Steven,

Kind of a "Band-Aid" approach at this late stage, but I would sprinkle a half cup across the surface of the SWC and water it in. It takes a lot of time for Dolomite Lime to "do its thing", so it may be of little help this season.

How did you miss this step in the EarthTainer (or even the EarthBox) Instructions. Adding Dolomite Lime to SWCs is pretty much a given procedure....

Raybo

Has anyone been successful in eliminating BER once it starts?

Yes, the plants. ;) Seriously, the plants do adapt just as they do in the garden and the BER goes away as the plant matures a bit and the weather improves. BER isn't a lack of calcium but an inability of the plant, for several reasons, to metabolize the proper amounts of calcium at the proper time.

Take comfort from the fact that the use of lime in Earthboxes is a relatively new thing and that many folks grow tomatoes in SWC and have for years without adding any dolomite lime to them.

It may or may not help but it is recommended, not required for successful tomato growing.

Dave

I've had very good success the few times BER appeared by adding 1 teaspoon of lime to a 2 gal water can and watering the affected plants. : )

OK I'm just asking but could the water have something to do with BER? Can water from different sources have different PH reading and could that even effect the plant?

tripod

FWIW, some tomato varieties have a genetic tendency to develop BER, though excessive magnesium, potassium, sodium, ammonium salts or a deficiency of soluble calcium salts causes a decrease in calcium uptake, thus favoring development of the disorder. There's apparently no list of varieties yet that would show which would be genetically-resistant to BER.

All you can do now is add calcium in a form that the tomatoes can use and hope it provides the trigger to stop the BER if your other nutrients are balanced. It's also true that environmental factors bring it on.

Also, if you haven't done it, make sure your container temps don't fluctuate wildly by shading them and mulching the tops. Stablized soil temps and water-flow seem to help prevent BER.

Water does contain various amounts of calcium and PH swings can cause certain elements to be not available to the plants. Check with your water supplier and see if they have tested their water and what were the results.Did you change your water source? If calcium non availability is the problem a quick fix can be obtained by adding 1 Tbls calcium nitrate to a gallon of water and add to the resevoirs of your earthtainers. Just do one application and see if that corrects the problem. Calcium nitrate is available from some hydroponic retailers.

Thanks, everyone, for all of the suggestions. I will try to supplement the calcium through both the reservoir and top dressing as best as possible.

This is just one of those "kick yourself" moments. I've regularly added domolite to my SWCs, and any other containers, for many seasons and BER has never been a serious issue. I was in a rush this year the day that I filled the SWCs and for whatever reason, completely forgot about the domolite. At least this will be one of those moments that sticks with me and never gets repeated!

It will be interesting to see if anything works in helping arrest the BER. I'll keep everyone posted on the results.

Thanks again,
Steven

It will be interesting to see if anything works in helping arrest the BER.

"Something" will. ;) The problem we all have is discovering for sure what the one "something" was that made it disappear - the magic cure - because it always happens after the fact and hindsight isn't true sight.

Some folks will absolutely swear it was the TUMs or the egg shells they put in the planting hole, others claim there is just no substitute for epsom salts and banana peels, even rotten apples have been claimed to cure it, spraying the plant with milk, rainwater only, bottled water only, etc., etc.

But as Carolyn always says if the cure for BER was really that simple commercial tomato growers wouldn't still be spending millions of dollars a year on researching it.

I prefer to credit it to the teenage plant still finding its way through life. Once it figures out it has to get a job and pay for it's own car insurance and I-tunes it shapes up and the BER disappears. ;)

Dave

Dave,

Hehe...I hope its that easy with my toms this year. I've had BER in the past with a few types of tomatoes in containers, but ever since I started adding domolite to my mixes, it seems to have been alleviated. This is also the first time I've had it when using SWCs.

Its funny that you mention how you've seen it disappear as plants mature. In my current situation I've seen two patterns to it's appearance. The first was with the Olpaka which has been about 75% of the fruits having BER since the first ones set last month. The other pattern with the Cherokee Purple, Kellogs, and as of today Arkansas Traveler is one where a month of good fruit set and growth is followed by new fruit developing BER. The older fruit is still healthy.

I know that temps, water conditions, etc. play a major role in the plants' ability to uptake calcium. Aside from the normal, seasonal warm up we are experiencing, there hasn't been any appreciable change in the weather or other conditions. So far, the only variable that seems to be different this year than previous ones is the absence of the domolite.

I'll try a little of everything in attempting to eliminate the BER on new fruit. If anything works or if the plants just decide to "grow up" and act like adults, so long as the BER disappears, I'll be happy.

Steven

You could try some of the BER spray they sell at the stores. We have been having a lot of rain so I've been spraying it on mine. I imagine they can absorb it when it drips off the leaves as well.

I should add that I don't know if it works, but I have a lot of little tomatos so I will try anything.

margocostas - The many so called BER prevention sprays and their value and/or lack of value and effect on the plants is discussed in the FAQ here on BER.

foliar applications of calcium are of questionable value according to research because of poor absorption and movement to fruit where it is needed

Dave

I know that others have suggested something similar, but I had a pepper in a SWC last year, and it got BER. To the best of my ability, I dissolved some lime in water, and used that to fill the reservoir. The BER went away.

Good luck.

An interesting article which claims that the addition of, or failure to add, lime does not effect BER

Here is a link that might be useful: Interesting article

andyo

And it's by our own Carolyn!