It's nothing to do with the age of the seed which is good for several years, and your eggshells wouldn't help this year, but will be available (broken down by worms/microbes) for your plants next year - if you plant in the same place.

Paste tomatoes are very prone to BER unfortunately!

I have had the same problem this year. A long drought, and I thought that my watering had been consistent, even if I wasn't giving them a whole lot, but I've seen BER on a few of my plants, and particularly badly on Costoluto Genovese (another paste tomato). At least my CG was very productive and gave me lots of perfect tomatoes as well rotten ones.

Could it be that your plants needed more nutrition? Did you add nutrients at plant-out time? Did you amend your soil at all? Do you use mulch to keep that precious moisture in?

I shouldn't think there's much to be done now because it's already getting a bit late for new tomatoes to form in time to produce edible fruit before the first frost, so all that can be done is to research for a better growing season next year.

Linda

As Linda Said it is probably too late to salvage anything for this season. A plant that has been stunted or unhealthy for some time isn't going to suddenly recover and kick into production.

Issues like this have to be caught and corrected early. From your description of the plants growth patterns vs. its normal growth I would have suspected a lack of nutrients, especially nitrogen and the micro-nutrients, early on. I note you don't mention anything about providing them with any nutrients or any pre-planting soil amendments? Have they been fed regularly with anything? Any fertilizer? Any idea what the nutrient levels in your soil may be? Scattering egg shells around helps control slugs but does nothing for the plant itself.

While BER is primarily a soil moisture issue when that moisture is inconsistent, many other factors can contribute to it too. Over all poor plant health and/or lack of nutrients would make BER highly probable.

Dave

Thanks for the responses

I did add compost to this area at the beginning of last season. Last season I grew green beans in this area. However I am starting to suspect the compost I got wasn't that good. I ordered it from a local organic landscaping company. I probably added 3-4in over the existing bed. So I thought I had added enough for two seasons. However this year I did start adding more compost (this time one I made myself)...only maybe a 1/2" though. I suspect my biggest issue was starting with plants that were possibly diseased from the see starting.

I have seen BER in the past but usually just on a few fruits. I suspect the moisture might be a big issue too..my soil really dried out this spring prior to me getting the plants in the ground.

Coltranem,

My soil dried out a lot too. We have been putting aged cow manure on top of our clay soil for a few years now, but it was so dry that huge cracks opened up in the clay beneath and I could see them when I lifted up the black plastic mulch! My garden is a long way from the house, so the hose doesn't reach and I water using watering cans which I dip into the pond. I guess my spot watering wasn't enough for certain varieties, although others managed very well. All were mulched, some with black plastic and others with a thick layer of pond weed.

BTW, I added fish meal to the planting hole and sprinkled some slow-release fert on my tomatoes when they began to set fruit.

If you suspect a fungus in your potting mix again, you could try watering your seedlings with some 3% Hydrogen Peroxide. I'm not sure about the dilution rate though and if I stop to look it up I may lose this msg!

Linda

Compost is a soil amendment, not a fertilizer. It provides very low doses of the common nutrients. It can take several years of repeated applications of quality compost to build up a nutrient rich soil. And any nutrients in compost added last season would be long gone by the middle of last season at the latest. That's assuming your ground has an active soil micro-herd to digest it so the plants can use it.

Those of us who garden organically using compost add several inches more of it at least 2x during the season and usually more often. Plus it is often used as a regular side dressing for plants throughout the season. And we still often have to provide supplemental nutrient sources like fish meal, kelp meal, cottonseed meal, alfalfa meal, composted manures, etc. or use one of the many forms of liquid organic fertilizer.

Plants use up soil nutrients as they grow. If those are not replaced on a regular basis in one form or another the plants simply cannot survive, much less thrive.

Dave

I did sprinkle some organic granular fertilizer earlier this year but perhaps not enough. I will certainly do more next year and increase my compost.

Linda thanks for the suggestion on digging the potting soil

Probably most established garden soils have enough calcium that tomato plants need. The soil less potting mix is a different situation.

Secondly, plum type tomatoes ( like Roma, SanMarzano) are known to be prone to BER. But the widely held view is that uneven moisture level is the most likely cause of BER. In case of in ground plants , this might occur early on and should stop as the season progresses.

Tomato plants need consistent soil moisture (water ) You can not depend on rain to do that. JMO

Sey