Grow More Tomatoes: A Product That Increases Yield

Bonide sells a product that offers the prospect of growing more tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and other veggies.  Find out if it really works in this posting.

I recently found a product at our local garden store that claimed that its application would result in a higher percentage of flowers setting, more fruit and fewer seeds.  It is also claimed the product helps gardeners with less than perfect weather conditions get improved yields. 

The product, Bonide Tomato & Blossom Set Spray is a foliar.  It comes in a pump-type spray bottle and the instructions are to spray the flowers and adjacent leaves.  Bonide claims this will increase the yield of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, melons, beans, okra and strawberries.  However, the package did specify the active ingredient or provide any information on why the product works.

Not Much Information on the Internet

Eager to learn more, I went to the company's web site but found no additional information regarding the product or evidence to suggest that it really works. 

However, Gardener's Supply, a retailer that sells Tomato & Blossom Set on its web site, listed about 50 customer reviews where the average rating for the product was 4.5 out of 5 stars.  Furthermore, those customers who gave Bonide Tomato & Blossom Set Spray a poor rating generally complained about defects in the spray bottle, not the actual product itself.  So overall, customers were very happy with the product.  The Gardeners supply web site also provided the insight that Tomato and Blossom Set Spray contained Kinetin, a naturally occurring plant hormone.  

While customer reviews were a strong indication that the Tomato & Blossom set works, I was still hoping to find something a little more scientific to  support the claim this product would produce bigger yields of tomatoes. 

Digging on the internet, I found alot of extraneous information about Kinetin and a family of plant hormones called Cytokinins.  But not information on whether application of this to tomatoes would result in higher yields as the product claimed.

Evidence from The University of California

The closest I could find was a research proposal by Dr. Carol J. Lovatt, Professor of Plant Physiology at The University of California, Riverside, who did  study on avocados.  So I wrote Dr. Lovatt and asked her about Kinetin.  Her full response is listed at the end of this posting, but the bottom line is that she has conducted tests and believes that use of Kinetin will result in higher tomato yields. 

"We have done research on the effects of cytokinins on tomato plants (an indeterminate cherry tomato type was used in our research) and cytokinins increased the number of flowers per plant, number of fruit per plant and the size of individual fruit. Thus, total yield was increased. There were no negative effects on fruit quality." - Dr. Carol J. Lovatt

Based on this scientific evidence and favorable customer reviews, I'm going to try Bonide's product.  You may decide to give it a try as well.  A 6 ounce spray bottle of Bonide Tomato & Blossom Set Spray costs $6.95.  It's available at garden centers and online retailers.

Dr. Lovatt's Detailed Response:

Kinetin was the first cytokinin hormone recognized for its growth promoting effects on plants. It was discovered as breakdown product of herring sperm DNA applied to plants. Other naturally occurring cytokinins in plants have been discovered since: isopentenyladenine and isopentenyladenosine, zeatin and zeatin riboside and dihydrozeatin and dihyrdozeatin riboside.

Just recently kinentin was found in plants. Cytokinins are essential for cell division and growth. They are important for sink strength --- the capacity of an organ, e.g., flowers, fruit, leaves to import the materials (building blocks) necessary for growth.

Cyokinins also prevent senescence and keep tissues young. Because senescence is increased in plant tissues and organs in response to stress (lack of water, high temperature, low temperature, salinity), cytokinins can help to mitigate the effects of stress on plants to improve productivity under stressful conditions and to improve recovery from stress.

We have done research on the effects of cytokinins on tomato plants (an indeterminate cherry tomato type was used in our research) and cytokinins increased the number of flowers per plant, number of fruit per plant and the size of individual fruit. Thus, total yield was increased. There were no negative effects on fruit quality.

With avocados, the application time we use results in a greater yield of commercially valuable larger size fruit.