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Container Gardening

Earthbox tomatoes/blossom end rot

16 years ago

I have two earthboxes with two maters in each. One variety of Better Boy is growng crazy but many of the friut have a bad case of what appears to be blossom end rot. I added the package of dolomite or whatever it came with but it doesn't seem to be helping. Should I add some lime in the soil NOW, or will it be too slow to change the accidity to help the ill looking maters.

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Comment (1)

justaguy2
16 years ago
I really wouldn't advise doing anything at all. The lime in the mix ensures there is enough calcium. The BER is the result of some other factor, quite possibly weather related. It will almost certainly clear itself soon. The afflicted fruit won't improve, but the BER will simply stop appearing on new ones.

If you feel you must add lime then do not add it to the water reservoir unless it is hydrated lime rather than dolomitic (which is what was added to the mix). Be very careful with it and use a really small amount (like a teaspoon) as it is very potent stuff and will radically shift pH.

I don't recomend anything more than a wait and see approach, however. BER is very common with tomatos no matter how well cared for and most of the time it clears itself with no intervention.
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Yes, I think continuing with the 12-4-8 is the problem - I have a heavy hand with fertilizer, I suspect, and wish I had stopped it earlier. It's possible that over-watering is an issue in the SWC but that would be tough to control. It's not high humidity or soil temp (up until this past week it's been fairly cool) or soil compaction (brand new Al's mix modified for SWC wicking). My casual reading flagged overly acidic soil as a possible cause (perhaps the plant cannot absort nutrients?). What do you think - more dolomitic lime? There's another thread on this that recommends a Ca-specific fertilizer as a solution. Any thoughts on this? Maybe just a couple of eggshells in the container for the organic route? What is your 20-20-20 fertilizer and does it provide micronutrients? The MG tomato-specific formulation does, although I don't recall if Ca is one of them. Here is a link that might be useful: Background posts
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I've not seen Blossom End rot show up that early, usually it does not appear until the fruit begins to ripen, and once it starts it does not stop.
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There are various theories why BER occurs, lack of calcium being the primary factor (often combined with excessive N). But inconsistent watering practices seem to play an equal role. BER often occurs when damper early season weather begins to dry out just as the fruit is beginning to set but can be just as frequent when the plants are allowed to dry too much in between waterings. I am not a big proponent of self watering containers and I am not familiar with your Garden Patch grow boxes to comment but I would do what I could to ensure the plants in them receive consistent, even moisture. Bonide makes a calcium supplement for tomatoes called 'Rot-Stop' that is watered into the soil. I've never had to use it myself but it seems to be quite effective and is a popular item at my nursery.
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