Make Your Own Tomato Blossom Spray

If you practice tomato farming, you may be familiar with or have heard about tomato blossom spray. It increases harvest in the early growing season, giving great results. After good results from spraying my tomato plants, I wondered if I could make my own blossom spray. Why? The spray prices were so high, and I needed to cut the costs. You’re probably also wondering if you could make your own tomato blossom spray. 

Yes, you can make tomato blossom spray at home. Add two cups of kelp meal and half a cup of bone meal to 1.5 gallons of water to make the spray. Despite working on the tomato plants, the blossom spray can’t help in flower fertilization as it only stimulates fruit development.

Explore more below!

Make Your Own Tomato Blossom Spray

To make your own tomato blossom spray, you need to add water to a mixture of kelp meal plus bone meal. Add two cups of kelp meal to a half cup of bone meal and mix well. Next, add a gallon and half of the water to the mixture, and stir a couple of times during the day to ensure it mixes well. 

For five days, you should steep the mixture in a bucket with a lid. After which, you strain the liquid and spray it in the undiluted form on your tomato plants. The kelp meal adds a potassium boost, while the bone meal has phosphorus. So, when used to make the tomato blossom spray, they stimulate the plant to produce healthy blossoms. With healthy blooms, you can rest assured of having a bountiful harvest.

How The Tomato Blossom Spray Works

The blossom spray triggers cell division that leads to enlargement of the ovules when natural pollination fails. Additionally, it stops dropping blossoms and induces the production of fruits from the flowers. As a result, it increases fruit production.

Naturally, a tomato plant produces a fruit only when the flowers get pollinated. Hence without proper pollination, no fruits are formed. Improper pollination may occur due to extreme weather conditions or a lack of pollinators.

So, how does the spray work? First, spray your tomato plants on the young leaves during the early growing season. By spraying the young leaves, you induce the growth of more healthy blossoms. 

Then spray on the foliage and blossom to help control blossom dropping and to start fruit development. When pollination fails to occur naturally, blossom dropping occurs as the flower develops into a fruit only when pollinated. So the spray only comes in handy to encourage the blossom to develop into a fruit without pollination.

Does the Tomato Blossom Spray Work?

Yes, the tomato blossom spray works effectively. However, it only helps in starting fruit development; it helps not in fertilization. Due to this, some plants may have small stunted fruits, while some may be seedless. Additionally, even if the fruit has seeds, the seeds can’t get replanted; they can’t grow. 

Are you wondering if tomato fruits that result from blossom spray without pollination are the same as pollinated fruits?

No, there’s a difference. The sprayed blossoms without pollination form seedless tomatoes or the fruits have less properly created seeds. Despite that, one common thing is that they all fully form perfect fruits. 

Moreover, by spraying at the right time, you improve the effectiveness of your blossom spray to get better yields.

Also, note that the blossom spray not only works on tomato plants but also on other vegetables. The vegetables include melons, eggplants, beans, okra, cucumbers, grapes, peppers, and strawberries.

When to Use Blossom Spray on Tomato Plant

Just as squash bugs threaten your tomato plants’ yields, the lack of successful pollination could, on the other hand, cause tomato retardant.

So, you should use the tomato blossom spray on the tomato plant when the pollination wasn’t successful, temperatures weren’t favorable, and when planting your tomatoes indoors.  Below, I have explained each of these comprehensively. Check!

Failed Pollination 

Pollination fails due to cold and humid weather conditions. During high humidity, the pollen becomes too sticky and can’t get released due to excess moisture. Likewise, low humidity makes the air too dry, so the pollen doesn’t stick even if they are released.

Tomatoes are self-pollinated; they have both male and female parts. Despite that, they require the release of pollen by wind or insects for adequate pollination to happen.

In some scenarios, the ideal pollination doesn’t happen, so the spray becomes very helpful.

But all this shouldn’t worry you. The blossom set spray helps your tomatoes produce when all the weather conditions and pollination aren’t perfect.

During Cool Temperatures

As I have discussed above, very high humidity makes the pollen clog, so it can’t fall. While in low moisture, flowers are so dehydrated that pollen fails to roll off and fails to stick to the flower. In this case, you can try watering the plant surrounding to increase the humidity. 

However, with the tomato blossom spray, you can promote the development of fruits even in cool temperatures.

