Tomato Blossoms Dropping

[jgiannini]

Hi All - This is my first post here and I'm also fairly new to Hydroponics. I have been growing lettuce and herbs in my ebb and flow DIY system for a few months now and have had some pretty good crops, so I decided to try my hand at tomatos now. The plants are growing well and are easily 3-4 feet high. There are a fair amount of blossoms coming out and opening but the flowers will eventually turn brown and the stem will turn yellow and they will fall off. I currently grow them in a front room in my house. Below is my current setup along with nutrients I am using. Thanks for the help!

Jason

1 - 125 Watt grow light
1 - 200 Watt grow light
16-gallon reservoir with 100 watt heater and 4" airstone
General Hydroponics Flora Series
Nutrient mix ratio right now is 2.5 ml flora gro, 7.5 ml flora micro and 12.5 ml flora bloom per gallon of water
CaliMagic at 1 tsp per gallon
TDS is at 1200
pH is 6.0 but I have to keep adding pH up to keep it there every other day

[jgiannini]

Forgot to mention a few other things. I am using about an inch of hydroton at the bottom of the pots with a mix of coconut coir and perilite as the growth medium. My watering schedule is 3 times per day also. Thanks!

[David G.]

There are many reasons why this could be happening. Here are a few.

You are using a 200w light. Since HID's don't come in 200w, can I assume you're using a compact fluorescent or some other type of light other than an MH or HPS? If so, and your plants are 3-4 feet tall, then they are definitely getting nowhere near the amount of light they need.

Tomato flowers need to be pollinated. If you're growing indoors you may need to wait until the flowers open up completely and then either touch them with an electronic toothbrush or bump them with your fingers in an attempt to pollen moving and hopefully pollinate the flowers so that they will set fruit.

Also, too much water and not enough calcium can also contribute to dropped flowers.

[willard3]

Many HID lamps come in 200w: look here

http://www.1000bulbs.com/category/20...-sodium-lamps/

[kellypinto]

Thanks “jgiannini” for starting threads associated with tomato dropping blossom. It’s an informative thread. Thanks for sharing threads and relevant reply to query requested.

[Vanqled]

Hello. Jason. awesome growing for lettuces and herbs. you use grow light , it is LEDs ? i know some guys use various color of leds. do you have any suggestion ? Thanks.