Having owned a wooden-hulled 32' sailboat for a couple of decades, I know a bit about wood rot. Check marine supply places or maybe hardware stores for a product called "GitRot". It's a structural wood hardener referred to previously. Chop, scrape, dig out as much rot as you can, then apply the GitRot. It will penetrate the wood fibers before it hardens. I really hate Bondo. It is merely cosmetic, hides a multitude of sins - like when a big hunk falls of that 'cherry' used car you just bought off Craigslist - and is a bloody cheap way to 'fix' things - poorly. If you want to go that route, search out the West System of epoxies - also at marine stores. Again, this is something that penetrates wood before hardening. You could use a mix of low-density filler until you get the void back to near nominal dimensions, then finish off with a bit of fiberglass cloth. Fiberglass has to be protected from UV with paint. Cheers

in order to get fair results i am going to conduct a few tests with the superthrive. seeds from both groups rotted :( but i have flying dragon seeds going on at the moment. and maybe some evidence in favour of superthrive, depending how you want to look at it. i had cut back a 2 and a half foot grape plant that i had after accidentally neglecting it (the guilt!) i had to cut it down to a two inch stick just to find some green in it - i ended with just a tiny stick popping out of the potting mix. i had pretty much no hope for it, especially since its starting to get quite cold here in northern england! Then after a month, it got a bud or two, which just clung to the side of the little stick for quite a while. i thought what the hell, i'll give it a good dose of superthrive. and now it has exploded with life. I'm not saying its a miracle, or that it has been restored to its former glory because it definitely hasn't, but the change in it is staggering. Now, some people will believe it was the superthrive. others will say it was going to grow so well regardless of anything. I leave that choice to anyone who reads this. Some believe, some don't. Thats just a little info :)

Image by: dthrooop Blossom-end rot is a disorder of tomato, squash, pepper, and all other fruiting vegetables. You notice that a dry sunken decay has developed on the blossom end (opposite the stem) of many fruit, especially the first fruit of the season. This is not a pest, parasite or disease process but is a physiological problem caused by a low level of calcium in the fruit itself. Symptoms BER, or blossom-end rot usually begins as a small "water-soaked looking" area at the blossom end of the fruit while still green. As the lesion develops, it enlarges, becomes sunken and turns tan to dark brown to black and leathery. In severe cases, it may completely cover the lower half of the fruit, becoming flat or concave, often resulting in complete destruction of the infected fruit. Cause Calcium is required in relatively large concentrations for normal cell growth. When a rapidly growing fruit is deprived of calcium, the tissues break down, leaving the characteristic lesion at the blossom end. Blossom-end rot develops when the fruit's demand for calcium exceeds the supply in the soil. This may result from low calcium levels in the soil, drought stress, excessive soil moisture, and/or fluctuations due to rain or overwatering . These conditions reduce the uptake and movement of calcium into the plant, or rapid, vegetative growth due to excessive nitrogen fertilization. Management Adequate preparation of the garden bed prior to planting is the key to preventing BER. Insure adequately draining soil in the bed by adding needed ammendments, maintain the soil pH around 6.5 - a pH out of this range limits the uptake of calcium. Lime (unless the soil is already alkaline), composted manures or bone meal will supply calcium but take time to work so must be applied prior to planting. Excess ammonial types of nitrogen in the soil can reduce calcium uptake as can a depleted level of phosphorus. After planting, avoid deep cultivation that can damage the plant roots, use mulch to help stabilize soil moisture levels and help avoid drought stress, avoid overwatering as plants generally need about one inch of moisture per week from rain or irrigation for proper growth and development. Once the problem develops, quick fixes are difficult. Stabilize the moisture level as much as possible, feeding with manure or compost tea is recommended by many, foliar applications of calcium are of questionable value according to research because of poor absorption and movement to fruit where it is needed but many have reported that foliar application of magnesium (epsom salts) can effect added calcium uptake. Other various suggestions consist of powdered milk, crushed egg shells tea, bone meal tea, Tums tablets, etc. but prevention is the key. Some recommend removing affected fruit from to reduce stress in the plant. BER should not be confused with fruit abortion or inadequate pollination although the symptoms may appear similar. The onset of BER occurs only after the fruit is well on it's way to development while insufficient pollination problems terminate the fruit while still quite small.

I'm not familiar with the term Vine Rot. I wonder if you're referring to Blossom End Rot (BER), in which the bottom of the tomato rots while still on the vine. If so, it's caused by an uneven supply of water. See this: http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/VEGES/ENVIRON/blossomendrot.html If that's not what you're talking about, please describe what happened to your tomatoes