No Tomatoes On Your Plants? Don’t Blame the Bees!

By Michelle Fabio

If your tomato plants aren’t forming fruit, you may be inclined to think it’s because you haven’t seen bees or butterflies around to pollinate them.

But don’t blame the bees, according to David Goforth, horticulture and forestry agent with the Cabarrus Center of the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service.

“Tomatoes are wind pollinated and outdoor tomatoes don’t need pollinators,” he wrote in a recent Master Gardeners Q & A column in the Charlotte Observer.

Instead, advised Goforth, factors that can affect the setting of tomato fruit include Read the rest of this entry »