My tomatoes (or peppers) are not flowering.

If your tomatoes are growing well and look healthy, but are older than ten or twelve weeks and do not show signs of flower buds yet, chances are one of three things is happening. They are either experiencing: 1) light at night, 2) too many minerals in the water, or 3) insufficient pruning.

1) The first thing to check is whether or not you have any light on at night in the vicinity of the AeroGarden. Tomatoes (and peppers) are plants that must have a dark cycle of 5 or 6 hours within every 24 hour period in order to blossom and bear fruit. If they are in a room which has any ambient light at night (even a porch light shining through a window), or if your AeroGarden is timed in such a way that its lights are on at night, they won't receive a dark cycle and will not blossom.

If your AeroGarden is timed to be on at night, it would be good to synchronize its “on” time with daylight instead, so that the plants receive the required dark time at night.

Here is the process to set the "on" time:
At the time you want the lights to come on, press the “Lights” button and hold it down until the LED light next to the plant selection flashes, and continue holding it until the LED light blinks faster -- about 12 seconds, then immediately release the button. Your lights will now come on at this time each day. (It will take several seconds for the lights to come on.)

To view a complete chart of the Timing of the Lights and Pump Cycles for the different Seed Kits, click here.

2) The second thing that can inhibit flowering is too many minerals in the water. Depending on how many dissolved minerals your water has in it straight from the tap, more or less of the nutrient tablets may dissolve and be available to your plants. It is possible for the water to build up an excess of minerals, which encourages the plant to grow lots of greenery but not produce flowers. In these cases, we recommend what we call a Rinse-and-Refill. A Rinse-and-Refill consists of unplugging the AeroGarden, emptying all the water out of the Bowl, refilling it with fresh water, and putting in two fresh nutrient tablets. This will return nutrient and pH levels to normal if they have gotten outside of optimal range. Please click here for complete instructions on how to do a Rinse-and-Refill.

3) The third thing that can delay flowering of tomatoes in the AeroGarden is that they must be pruned early and often not only to keep them bushy and compact, but also to stimulate flowering. Some people are hesitant to cut the tops off their beautiful little plants when they are young, but the overall growth and health of tomatoes in the AeroGarden is much better if they are pruned early and often, as described in the Tending and Harvesting Guide. If you have misplaced your Tending and Harvesting Guide, you can still view an online version of it by clicking here.