Blossom End Rot Again!

15 years ago

I've read the FAQs here and been reading advice on blossom end rot for years. Most articles in the tomato forums focus on in ground plants which are different. This year I had a plan and modified my tomato potting mixture drastically. I caught a sale on those bales of Pro-Mix with those water gels and other stuff including dolomite lime. I mixed this into an Al like pine bark mix to help with drainage and added some fertilizer and more dolomite lime (but I was very careful not to add too much). Last year using the mostly pine bark mix I theorized the containers drained to quickly causing the plants to dry out and thus, have uneven watering which isn't good. Since that Pro-Mix stuff is mostly peat and with the water gels I figured the tomatoes would have more even access to moisture. And the mix does seem like it works in that it always seems moist and I was able to keep up with watering where the tomatoes haven't wilted once this year.

The tomato plants are now setting green fruit and they all seem to have BER. In the past the BER goes away after the next wave of tomatoes. I'm wondering if I should pick these now so the plant can concentrate on the next wave or let them ripen so the plant can get its circulation going. I really don't want BER on the second wave of tomatoes. I'm leaning towards the let it be plan, just letting the tomatoes ripen and then hope for the best. I am also considering stopping fertilizing. I've been fertilizing these with 24-8-12 water soluble fertilizer every week so maybe that was too much.

This really depressed me because this year I thought I had a viable plan. Next year I may build 3 or 4 earthboxes to get even better control over the soil.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (7)

tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
15 years ago
If you know you're not going to eat the fruit, remove it. It is a strong energy sink & the plant will continue to direct lots of energy into making the imperfect fruit.

I would continue to fertilize unless you are seeing signs of fertilizer burn. If the plants are lush with foliage (your assessment in this area, please?), you may want to consider changing to a 1:1:1 or even a 2:1:2 ratio soluble fertilizer @ 1/2 strength every week to slow vegetative growth & coax the plant to produce more blooms & set additional fruit.

Al
justaguy2
15 years ago
BER is a tricky beast. You can do everything right and still have BER due to environmental issues you can't control. I agree with Al to remove the fruits now and wait for the next round. All you can do is all you can do.
Related Discussions
Blossom end rot on my zucchinis
Q
Comments (5)
For mulch I have been happy with wood chips from a local arborist. He's at 23rd Ave and Northern and usually has a pile of wood chips in his yard that can be had for the elbow grease of bringing your own pitchfork. I'm not sure I can post contact info publicly in this forum. Anyone interested you can email me from my User Name link. It's best to use it as a thick mulch now, turn it in when you want to rest the soil for a few weeks between growing seasons. Some say that the process of composting wood chips in your soil causes an issue with nitrogen and micro-nutrient uptake. Others say this is just urban legend/old wive's tales. Take your pick.
...See More
Interval between spraying Daconil and Blossom End Rot Spray
Q
Comments (3)
Cholorothalonil has a PHI of 0 (that's zero) days when applied to tomatoes, according to the University of Wisconsin. I don't know of any interaction between chlorothalonil and CaCl, so I suspect you can spray both in the same day (wait a half day to make sure the spray is fully dry). Given that chlorothalonil acts as a barrier, I'd spray the CaCl first. I've never heard of calcium chloride actually having any effect against BER, but if that's your program and it seems to give results, more power to you. --Alison
...See More
phosphorus deficiency and Blossom end rot
Q
Comments (3)
Hello Isabell, Yes, it would be possible to have a phosphorus deficiency and BER (Blossom End Rot) at the same time. Your nitrogen may also be locked up from the wood chips. Do a Google search for "wood mulch and nitrogen" and you will find a slew of articles about wood chips tieing up the nitrogen in soil while they are decomposing. What is below your raised bed? If it is decent soil, it should be able to support your tomatoes as their roots should go much deeper than the depth of many raised beds. I think the wood fines or "splinters" are contributing to your excess drainage. Unfortunately by watering so often for short periods of time, you are training your plants to grow shallow roots. If your soil won't hold moisture, you might want to get some of the water absorbing crystals and work them into the topsoil. (The further down the better, not easy with plants in place I know.) Because of the excess drainage issue, you probably need to treat your raised beds like they are big containers. With containers, plants have to be fed often because the water draining out of them leaches away the nutrients. Carolyn137 wrote an excellent response to a question about Blossom End Rot (BER) and I am quoting it here: With BER there is NO problem with absorption of Ca++ though the roots. The problem is maldistribution within the plant that can be induced by a number of stresses which include uneven delivery of water, too much N, growing in too rich soil, too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry you name it. As the plants mature they can better handle the streses that can induce BER so usually it goes away. The two exceptions are first, if the soil has NO Ca++ as confirmed with a soil test, and that's a rare condition, and second, if the soil is too acidic in which Case Ca++ is bound in the soil. Again, adding lime, egg shells and on and on can not and will not prevent BER b'c absorption of Ca++ thru the roots is OK. Paste tomatoes are especially susceptible to BER and I think someone in a post above mentioned that. If you go to the top of this first page and click on the FAQ link and scroll down you'll also find an article about BER in case some of you have never looked at the FAQ's And there';s some darn good articles there as well, but I wouldn't pay any attention to the variety list b'c it's way out of date. The old information about BER being caused solely by lack of soil Ca++ has been shown to be wrong with research that's been done in the last 20 years or so, but it's going to take another generation before the real story gets into books, websites, magazines, etc. Most of the better websites already have the correct information. BER affects not only tomatoes, but peppers, squash, cabbage, cauliflower, etc., and it's a huge multimillion dollar problem for the industry, which is WHY all that reasearch was done. For instance, when tissues were taken from a plant that has BER fruits and was assayed for Ca++, the normal level of Ca++ was found, it just wasn't getting to the blossom end of fruits. And there's also a condition called internal BER where the fruits look fine, no evidence of BER externally, but when you cut open the fruit the inside is black Hope that helps Bone meal is slow release, I am not sure that it would help with a phosphorus deficiency this season. The bottom line is that before you try to amend the soil with supplements, you should have a soil test done. You have enough issues going on that you need a good read on what is happening with your soil rather than guessing what to add to it. At this late a date in the season, any feeding you do, may need to be liquid. Betsy
...See More
Blossom end rot and tomatoes
Q
Comments (6)
First and foremost, BER is a result of uneven moisture availability. This can occur because of actual surges and dry spells of rain or irrigation, excessive growth due to improper fertilization, or damage/constriction of the roots. Very rarely is true calcium deficiency the trigger, at least not in a garden that is properly fertilized. Veggie gardens require a steady supply of dissolved nutritional elements.......the plants take a lot from the soil in order to create the fruits and vegetables that we eat. Those elements must be replaced. Tomatoes are just one of the crops that have high calcium requirements. All of the assorted greens that I grow, for example are packed full of Ca for me....it must be replaced to the soil before the next crop. Here's a great fact sheet that explains BER. It really explains the disorder.
...See More
hannahbirdy
15 years ago
Hi,