The spray is necessary for that period when the weather isn’t favorable or if you planted too early in the cold season.

When Planting Tomatoes Indoor 

When growing tomatoes indoors, for example, in greenhouses, regulating the temperatures, humidity, water, and light is easy. Nevertheless, there are no tomato pollinators indoors. 

So, the option is to use the blossom spray to induce the flower to make tomato fruits.

How Do I Get More Blossoms on My Tomato?

To get more tomato blossoms on your tomatoes;

• Plant the suitable tomato variety  for your area
• Protect your tomato plants from stress by applying the right fertilizer and in the correct amount, water regularly, allow them to grow under good temperature conditions,

and space well

• Apply suitable insecticides to keep pests and diseases at bay.

Keep reading below for an in-depth discussion.

The Variety of the Tomato

You need to plant a variety that does well in your area to have more blossoms and better yields. Furthermore, different types yield and adapt differently. Besides, plant indeterminant varieties like Juliet, Black Cherry, and Yellow Brandywine are good as they produce more tomatoes for an extended period. 

Some varieties produce fewer flowers than others; as you know, the flowers later become the fruit. So, your yields are also lower if you choose a variety with low flower production.

Choose a high-yielding tomato variety like Big Beef or the varieties mentioned above, which are also disease resistant.

Protect your Tomato Plant from Stress

Prioritize to keep your tomato plants healthy by consistent watering, giving proper nutrients, allowing favorable conditions, and spacing well so they can get more blossoms. First, introduce the best nutrients at the right time by applying the right fertilizer at the correct amount and time. 

Before planting, you can use compost manure and crushed eggshells to add calcium to your soil. During planting and after, you can add nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus, which help the plant in flowering.

Also, ensure the plants have consistent watering. Drip irrigation is the best watering method as it protects plants from diseases and increases general health.

Have sufficient spacing between the plants to reduce competition for nutrients and water. It also reduces the chances of diseases.

Ensure the plants receive filtered light all day long, as sunlight is essential for their growth. Erect a shade when it’s scorching hot but leave the structure open for good air circulation. 

Control the Pest and Diseases with Suitable Insecticides

Protect your plants from pests and disease destruction with the most effective measures of pesticides and insecticides. Ensure you also observe preventive measures and, in case of a symptom, control it to protect against spreading. 

How to Control Tomatoes Blossom Drop

While you cannot alter the environmental conditions, you can take the following steps to control tomatoes blossom drop.

• Keep your tomato plants healthy by treating diseases and pests and protecting them from stressors.
• Ensure the plants have sufficient watering as it makes them strong and healthy.
• The tomato plants should get the right amount of sunlight as too much or too little leads to dropping.
• Select a suitable variety of tomatoes for your area.
• Combat pollination issues when the blossoms emerge by gently shaking the plants or planting insect-attracting flowers among the tomato plants.
• You can also use the tomato blossom spray, a plant hormone that encourages more blossoms to produce fruits.

FAQs

What Do You Spray on Tomato Blooms?

You spray the tomato blossom hormone on the tomato blooms to encourage the production of fruits. Spray it on the leaves and flowers of the tomato plant. 

It acts by tricking the plant into producing fruits in the early growing season. When sprayed correctly, the spray helps keep the blossom long enough to form a fruit.

Both home garden owners and commercial growers use it to increase yield. Always read and follow instructions as directed when using these sprays.

How Often Should I Use Blossom Set Spray?

You should spray the blossom every 1-2 weeks to encourage the blossom set to develop fruits. Also, spray the flowers and leaves until they’re completely wet.  

The spray promotes the blossom to set fruit even in poor conditions as it contains natural growth hormone. 

Almost every blossom produces better tomatoes after spraying the hormone; they ripen earlier with up to 3 weeks. 

Spraying the plants during early morning or late evening cooling hours is good as it gives the best results. 

Conclusion

Indeed, the blossom spray works. But, based on the above factors, you may get varied results. Most importantly, selecting a tomato variety that adapts well to your region produces more remarkable outcomes and yields. 

It’s also very possible to make your own tomato blossom spray if you can access the hormone in the blossom spray. I hope you know how the blossom spray works, when to use it and how to get more blossoms.

Use the tomato blossom spray to increase your tomato productivity in extreme weather conditions and when pollination is impossible.