I haven't tried anything other than adding more water to the reservoir and hoping that by diluting it, it will retard the damage. Most of the plants are still looking about the same. What would the coffee do?

Forgot to mention. If you haven't already, you might want to post on the Growing Tomatoes forum. Those guys know their stuff and I'm certain a few of them encountered the same issue before.

As a coffee addict I like to give my cherry tomatoes diluted coffee and coffee grounds to increase the acidity and for the nitrogen. I don't know if either approach will be enough to counteract the excess hydrated lime, but I imagine it wouldn't hurt either. Hope your tomatoes improve. I honestly don't think your plants are permanently damaged.

Thanks for the suggestion. I think some of my plants may be getting close to the point of no return. The stalks of some of the plants have a lot of "give" and can almost be crushed by putting them between the thumb and forefinger and squeezing. Many of the tomatoes that were in the midst of ripening now feel somewhat soft and and look a bit dried out.

Rod, sorry about your tomato issue. I too had BER in an 18 gallon tote (5-1-1 mix). I gave it a mason's lime slushy of large handful lime with water. Same thing last year. It cured the BER with no side effects. The lime certainly raises the pH (bad for toms). What is your mix? With certain acidic mixes (plenty of pine bark and peat) you could get away with the lime. Others, maybe not. I wonder if acidifiying your mix could save your toms. A popular way of adding calcium in ag situations these days is to use gypsum, as it does not raise pH. Maybe add some vinegar or dilute battery acid. My pawpaws love fertigation with battery acid. Do a search for pour-through test to check the pH of your mix. Then you will know how much acid to add. Good luck and let us know.

It's been about 10 days since my original post and I think the worst is over. Some of the plants seem to have stabilized and the remaining stalks on those plants are moist again and standing upright. About 1/3 of the plants have been stripped almost bare, to where they look similar to a Charlie Brown Xmas tree -- just a few long limbs with a little remaining fruit on them. But the other 2/3 of the plants seem still have quite a bit of foliage and look they may have survived the dreaded lime monster. The next challenge will be to see if new growth and emerges and new flowers start to appear.

The planting mix that I use is from a local Bay Area nursery chain (Navlet's). The bag says it has forest humus, peat moss, chicken manure, earthworm castings, bat guano, kelp meal, alfalfa meal, oyster shell and dolomite limes...though not sure in what percentages. The description of their planting mix on their web site says: "This formulation of peat moss, worm castings, oyster shell and dolomite limes, along with other critical sources of nutrients and soil conditioners, is based on more than a century of working with Bay Area soils."

Next year, I may avoid Earthbox's recommended application of 1/4 cup hydrated lime in a gallon of water when BER first appears. Or, I may try it in just one Earthbox, fill the reservoir completely and wait 3-4 days to see if any similar ill effects arise. If so, I'll ditch the hydrated lime altogether for the other Earthboxes and will look for a less caustic calcium substitute.

Good to hear. I wondered how your tomato plants were doing.