Tomatoes finishing slow question?

[nao57]

So... on my tomato plants, I'm having a hard time with them turning red. I have a whole ton of them on many plants. But many of them seem stuck at the green phase. They are starting to bud from the flowers well, with good speed. Then they grow good. But then... it almost like turning orange, and red is extremely slow and hardly at all.

I wonder if there's a specific mineral that's lacking that might cause this?

And I'm not sure I understood well, if its K, or N, or P that affect the sprouting of the vegetables/fruit compared to which of those 3 elements does either flowers, fruit, or roots? (And how is that the same or different in various other vegetable plants?)

 

[sourland]

Are you certain they are varieties that turn red?

 

[ShrekDawg]

Are you certain they are varieties that turn red?

Good point. I recently Googled one of the varieties we planted this year and turns out it turns YELLOW!!! Another, one of the cherries, is orange/gold, so yeah. Not all finish red.

 

[nao57]

Yes they are red varieties. Good observation though.

 

[Sally PB]

If they are determinate varieties, they are supposed to ripen pretty much all at the same time. Indeterminate varieties bloom and fruit until frost.

 

[Chris2018]

So... on my tomato plants, I'm having a hard time with them turning red. I have a whole ton of them on many plants. But many of them seem stuck at the green phase. They are starting to bud from the flowers well, with good speed. Then they grow good. But then... it almost like turning orange, and red is extremely slow and hardly at all.

I wonder if there's a specific mineral that's lacking that might cause this?

And I'm not sure I understood well, if its K, or N, or P that affect the sprouting of the vegetables/fruit compared to which of those 3 elements does either flowers, fruit, or roots? (And how is that the same or different in various other vegetable plants?)

Here is a quote from Cornell University,

"It takes six to eight weeks from the time of pollination until tomato fruit reach full maturity. The length of time depends on the variety grown and of course, the weather conditions. The optimum temperature for ripening tomatoes is 70 to 75F. When temperatures exceed 85 to 90 F, the ripening process slows significantly or even stops. At these temperatures, lycopene and carotene, pigments responsible for giving the fruit their typical orange to red appearance cannot be produced. As a result, the fruit can stay in a mature green phase for quite some time.

Light conditions have very little to do with ripening. Tomatoes do not require light to ripen and in fact, fruit exposed to direct sunlight will heat to levels that inhibit pigment synthesis. Direct sun can also lead to sunscald of fruit. Do not remove leaves in an effort to ripen fruit. Also, soil fertility doesn't play much of a role. We do know that high levels of magnesium and low levels of potassium can lead to conditions like blotchy or uneven ripening or yellow shoulder disorder. But the slowness to ripen is not likely due to soil conditions and adding additional fertilizer will do nothing to quicken ripening."

A very basic and short answer to your N P K question is,

Nitrogen (N) is for growth.
Phosphorous (P) is for is for early rooting and early flowering.
Potassium (K) is for flowering and is a bloom stimulator also it is used for root growth.

 

[Sally PB]

We do know that high levels of magnesium and low levels of potassium can lead to conditions like blotchy or uneven ripening or yellow shoulder disorder.

Oh, man! I need to work on the magnesium and potassium in my soil! I have a LOT of yellow shoulders!

Thank you for the information!

 

[Chris2018]

Oh, man! I need to work on the magnesium and potassium in my soil! I have a LOT of yellow shoulders!

Thank you for the information!

You're welcome, a good fertilizer (Dry and or Liquid) will contain both Magnesium and Potassium along with other key nutrients plants need to survive and produce.
Look for a fertilizer that has not only Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Calcium and Magnesium but also Sulfur and Iron.
I also like to see Manganese, Zinc and B-1 Vitamin in my liquid fertilizer.

 

[Loving my girls]

I use a specific tomato feed every week when they are making babies.

However on the down side I have tomatoes growing out of my ears … so to speak

 

[Sally PB]

specific tomato feed every week

What kind?

I'm canning 4 quarts of tomatoes right now. It would easily have been 7 if I hadn't had to throw out 1/3-1/2 of nearly all of them!