Root rot makes the roots soft and mushy.Give the roots a pinch and remove any that are soft.You will be able to tell easily.If you don't have a cold winter,then I would soak the entire plant in a bleach solution of 1 part bleach to 9 parts water for 1 hour to TRY to prevent rust.There are no guarantees. Betsy

Any kind of brown or black is bad news! You will need to re-cut a little bit at a time until the brown is gone and then clean your cutter and wipe it down with rubbing alcohol before you make the final cut so the fungus doesn't spread. Then let the cutting sit for at least a week in the shade to dry out before attempting to root again. Hope you have better luck this time around! Doug

Tends to happen when the temps are cool at the time of pollination. Not a disease, and nothing you did. I remove most of my "ugly" catfaced/fused toms when young so the plant can put its energy into producing new fruit or focus its energy on the fruits that aren't jacked up looking.

"Where then are they getting the nutrients needed for growth? One can't dispute the need for nutrients in some form." Yes, in my comments above, I really hope I didn't make the impression that no nutrients were needed for plant growth. I don't always express myself well. I was trying (I may have failed lol) to make the point that - as you mentioned Dave - while organic nutrients in such mixes are not immediately available to plants, a percentage (usually a small percentage) of the nutrients are in available forms. Enough of the nutrients may be available to sustain the life, and modest growth, of the plant. Thus the claim of "no additional fertilizer is needed for two months" might technically be true. However, it's also true, as you point out, that purposeful applications of additional fertilizers might indeed help to promote growth, and make for healthier plants. I have found that experience is the best determining factor for fertilization. There are times when I cut back on adding fertilizers on purpose. If I do not want too much growth, too quickly, I won't fertilize... or I'll use less. I also usually wait until plants recover from transplant shock and become settled in new containers (sometimes more of an issue than other times... each case is different) before I fertilize. And, as we are discussing, the type of medium, and it's content of available nutrients, are a big determination of the need for additional fertilizers. I've become incredibly disappointed and have had problems with, the locally available products for transplanting seedlings, and my finances have me limited from investing in the better products which I would need to order. This year I have chosen to formulate my own from what I have produced right at home. So far it's working out better than I had hoped. It's simple, effective, organic, and has a basic level of available nutrients. I hope I can continue to produce it myself. It's free... with just a little effort.