What causes tomato plants to bare fruit and then die?

Answer by  catman529 (809)

Indeterminate tomato plants (the most common) produce fruit continually till the plant is killed by frost or disease. When a frost hits the tomatoes, or if a fatal disease infects them, the plant will die. Without disease, frost, or other killers, tomatoes can continually grow more leaves, branches and fruit.

Answer by  mcsaripkin (73)

The tomato plant uses all of its stored nutrients to feed the budding fruits. After they have matured, there are not enough nutrients to sustain the mother plant.

Answer by  champaign9497 (11977)

I is called blight and we had a really bad case of it in my area last year we were picking them green and letting them ripen in the sun just to get them off from the vine it got our potato plants as well.

Answer by  lmath629 (402)

Sometimes tomato plants die after bees stop their pollination. You can try to continue that using a q-tip. Bees stop when it's too hot.

Answer by  blahblah (670)

Many tomato varieties are "determinate." That means that they stop growing after they bloom and set fruit. When that fruit ripens, the plant has done its job and usually dies.