Searching for parthenocarpic tomato

[Tim DH]

Goodness! If neem doesn't touch them you have got trouble!! They must be superbugs.

I've just checked, thankfully you are half way round the world from me!!!

Tim DH

[Steph S]

The key to managing aphids is managing ants.
I make a mixture of borax, sugar, hot water and expired pectin powder to make "drops" for the ants, same basic ingredients as the ones you can buy off the shelf for a ridiculous price. One part borax to three parts sugar is a standard formulation.  hot water to dissolve.   Put the drops out where the ants can get to it. In the greenhouse I use lids of yogurt containers cut in 2 or 3 pieces with a lavish blob of the stuff, and put that where the ants will find it.  Takes a couple of weeks to eradicate them, as they take it back to the nest and feed it to the queen.
Once the ants are gone, your aphid problem is over.
Otherwise, I've never found any kind of soap spray that works for aphids.  You just end up repeating over and over and the problem is never really solved.

Aphids don't seem to be a problem outdoors here, so the other option is to put things out.  Spray with water if desired, to your heart's content. 

[Alex]

It is impossible to fight ants here, they run at speed of light. They are everywhere. But aphids fly and crawl without them. But aphids prefer cultivated varieties of tomatoes, there are fewer of them on wild tomatoes.

[tomatofail]

@Alex Have you tried Honeydrop and its child Pink Princess? Fedco calls them parthenocarpic. To what degree and under what conditions, I don't know, as I've just germinated them. They were bred in MA. I'm also in the tropics and need real fruit setters.

Have you tried foliar spray of kelp extracts on tomatoes? The PGR hormones in them are supposed to help plants deal with stresses better and even force fruit to set without pollination, creating seedless parthenocarpic fruit on non-parthenocarpic varieties. Again, to what degree, I don't know. There are some scientific studies on it but not enough, IMO. I hope the rains could stop so I can spray my blossom set spray on them (cytokinin 0.00008%), but for the past few weeks, I'm having to spend any possible spraying chance I get on copper to keep the plants alive. Stupid blights.

EDIT: I take back the "not enough" part. I did some more digging and there has been tons of research into promoting/inducing/forcing fruit set with all sorts of different compounds that do different things to the plant, for many decades. Like tons and tons. Not surprising since tomatoes are a major crop in a lot of countries, and farmers can't afford to have no harvest.

[Alex]

Have you tried Honeydrop and its child Pink Princess?

No.

Have you tried foliar spray of kelp extracts on tomatoes?

No. I can try this, I have a lot of kelp in the sea.

To what degree and under what conditions, I don't know, as I've just germinated them.

Let me know later please.
My experience shows that if tomato does not have wild genes, then chances of success in my climate are close to zero, that is, tomato either does not survive, or bears 1-2 fruits, or no fruits. At the same time, in comparison with Texas wild cherry tomato, which lived for 9 months this year, bearing several hundred fruits. Its productivity has improved through several generations of selection, forming an improved population. If initially it died in May, now in June.

[Alex]

Have you ladybug?

I have many ladybugs now, but they're doing more harm than good. They're eating tomato leaves, and their favorite tomato is Texas wild cherry. Meanwhile, aphid population isn't decreasing. Sadly, I'll have to fight ladybugs.