If you're using fertilizer that is intended specifically for tomatoes, that will have enough calcium in it. I have never added lime to my containers. Calcium uptake can suffer in soil that is too acidic or too alkaline, so if working with a commercial pH-balanced mix, I would personally not add amendments that can significantly alter pH, such as lime. I've only had BER issues with one of my container varieties, which is a variety known for early BER problems even when grown in-ground. I've grown other relatively large-fruited varieties, like some of the Dwarf Project types, New Big Dwarf, etc. and never had BER issues in containers despite never adding lime. The biggest issues causing BER are 1) early fruits often have BER anyway, no matter what you do, and plants often just grow out of it 2) improper watering (both too soggy and too dry can cause BER) 3) lack of proper fertilization (too many people underfertilize, others use too much N, which can lead to big, quick-growing plants which then have problems catching up with transporting calcium to all parts of the plant) 4) varieties doomed to suffer BER, like Roma and many other elongated pastes Container-growing just exacerbates the above, as the container is a smaller growing environment which has little real wiggle room/buffer when it comes to temp, water, and nutrients, so stresses are magnified. The only other real difference is that, unlike growing in-ground where calcium deficiency in soil is very rare, a fertilizer including an easily utilized form calcium is key. A well-draining mix which I water frequently and fertilize frequently at low dilution works best for me (not talking about sub-irrigation containers, which are a separate deal and one with which I have little personal experience).

Re-posting what I posted on the other thread: Folks report that Azomite helps to deter pests, it thickens the tissue of plants. Molasses work very well in deepening the blooms' color, but I'm afraid to use it, for fear that would attract pests like rose-slugs. When to use gypsum (calcium sulfate) and when to use dolomitic lime (calcium & magnesium) ? I narrow down to: If the rose blooms profusely, means it's good in acid-phosphatase, and will have excess acid at end-bloom-period. Time for dolomitic lime during profuse-blooming. If the rose is stingy, means it doesn't secrete enough acid to release phosphorus from soil. Time for SOLUBLE gypsum (calcium sulfate, with 17% sulfur). The acid, or sulfur helps to release phosphorus from soil for blooming. The mycorrhyzal fungi that help plants to bloom also prefer slightly acidic. Some disease-resistant roses fall into this category (Home Run, Basyes Blueberry, Duchess de Rohan, some Kordes roses). Folks in alkaline CA complain about Kordes being huge & healthy foliage, but stingy in blooms. Never see a black spot on B.B, but it's stingy unless given soluble fertilizer. Home Run is filled with dark-green foliage, but few blooms. I would rather get the disease-resistance from thick & shiny foliage (FlowerCarpet), than stinginess in blooms (Home Run). If the rose is wimpy, SOLUBLE gypsum and sulfate of potash help. Buffers are alkaline stuff put on top to neutralize acidic rain. Horticultural sites listed calcium, potassium, magnesium, slow-released organic matter as good buffers. Alfalfa hay is a good buffer (neutral pH, slow-to-break down), same with pine-needles. But alfalfa meal is a poor buffer: breaks down too fast, and releases acids. Cedar-mulch is a good buffer (slow-to-break-down). Pine bark mulch is a poor buffer (acidic pH at 4). Penn State research on artillery fungus cited BIG CHUNKS & SLOW-TO-BREAK down mulch as best. Red-lava-rock is an excellent buffer (pH 8) & slow to break down. I spent $10 on a tiny bag of crushed-red-lava-rock, ordered from Amazon, and it WASN'T AS GOOD as the cheap $4 per 40 lb. bag big chunks. The crushed-red-lava broke down too fast, and stained the leaves of Stephen big Purple with its high iron-content. In contrast, I get continuous blooming on Wise Portia this year thanks to big-chunks red-lava-on top (for potassium), plus dolomitic lime (calcium & magnesium) .. lots of leaves thanks to neutral alfalfa hay on top. Nature's way is best: For centuries big-chunks stuff fall onto roses or occur naturally in soil: leaves, branches, rocks, etc.. Centuries ago, people didn't have wood-chipper to grind bark into pieces, or trucks to carry inappropriate mulch (pine-bark) onto roses. Chicago Botanical Garden made a good point of mulching plant WITH THE SAME optimal pH range for that plant. So it doesn't make sense to mulch Dr. Huey-rootstock with acidic pine (pH 4), or to mulch blueberries with horse manure (pH over 8, with lime added).

Dragon's Eye Pine is a variety of Japanese Red Pine and while preferring slightly acidic soil, I don't believe it requires it like many of the southern yellow pines do. The lime you added is also very localized...the roots will eventually venture far beyond that spot and the lime will be less & less an issue as time goes on. With many of the old world pines, you are going to find managing the native pinewood nematode and the various endemic needlecast diseases to be more of an issue.

Yeah Earthbox never used to insist on it but discovered it was one more thing they could charge us for. ;-) And, theoretically it can somewhat reduce the odds of BER with fruit that is often a problem with containers of any kind as it also provides a dose of calcium to the soil. But in truth it is optional, one of those things that can't hurt much unless over-used (as it can make soil magnesium toxic) and might help some. Many soil-less container mixes on the market already contain some and so do many of the fertilizers you would use to feed the plants regularly. But if you want an additional margin of it then no more than 1/2 cup of your Espoma mixed well into the box soil will work fine. Dave