REALLY tiny Tiny Toms

[jamesnewton]

I've been growing Tiny Tom tomatoes and enjoying the results. They just keep producing as long as I keep them trimmed. That seems to be key. I've also been feeding them a bit more than my lettuce and radishes. 

One thing I've noticed on mine that I don't see on pictures on this or other cherry tomatoes: I get a lot of really tiny fruit. Like 1/4 inch or smaller. Other fruit reaches the normal size, 1/2 inch or more. And they aren't just young fruit; these never get any larger, although they do ripen. At that tiny size, they are mostly skin and not very good for eating. 

Any ideas about getting only "big" fruit?

[Shawn]

Different varieties grow at different sizes.

There are a ton of different pictures on the forum of tomatoes.  Corinne grows a lot of different ones. I know she gew some the soze of a cherry and some larger.

I am not a huge tomato grower so am not of much help.

[Sher]

jamesnewton , how old is the plant? If it has been going for a very long time, that might be the cause of the tiny tomatoes. It usually doesn't happen unless the plant is over a year old, though.

Also, it could be caused by insufficient nutrients. Tomatoes like stronger nutrients after they begin bearing fruit.

Keep us posted.

[clumsythumbs]

I am not that expert at tomatoes either, but my first thought was either the age of the plant and/or the size. You mention trimming it down. I know with most varieties of tomatoes, if you trim them down you will get larger fruit. I believe this is less applicable with cheery/grape tomato sizes, but if they are less than "ideal" size, it may be a combination of age and the energy going in too many places. Maybe trim down some of the smaller branches that are still bearing fruit and see if the fruit on the main plant get larger. I have experienced clusters of very small tomatoes that never get large, then ripen as well. But it has never been more than 1 or 2 random ones here or there. I usually pinch them off when they are green if I see they are not going to get big. 

[jamesnewton]

Thanks all.

To clarify, this is not all the fruit being small on a species of plant, this is the exact same plant bearing different sizes of tomatoes. 

These plants are all about 3 months old, but I noticed this issue right from the start.

It does seem to be related to pruning, but only mildly. e.g. when I prune more, I get more larger fruit, but I still do get the tiny ones. 

I wonder if it's a lack of pollination? I should spend more time with a soft brush and the flowers... 

And I'm feeding 10ml in the standard sized garden on the theory that tomatoes are heavy feeders. Maybe I should bump that to 12? Or what do you all feed?

[clumsythumbs]

Jan 12, 2021 12:20:19 GMT -5 jamesnewton said:

Thanks all.

To clarify, this is not all the fruit being small on a species of plant, this is the exact same plant bearing different sizes of tomatoes. 

These plants are all about 3 months old, but I noticed this issue right from the start.

It does seem to be related to pruning, but only mildly. e.g. when I prune more, I get more larger fruit, but I still do get the tiny ones. 

I wonder if it's a lack of pollination? I should spend more time with a soft brush and the flowers... 

And I'm feeding 10ml in the standard sized garden on the theory that tomatoes are heavy feeders. Maybe I should bump that to 12? Or what do you all feed?

I get the same issue where some are teeny. I figured it was some combo of poor pollination or other parts of the plant getting more energy. I think the best bet is to pinch them off when they are small? As you mentioned, you can see they stop growing when still green then ripen. I could be super wrong, but I do not think it is a nutrient issue as you'd see some sign in the leaves and other fruit? If a LOT of your plant was like that, maybe. By standard do you mean Harvest? I would not recommend bumping up more (again, not that experienced with tomatoes). I know some folks supplement tomatoes and peppers with CalMag (do not yet have experience with adding that to projects). Maybe other can chime in about nutrients. 

Overall, I would say if you are getting good amounts of fruit, I would not worry too much about some teeny tinies. That is just me though.