I think some paste tomatoes are more prone to it. They often grow out of it. One year I grew Big Mama paste tomatoes and every last one had BER, while none of the other 10 types had it all.

I have the same problem. All my toms are fine EXCEPT the roma, and every tomato on that plant has BER. Actually I got ONE today that didn't. But that's the first. Hopefully more will be ok! Cherries and regular toms are fine.

My Roma last year did eventually straighten itself out.

I'm still getting BER in some of my container tomatoes, but I'm also getting alot of good tomatoes. I'm just trying to ID the bad ones asap and get rid of them. I have one SWC with a Reif Red Heart planted in it. Early on, the hearts were small and about half of them had BER. After I got rid of the BER ones the others really started to grow. Now there are lots of 1 pound+ hearts on it. None red yet, but will be soon.

If you will go over to the Tomatoes forum here (linked directly from this forum) and click on the FAQ button there you will find a detailed explanation of the causes of BER (lack of cacium in the soil is not the cause) and tips for correcting it. You'll also find numerous discussions about it and which varieties and growing conditions contribute to the problem.

Dave

I'm about this close to tearing up my romas all together. They've been producing like crazy, but every single last fruit has has BER. No more roma for me. I've had to pick the plants clean, and pray an new fruit will be unaffected.
My cherry toms are doing great!
Good luck, and I feel your pain

The Tomatoes FAQ says excessive fertilization is a potential cause. It seems to me that weekly feedings qualifies as excessive fertilization. This year I have had zero BER. By now I have picked several hundred toms, so I think I can declare victory. I mulched, but I also fertilized only once at the beginning (in May), with urea. I applied sulfur to correct my alkaline (pH=7.6) soil.

I gave up on Roma years ago. So many other better paste varieties that do not get BER.

Opalka, for example, and it makes it in less than ideal conditions.

Agree that there are so many better paste type tomatoes that I can't see why anyone would waste their time and effort on Romas.

But many paste-types are very prone to BER just because of their shape. And trying to grow them in a container with all the watering issues associated with container gardening almost guarantees BER.

Somehow the marketing gurus have convinced folks that if you want to make tomato sauce you have to grow Romas. It isn't true but far too many buy into the claim.

Dave

Some varieties are more prone than others but Lack of calcium "in the plant" contributes to BER. Water moves the calcium within the plant so "irregular watering" will also contribute to BER which is why containers and tomatoes are a challenge.

You say I am watering plenty - but your plants say otherwise. The reason many have noticed it straightening out is the rains.

I grew Romas for the first time this summer. My first 5 or so ripened romas had BER, so I stopped watering the tomato plants as frequently as the rest of my garden. When I notice that the plant itself is wilting slightly, I'll give it a watering. I haven't had any BER since changing my watering habits!

Funny, this year I've had some typical BER on various plants, but on my Cherokee Purple, I've had some BER that appears to have healed and hardened over on some ripe ones. I just cut the bottom off, and the rest of the tomato is as tasty as ever. The only reason I kept them is that I didn't notice it until I picked them. I probably would have pulled them and chucked them if I noticed it when they were green.