My tomatoes are a foot tall and flowering?

[alittletouched]

I bought a pair of Roma tomato seedlings and planted them about a month and a half ago. It was probably too early (okay, I say probably, but it was too early to plant them) but they apparently did very well until it started raining boatloads. The lower leaves turned yellow and the top leaves got dark. I immediately set about trying to make sure they weren't getting drowned and they have seemed to sort of recover. They've hardly grown at all, perhaps a few inches, for a total rough height of a foot, maybe a foot and a half. There is new growth, but they appear to be flowers and not more leafy material. Is this it? Did I fail to save them properly? It seems impossible that they're already flowering, they're Romas and it's not even June yet. They're also supposed to get to five feet, so I guess I'm even more flabbergasted because the plant is so tiny. Is flowering a bad sign? Should I give up on them, clear them out, and start new? This is my first time with tomatoes, so I'm sorry about my lack of experience and explosion of questions. Thank you all so much for taking the time to read and reply.

[plantoneonme]

Your tomatoes are not totally lost. If you purchased them from a greenhouse or garden center, they may have been started pretty early. I had a couple of tomatoes flower when small because we had unexpected temps over 80 here in Michigan a couple weeks ago for a few days in a row. In order for the tomatoes to grow and produce more later, I pinched off the blooms....it was so hard to do because I REALLY love tomatoes and cannot wait for the first taste each year:cool: But, I know in the long run that I will have healthier plants and more tomatoes if I can manage to be a little more patient:o.

HTH, Kim

[MoniDew]

this sounds similar to something I do. I always pinch off the "first fruit."

Plants only exist to reproduce. If they think they can do that with just one early fruit, that's all they will ever produce. But, if you pinch off that first fruit before it is mature, it "thinks" that it has to go into high-gear production. The season's coming on and it's running out of time. If this is what is going to happen to it's "babies," then it had better produce an abundance just for insurance.

Works like a charm.

[alittletouched]

Oh, thank goodness all is not lost! Both of you suggested pinching off the blooms, so that's what I'm going to do. Thank you guys so much!