Sheri, The blossoms themselves have nothing to do with blossom end rot. It is really just a physiological problem involving calcium uptake, and the blossom has nothing to do with that--once the fruit has set, the blossom is just "an innocent bystander". You can pick the blossom off after a fruit has formed, but it won't have any effect either way. I think you and I both should be VERY grateful that our plants are alive and producing in this wild and wacky weather, because it appears we are in the minority who are having success. One of my "old rancher" neighbors stopped by to see me yesterday. He said he was being nosy and just wanted to know how my tomatoes were doing. I told him that it was a rough year and that I was getting ripe tomatoes, but not as many and not as early as in previous years. He told me that "no one" in Love County was getting any tomatoes at all---well, that is, except for the two of us. He ran down the long list of tomato growers we both know, and some that I don't know, describing what was wrong with their plants or what had happened to their plants. He described the plants of one of his friends who farms down on sandy river-bottom soil as being totally defoliated ("not a single leaf") and wanted to know why. I told him I assumed they were in high water underground since he was so close to the river, and that the leaf drop was a sign the plants weren't going to make it. He said that was what he thought too. He then asked me what I was doing with my tomatoes, and I told him we'd been eating them. I told him I made a big pot of spaghetti sauce earlier in the week, and a big pot of tortilla soup later in the week. He asked if I made them with my green tomatoes, and I told him I used ripe ones. (I didn't really understand his question----was he trying to imply I didn't have ripe tomatoes?) Anyway, I think maybe he was hoping I would offer him some of our ripe tomatoes---but I didn't. I have plans for them, and I know he IS getting ripe tomatoes, so I am not giving him mine. What I think he REALLY wanted was for me to give him 5 or 10 gallons of ripe tomatoes to take and give away to all his farmer/rancher buddies who have suffered a tomato crop failure this year. I did that in 2004, but I am not giving as many away this year because I feel like the harvest could cease anytime, especially if the rain continues. So, there you have it....I am being selfish and stingy and not giving away tomatoes this year, and I am unapologetic about it. In the good years, I give away hundreds of tomatoes, but in the bad years, everyone else is on their own. After what I have had to go through to get this harvest, it is not walking out the door with someone else. Isn't that a terrible attitude--I am NOT usually like that. I really cherish each and every tomato I get this year, though, because it has been such a hard year and a large harvest is not guaranteed. With six inches of rain since Friday evening, I am afraid my plants are in serious trouble. Watch your plants---they can go downhill VERY fast at this point. If the yellowing progresses rapidly up the plants, you can take cuttings from the healthiest foliage at the top of the plant and root them in water or soil. In just a couple of weeks those cuttings will provide you with new plants in case yours decline/die quickly. I have gone from a garden full of semi-healthy plants to a garden full of dead plants in about a month's time in very rainy weather. Once the sun comes out and begins stressing plants already stressed by excessive moisture, early blight and other problems gather steam like a fast freight train. Dawn

I've grown tomatoes & peppers in swc's successfully for several years...Miracle Gro potting mix with Tomato Tone (yes even the new formula!) and no lime or any other additives. My plants don't seem to know that they're missing the lime. I think it's possible that adding lime is much like adding egg shells, crushed up Tums, spraying milk, and so many other tales. Sorry, but I don't care what the Earthbox website says. They say you can plant 2 Indeterminates in their containers. Good luck with that. My homemade swc's have about the same cu ft space as theirs and I only plant one per container. When I pull my plants after the 1st hard freeze, the roots have taken over all the available space even down into the reservoir. Just my observations. Not trying to ruffle any feathers.

Little bit of BER and lots of catfacing and maybe some sort of injury on that last one. Dave

Preventing it in containers is a real problem even with an ideal container mix as the primary issue is keeping the soil moisture levels consistently moist vs. wet then dry then wet etc. And keeping the nutrients levels, especially calcium distribution as the fruit is developing consistent as well. The smaller the container the harder it is to do, the larger the container the easier it is to do - one reason why using nothing less than 10 gallon containers per plant is often recommended and why even larger is better. Using an automated drip irrigation system for watering and feeding also helps. Even using self-watering containers can eliminate much of it. And of course, the container mix used plays a big role. Then there is the type of plant chosen when you are forced into far less than ideal conditions - cherry varieties pose much less of a BER issue than the large or plum type do. So you started out with at least two strikes against you, maybe 3 without knowing the size of your container. A couple of things you can do to improve the odds is (1) switch to a liquid supplement like MaxiCrop Liquid Seaweed or Earthjuice (only 2 of many available) or you can stick with your MG diluted in water since you have it. Liquids work 10x better in containers than any granular or powder does. Use that supplement at least once week when watering the plant. You can also dilute it to 1/4-1/2 strength and use it 2-3x a week as needed. Then (2) change your watering regimen. You say it must be watered daily? If that is true it would be very unusual and either your container is far too small or you are over-watering. Stick you hand deep into the soil down to the root level, do NOT go by the surface appearance. If it is at all cool of moist, don't water. (3) Mulch the container heavily to prevent evaporation. (4) split your watering into 3-4 doses rather than all at once. (5) set the container in some sort of tray or base if possible so it can absorb water from the bottom - make it as self-watering as possible. Hope this helps. Dave