse-tomatoes:
Cluster Problems
Similar plant hormone-type symptoms have been verified in California greenhouses
as caused by ethylene. However, if you are not running heaters, another related
cause is hormone-type herbicides, such as 2-4 D. Even very low levels can cause
symptoms as you describe. Gary
W. Hickman
David Dycus
<david.dycus@ncmail.net> wrote:
I see this problem every year in some houses. The answer I always
get is N is too high. Tissue samples haven't verified this however.
Other possible answers have included ethylene damage or cloudy weather.
I'm not satisfied exactly what is causing the problem. When we see this
the flower stems do seem to be more erect. They sometimes even grow
another leaf or plant from the bloom area or have 20 blooms instead 5-7.
All ideas are appreciated.
Glen Kaufman wrote:
When flowers do strange
things I wonder if plants are out of balance. Are they perhaps too
vegetative, especially given the hot weather? Are the flower stalks
unusually erect? When the infloresence is more nearly vertical than
horizontal it can be an indicator of bullishness. Is there plenty of
pollen? If not, that's another indicator, as are pale flowers.
If you think there's a
chance the forking is caused by vegetative plants, by all means, cut back on N
but try increasing EC, probably with K, to move the plant in a generative
direction. Extra leaf pruning may help too.
No guarantees, but that's my
first reaction. Maybe it'll help start a discussion that has some value
for you.
Im having a problem with my crop right now. Many plants
(var. Match) are producing a cluster with two flowers and then, if allowed to
grow, a second set of flowers with 4 or 5 flowers will begin to develop on the
same cluster. These are elongated but other wise well developed.
In the past, Ive experienced a leaf that would grow off
of a normal cluster. This was remedied by cutting back on N. Keep in mind that
we have been experiencing some funky weather. 81 degrees F in the morning and
98 degrees F in the afternoonthis is October in North America isnt it?
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Michael Pierce
M & R Hydroponic Farms
