I decided to plant some cherry tomato seeds from a store-bought tomato out of boredom, and now my plant is thriving at about 3 feet tall. However, I'm puzzled because it hasn't produced any flowers or tomatoes yet. I think it might not be getting enough sunlight, but other than that, I'm really at a loss. Is it possible that stores alter their seeds? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
3 Answers
Have you considered posting a photo? It can really help to diagnose the problem. I’ve tried planting various store-bought foods myself and haven’t had much luck either, but my child keeps convincing me to keep trying!
Make sure to remove the suckers from your tomato plant. Suckers are the small shoots that grow in the leaf axils and can sap energy from the main stem, slowing down blooming and fruiting.
Your tomato plant likely needs at least 6 hours of direct sunlight each day to thrive. If it's only getting about 5 hours, that might be part of the issue. You should also check your fertilizer—using a high nitrogen one can cause leafy growth at the expense of flowers and fruit. And yes, sometimes seeds from stores could be less viable or even sterile, especially if they were treated in some way.