I have some advice that may work for you. I use a product called Metanaturals Calcium specifically for BER and it has worked 100%. I got BER on my very first ever potted tomatoes and haven't seen any for the last five years. It's available on the net and probably somewhere near you. I also am in agreement with Al (hi Al!) about your fertilizer regime seems high in N for a plant you want to flower a bunch. The Metanaturals line has single "ingredient" nitrogen and bloom formulas as well, which I use on my tomatoes. It's starting to sound like I work for them, but it's just great stuff. Please let us know how things go.. :)

Hannah
mea2214
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks everyone for the advice and I looked up that Metanaturals Calcium and it sounds interesting to use for next year. Al, the plants have very lush green foliage. I decided to hold off fertilizing for a couple of weeks (the container mix should have enough slow release to get by) and picking off the rotted fruit. I see the second wave setting and they look perfect (knock on wood) so I'm not so depressed about this anymore. :-)
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
15 years ago
JaG & I were discussing a fertilizer strategy whereby the tomato plant would be fed with something like a 3:1:2 blend early & then switch to a low N formula. I fertilized heavily (1/4 strength @ every watering) until early July & then switched to very low concentrations of 3:1:2 weekly with the ProTeKt added. It really seems to have worked very well. I have very lush plants with tons of blooms & small (ie unripe) fruit this year. I'm usually very happy with my tomato plants, but this is the best they've been - and that's after a very slow start (cold) and their current reluctance to ripen (cool nights). When they DO come on, I'll have plenty of fruit.

Al
lilacs_of_may
15 years ago
I have one self-watering container, the "square foot success kit" that I got from Gardener's Supply. I have a Sausage planted in it. It's extremely healthy, very green, very tall, and has almost two dozen tomatoes on it.

Unfortunately, it's the only tomato plant that has developed BER tomatoes. :-( All of the other container tomato plants are in plastic or terra cotta pots with drainage. They tend to droop, even just after they've been watered, and they don't have a fraction of the tomatoes that the Sausage has.

I fertilized them all today with Miracle-Gro tomato food, and I also scattered some bone meal on top. I'm hoping that will prevent BER in the future. This is the second year I've planted tomatoes, and the first year I've had this much success with them.

Aside from Sausage, I'm growing Black Plum, Opalka, Garden Candy cherry tomato, Viva Italia, Roma, Amish Paste, Sunmaster, and Orange Banana. One of each except for the Roma. I'm experimenting with what kind grows best and tastes best. (And you'll notice that most of them are paste tomatoes. I love pasta sauce, and I have a separate freezer to store it in for the winter.)
hooked_on_ponics
15 years ago
Anyone ever tried Sensi Cal Mg Grow to combat the deficiencies that cause blossom end rot? It works great for me.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sensi Cal Mg

Blossom End Rot Again!

Comments (7)

tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)

justaguy2

Related Discussions

hannahbirdy

mea2214
Original Author

tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)

lilacs_of_may

hooked_on_ponics

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Blossom End Rot Again!

Comments (7)

tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)

justaguy2

Related Discussions

hannahbirdy

mea2214Original Author

tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)

lilacs_of_may

hooked_on_ponics

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

mea2214
Original Author