[Diddy Gardener]

Hi,

I was checking my tomatoes this morning and one of the flower stems was broken, about half an inch above the flower, so I took it off. On closer inspection, this is happening all over my three plants.

It 'looks like' the flowers are too heavy for the stems, I know this isn't the case, that's just what it looks like. I've attached a couple of pics (hopefully) to see if anyone knows what's going on.

They're in the greenhouse and well watered. Oh, and some of the leaves are turning yellow with brown splotches on them.

[AndyRVTR]

Maybe they have been accidently knocked?

[Springlands]

Try gently misting the flowers with water - although you are watering the plants the flowers could be dry and that could cause them to fall off.

[sunshineband]

That does look like mechanical damage tbh

Knocked by you accidentally?

Do you get blackbirds in your greenhouse? 

[Diddy Gardener]

Nope, not knocked... almost every flower stem has a 'kink' in it about half an inch from the flower... the first pic was one of the worst ones. It's like, they grow so far, then give up, bend... and then the stem cracks.

[Diddy Gardener]

Sorry, I meant to say... the second picture shows how the stems are 'kinking', then it looks like they turn yellowish below the 'kinks' then crack. It's a bit of a mystery... and, with 3 cats, there are no birds in my greenhouse 

[sunshineband]

I am not sure if there is a grub that does this on tomatoes or not, but you could try slicing a wilted flower stalk lenghtways to see if it has been munched inside or not 

[Diddy Gardener]

I am SO embarrassed... my OH has just 'escorted' me to the greenhouse and pointed out another tomato plant which has fruit on it. The stems have the same 'kink' in them but they have formed a 'knuckle', I guess to support the weight of the growing fruits.

It seems this could be a natural occurrence and that I panicked unnecessarily,,, what, me???      

[sunshineband]

Well if that is the answer I am really pleased ... both fo you and my poor brain 

[Diddy Gardener]

My tomatoes have now continued to do this... turn yellow below the stem 'knuckle' then snap. I was chatting to a friend about it  yesterday and she says that the flowers haven't pollinated and that's why it's happened. Ho hum... too late to try and fix now.

[sunshineband]

Not too late for some more flowers, and you can pollinate these yourself for better results this time 

[Diddy Gardener]

Ooh, might try that... thanks!