Roma Tomato plants very small

by Ellen Peavey
(Colbert, Georgia)

I have a raised bed with Roma tomatoes in it only, they were started inside and transplanted out the end of May this year. My question is why are they still so small and only a few of them actually have tomatoes on them? Do I need to get some thing to fertilize them? I used compost when I was filling the bed and organic soil. What can I do to get them to produce tomatoes?

Comments for Roma Tomato plants very small

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Jul 18, 2011

hungry tomatoes?
by: Anonymous

hi, Ellen....sounds like your tomatoes might be waiting for some extra food. I give mine a spraying of some liquid fertilizer -- Miracle Gro -- twice a month, and a small handful of epsom salts a couple of times a year.

we had such dry weather all through May and June, the rains these past 3 weeks have really helped, but after the extreme hot weather, all the large tomatoes are splitting open. the romas are thriving, tho! Hope yours recover and grow wild!

good luck....Ellen Bradford

Jul 18, 2011

Ellen's Little Tomatoes
by: Kiwi George

Hi Ellen, yep, been there but found the cure. I love Roma tomatoes for their shape and taste and feed them seaweed both as a mulch around then and also as a foliar feed, I have found kelp to be the preferred type although it all depends what Mother Nature has delivered to our nearby beach after a storm. This has resulted in a great bug and disease free crop and more importantly to me, has allowed me to delete toxic sprays from my gardening philosophy as one of the side issues of a "dicky ticker" has been an extreme sensitivity to poisons etc.
Happy picking
George

Sep 29, 2011

Roma Tomato
by: Ellen

I finally had to pull up what was left all failed only got about 20 tomato's out of twenty four plants. I used a liquid plant feed for tomato's . I think it was in the soil next year will have more compost in the bottom of the bed and better soil. This is our first year here so it is a learning experience and will be better next year. I have a big compost pile I'm working from now and it helps that I have Buford my donkey who makes daily deposits of Golden Nuggets in the pasture, which I shovel up every day and move to empty raised beds and big compost pile. Thanks for all the suggestions. Ellen

Jun 26, 2012

Just the opposite NEW
by: Jackie

My Roma plants are growing so big and full and very healthy looking, my problem is that the tomatoes them selves aren't very big. Some of them end up being about half the size of what you get at the stores. Can someone tell me what I'm doing wrong or what I can do differently so they grow bigger???

Jul 11, 2013

Roma Plants Big, Roma's small NEW
by: Susie

I am having the same issue. My Roma plants are getting really big and spread out; nice bushes. My tomatoes aren't getting very big though. I have four plants loaded with tomatoes. I know it isn't time for them to come off yet but it is VERY close. I planted seedlings instead of seeds so I had a good head start. Will they grow a lot in the last little bit? I've grown lots of tomatoes with great success, but this is my first time for Roma's. We are not far from when they should be ready. Will adding extra fertilizer now help? If so, what kind is best for veggies?

Jul 12, 2013

Tomatoes in the raised beds NEW
by: Ellen from Georgia

I finally started using a liquid fertilizer Miracle Grow and the plants really got bigger. I have lots of green tomatoes just waiting for the sun here, we have had three weeks of on and off rain. Just waiting on the sun and the heat to return, the fertilizer does work. Ellen from Georgia

Jul 13, 2013

Extra feeding for tomatoes NEW
by: Anonymous

Adding extra fertilizer, especially a liquid worm or seaweed tea will help grow bigger tomatoes as long as they haven't started to turn red. Once they start to color up they will not grow any bigger in my experience.
Try and use a pure organic fertilizer, I don't think Miracle grow is totally. J.J

Jul 13, 2013

Tomatoes in the raised beds NEW
by: Ellen from Georgia

I used the Miracle grow on the tomatoes before the tomatoes started to form, most of them had blossoms only. The excessive rain here and no sun has really hurt the growth, have lots of green tomatoes just waiting for the sun and heat to return.

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