I was very disappointed in my Earthbox tomatoes this year (2 plants/1 box). It was a new box. I followed all the recommended prep (garden lime and fertilizer strip). But I had both BER and blight. I threw away many early tomatoes that had BER (and have kept some that seemed to develop it later - I am perfectly willing to salvage half a tomato, when appropriate), but even when BER largely went away, the plants developed blight (early or late? I have no idea). I'm pretty close to pulling the plants and planting a fall crop of some sort (spinach most likely). This is in contrast to my raised bed tomato crop which is generally spectacular, with no BER and hints of blight, but completely manageable. I don't want to leave the impression that I am any way anti-containers - the okra and peppers in the Earthboxes are doing spectacularly well. It is just the tomatoes that are a (partial) dud this year.

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

Hello diclemeg, Our favorite tomato expert 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 So you see, adding calcium amendments will not prevent BER unless your soil is calcium dificient, and the only to know that for sure is to have a soil test. It is more likely to be a PH problem than a calcium deficiency. Even if you live in an area that is known to be calcium deficient it's a good idea to get a soil test because then you will know how much it is deficient and what else may need to be corrected. Good luck! Betsy Here is a link that might be useful: FAQ page on Blossom End Rot

I have 7 varieties of tomatoes, 8 total plants. Below are the types of tomatoes I'm growing and my observations on BER. I have started with the plants that have suffered most and ended with the plants that have suffered the least. Unlike some people, I remove all affected fruit. I am not interested in my plants putting energy into fruit I can only partially eat (if I'm even that lucky). - Early Girl (5-gallon "global bucket") - Roughly 80% loss so far totaling at least 30 tomatoes. All but two of the first fruit got BER and many since then have also gotten it. There are about 15 fruit on the plant currently that have no signs, so hopefully it's done. Other than that, the plant is extremely healthy and vigorous - almost 7' tall - with suckers putting out new flowers and new fruit daily. - San Marzano (5-gallon "global bucket") - About 50% of total fruit set so far has suffered. Maybe 8-10 tomatoes. Approximately 20 tomatoes on the plant currently show no signs and, ironically, all of the first fruit have not yet suffered. Otherwise, VERY healthy plant at about 4' tall. - Park's Whopper (Earthbox) - About 20% of the tomatoes have suffered so far (about 8 tomatoes). Almost all "first gen" fruit. Plant currently has about 20 tomatoes showing no signs of BER. Steady growth at about 6'. - Roma (5-gallon "global bucket") - I can't really do percentage on this one because the plant is so incredibly loaded with tomatoes that I can only go by numbers. I have pulled 4 tomatoes so far, but the plant easily has 100 tomatoes on it. Extremely vigorous and bushy. About 4' tall. - Black Cherry (Earthbox) - As with the roma, numbers make more sense than percentage. The plant easily has 100+ tomatoes on it and I have pulled maybe 8 random tomatoes off. New flowers and fruit set daily. 7' tall and then some. BEAUTIFUL plant. - Early Girl (Earthbox). I have pulled one tomato off this plant with BER. It has about 30 tomatoes including two clusters of nice 6-8oz fruit. Just waiting for blush to start. :) Plant is 6' tall. - Grape (Earthbox) - No BER. 75+ tomatoes and huge flower clusters. 6'+. - Better Bush (5-gallon "global bucket") - No BER. Very compact (less than 18" tall so far), but extremely healthy. Many flower clusters and several clusters of fruit set. About 5 quarter-sized tomatoes, but only transplanted on June 23. I got it for $1 - couldn't pass it up. I attribute the losses primarily to low overnight (mid-upper 40s) and high daytime temperatures (around 90) right at transplant time (May 18th). Other than some hail two days ago, the weather so far this season has been PERFECT. I couldn't have asked for better weather thus far. Another factor I believe is contributing to some of my issues with BER is rapid growth. Watering has not been an issue since all plants are in self-watering containers that receive re-fills every 4 hours (more than often enough), except the Earthboxes which have sensors that re-fill as needed. I supplement all plants with calcium nitrate weekly, understanding that some people don't contribute BER to calcium. Don't really care; it's what I do. The entire season's worth of slow release non-organic fertilizer is already included in all containers. The entirety of my garden is on the south side of my house and all plants receive somewhere between 9 and 11 hours of direct sun per day with no shade. Lastly, I understand that BER can happen at any time, not just at fruit set, and for many reasons no one will really ever pinpoint on a plant-by-plant basis - otherwise, we wouldn't need all the needless back and forth about who is right and who is wrong. These are just my observations based on what I've seen so far. Of course, I hope my larger fruit that are getting set to ripen don't succumb, but if they do, I'll pick them off and wait for more. :)