Organic tomatoes with tomato blossom set spray?

[pattyp]

Last year my tomato plants produced many blossoms, but not as much fruit. I was disappointed with the yield and thus, am considering using tomato blossom set spray this year. Billed as all natural, the spray consists of the plant hormone cytokinin. Can tomatoes be considered organic if an all natural plant hormone is applied to the plants? Thanks for your input.

[ceara]

I'd also like to know about it.

Does it really help set the fruit? My retired father said he'd been using a pepper/tomato set spray and said that it had helped them.

pattyp are you talking about GA? I'm not very knowledgeable about chemical names.

But one thing I do know, is that what is termed organic on products in big supermarkets is really a loose term and sometimes isn't really 100% organic. Companies seem to try and find legal loopholes where they can use the term but still employ non-organic methods.

[pattyp]

Hi ceara. Thanks for your reply. Cytokinins are plant hormones that promote cell division and control organ differentiation. They aren't the same as GA, but my research has indicated that GA can affect the concentrations of cytokinins in plants.

I'm uncertain if applying a plant hormone to increase fruit set is against organic gardening principles. I put a lot of effort into my garden each year, but last year's yield was so disappointing that I want to make sure that my effort pays off. However, I don't want to compromise my principles and the health of the environment to do so. The woman who runs the "Daughter of the Soil" blog (http://daughterofthesoil.blogspot.com/2009_01_01_archive.html) recommended that I contact the experienced and helpful users of this forum for advice.

[raymondo]

Two seasons ago I was collecting pollen from lots of plants. I did this by using an electric toothbrush to vibrate the pollen out of the flowers. The plants I was collecting from had fantastic fruit set. I was basically imitating what a bumblebee would do. Perhaps you could set your garden up as a bumblebee haven, or buy an electric toothbrush. Just a thought!

[canadamike]

Giberellic acid is natural and considered organic, as for the other one, I don't know. Who's certifying it?

[pattyp]

I tried using an electric toothbrush last year, but didn't see any collected pollen - it is quite likely that I wasn't doing the procedure correctly (although it could be possible that my tomatoes weren't producing any pollen).

I also found this great book called "Garden Plants Valuable to Bees", so I am planning on using it and a couple of other resources to create a garden attractive to beneficial insects.

The Tomato and Pepper Blossom Set spray isn't certified by anyone, although there are a couple of different brands out there - one from Burpee: www.burpee.com/product/id/104911.do?KickerID=100459&KICKER
and another from Bonide: www.bonideproducts.com/products/product.php?category_id=542

Thanks for your input.

[michaeljohnson]

The only real problem with using tomato setting spray, on either tomatoes or peppers,-is that all the fruit come with no seeds in them at all.but they do increase the amount of fruit.

[pattyp]

Thanks for the information michaeljohnson - the lack of seeds is a valuable thing to know since I am planning on collecting seeds from this year's fruit.

I will have to try using my electric toothbrush again

[grungy]

Optimum time for using for using your toothbrush is between 10 AM and 1 PM. Dampness has evaporated off and the heat of the day hasn't arrived yet, which may cause pollen to clump.

[potagere]

Now, as I understand it, tomatoes are "in-breeding", quasi-self-pollinating plants, and most tomatoes (with the notable exception of some of the potato-leaf varieties) do not even have exposed styles or stigmas (the female parts that get pollinated). However, they are not "true" self-pollinators, in that they require a mechanical assistance for the pollen to be "shaken" down the anther tube. This, apparently, was originally supplied by a native bee in Peru. Bumblebees, who vibrate their wings to "hover" at a flower, are used extensively in greenhouses to do this.
Ashworth (Seed to Seed, 2002) and several others point out that you can accomplish nearly the same thing, much more simply, by "shaking" your tomatoes. If you support your tomato plants, it is easy to simply grab the tomato stake or cage or trellis and give it a firm shake once a day (preferably not when anything is covered with dew or rain) whilst working in the garden.

[raymondo]

I think the shake-as-you-pass-by method as described by potagere would work just fine. A friend with a new hot house grew tomatoes in it this season and used this method. She got good fruit set. Of course, it may have happened anyway I suppose.

[grunt]

If you have any wind in your garden, even the shaking isn't necessary. With 300+ plants every year, I don't have the time (or inclination) to run the rows everyday looking like I'm deranged (we won't go there, okay?). Fortunately we have both, a morning and late afternoon breeze of maybe 10 mph, when the temps are about right for the pollination.

[kctomato]

Plant Growth Regulators (hormones) vary to their "acceptability"

I tried to find something definitive but didnt.

Though PGR's in plants are "natural" some PGR's sold for applying to plants are synthetics (natural forms are unstable outside of the plant).

Things like ethylene should be acceptable while others like rooting hormones likely are not. The USDA probably accepts GA and possibly cytokinin however tougher organizations like CCOF probably dont. Some PGR's in appreciatible quantities are carcinogenic.

It isnt just the potato leaf varieties that outcross or have exherted stigmas. Almost any tomato can do that if conditions are right. Beefstake type fruits in general rather than saying PL types would better be described as "exposed" stigmas. This is because the stigma doesnt mecessarily "exhert" (extend beyond the anther cone) but rather the stigma becomes exposed because of the structure of the flower (again this is typical of beefstake or multicarpellate fruits which have odd shaped flowers that usually are not perfectly round). Often their anther cones are split or poorly formed which exposes the stigma.

Stigmas of any cultivated tomato can exert under various conditions. Mostly it has to do with quick growth such as recent uptake of nitrogen and/or heavy rain and warm weather.

Wind should be fine for pollinating. Bees are not necessary in cultivated tomatoes (but they help). I see "Colorado" and I think another conditions which effects pollination - too much wind.

exherted stigmas on Rosa de Berne (heavy rain and hot weather induced)


Close up of an exherted stigma (goes beyond anther cone)


Example of a rough flower which exposes the enclosed stigma (happens to be Cherokee Purple)