More lime will not help because the calcium would take too long to become available. BER is not from lack of calcium, but from lack of mobile calcium in the plant. Here's a thread I like. Scroll down the thread to Al Tapla's explaination. http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/contain/msg0514510630172.html This year I had som BER on my only SIP, and I threw everything but the kitchen sink at it including; calcium nitrate in the reservior, calcium nitrate foliar spray, gypsum in the reservior, and Texas Tomato Food in the reservior, which has extra calcium in it. My BER stopped (for now) fairly quickly, and I only lost about 10 Red Brandywines. After everything I did, still not sure what stopped it. Might have stopped by itself anyway, which is usually the case.

Yes, I'm here and I'm going to again cut and paste what I wrote before and call your attention to the paragraph below that starts with the sentence..... the old information about BER...... b'c that's the crux of the problem. That is, you'll find some University sites and some private sites and many other sites who still maintain that the single cause of BER is lack of soil Ca++ and don't mention anything else, which is why in that paragraph I said that the old info is going to take at least another generation before the correct info is found almost everywhere. ****** Here's my cut and paste again. (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And there's some darn good articles there as well, but I wouldn't pay any attention to the variety list b'c it's way out of date.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 Betsy had added at the end of my article the following, with which I agree. (So, what it comes down too is: Tums do not work, nor do egg shells, milk, and other "home remedy" treatments. Foliar spray only works in some cases. Time and good management practices work best.) So, you can believe what I wrote above, or noting what I said about wrong or incomplete information still being out there and make up your own collective minds about BER by doing as much online research as I have in the past 20 years or so. ( smile) Carolyn

Although BER is a sign of calcium deficiency, it is often not a soil problem, but a watering problem. The plant does not get sustained calcium because of irregular watering. BER is also more common early in the season and is more common in pots because they may go through a wet-dry cycle. Plants in containers are usually fertilized with a liquid fertilizer The eggshells will take a long time to break down and release calcium. Yes, 3 plants in an 18 inch pot is a bit crowded. Tomatoes can grow roots from the stems. That is why they should be planted deep with about 1/3 of the stem going below the ground when you first plant them. It helps them develop a healthy root system. Don't put on too much nitrogen fertilizer or you'll get lots of leaves and not many tomatoes. When the plant sets fruit it is normal for the lower leaves to die off as the fruit ripens. Blossom end rot

I know it's too late now, but that may, or may not be the ideal product for correcting calcium deficiencies. It probably should be stated that home nutrient, and pH, test kits are unfortunately not very reliable. Especially for trying to provide the proper conditions to minimize BER, a professional soil test is the way to go. The most cost effective test is usually available through County Ag. Ext. Agents. They don't do the tests, but they usually have information that can direct you to the best source available. If you don't have a local agent (most places in the U.S. have one, but not all,) then a nearby University Ag. Dept., or a local botanical Garden might be able to help. The problem with BER is, as described above, Ca deficiency is actually rarely the problem with in-ground growing. The problem is the plant's inability to make use of the Ca already present. If your soil truly does have a Ca deficiency, and BER is the target, a soil test will give you the ratio of Ca to Mg. This can be important in helping your soil provide available Ca to the plants. Different forms of lime will provide differing levels of Ca and Mg. If though, your soil truly does have a pH of 6.5 (a very desirable pH for vegetable gardens,) and you do have a Ca deficiency, you might want to go easy on lime, or forego adding it altogether. Instead, you might look to pH neutral products like garden gypsum. All that said, we come back to the question of whether there truly is a Ca. deficiency. Ca deficiencies are actually quite rare. More often, as discussed above, it's the plant's inability to take up enough Ca for both, the fast growing plant vegetation, and the earliest developing fruit. There is a limit to how much water and nutrients any plant can absorb through its roots. And, just like humans, plants use the nutrients in some places in their structures before others. In humans, it's blood pH levels. Your body will actually absorb Ca from your bones if your diet is not providing enough Ca to keep blood pH in the necessary range. So, for the growing plant, even with oodles of available Ca in the soil, it may not make it to the earliest developing fruits. Instead of adding Ca, the fix then, is to provide conditions that offer the best opportunity for the plant to absorb as much water and nutrients as possible. In the seedling stage, you want to learn how to develop feeder roots. Early in the growth cycle, after transplanting especially (before flowers are even present,) water deeply, and infrequently. You want the roots to search deeply for water. This will make a very large and efficient root system for the plant to extract water and nutrients (including Ca) from as much soil area as possible. You want to provide an effective mulch to keep the soil evenly moist. Plants are stressed when soils go from very wet to very dry. Deep roots also help to alleviate this problem. I hope I didn't leave anything out, and BER can be very frustrating, but remember, even in ideal situations, some varieties are just more prone to the problem.