Tomato blossom end rot

[BattleScott]

Have never had this happen before, but this year we are getting some blossom end rot on several of the roma and san marzano tomatos. I have seen calcium defficiany as well as low water both suggested as reasons. They are new beds just put in this spring, anyone have any recommendations on a good calcium source. Gypsum is what seems to be mentioned alot, but I thought maybe you folks had some good "home remedies"...

Thanks!

 

[Kya D]

A great source of Calcium is oyster shell
Go to a store that sells livestock feed and buy it there. They sell it to add calcium to a hens diet to make stronger egg shells.
It is very heavy in the bag but is fairly small pieces when the bag is open and that makes it easier to handle.

 

[Kya D]

I know they make sheetrock, drywall, wall board out of gypsum
I don't know if you could use it as a source of garden grade gypsum.?????????

 

[RonsGarden]

You can use Tums!
Grind up a few and disolve in water, and water your toms!
If Tums are great for heartburn, they should work great on your toms!
I have a lot of crushed eggshells in my soil so do not have this problem!
You can use gypsum from drywall as Dawn suggested!
It breaks down easily in warm water!
Or, you can grind it up and apply it on the soil surface, and then water in well!

 

[Wombat]

Any new bed should have a PH test if possible before planting, as you don't need to be adding lime as a magnesium/calcium source if your soil is already alkaline. You need to know exactly what you are starting out with so you know precisely what to add to avoid this problem in the future. Lime is taken up by the plant very slowly so fixing this may be a little tricky. Some folks try epsom salts as a quick fix but that's mainly magnesium. I found a link here to a site that sells organic products and their blossom rot spray is on sale. Hope it works for you

http://www.gardensalive.com/

 

[BattleScott]

Thanks for all the tips! I never thought about tums, duh!

It seems to be mainly on the tomatos closest to the top of the plants, could that be an indicator that it may just be to little water here? It has been extremely hot and dry for several weeks. We've been watering frequently, but perhaps not enough.

If it is only water level and I add calcium, is there any risks with having too much calcium?

 

[RonsGarden]

Soil ph should be around 6.0 to 6.8!
Might be a good idea to do a ph test before and after treatment.

 

[Wombat]

The only risk I know with too much calcium is that it may produce deficiencies in magnesium and/or potassium.......

 

[webbee]

Some other sources are green sand, Azomite and bone meal.
I used gs and it solved the problem.

 

[klevelyn]

Blossom end rot is due to calcium deficiency and can be cause by planting your tomato to early in cool weather. Also if you cultivate to close to your tomato roots and damage the feeder roots, the plant can have a hard time up taking the nutrients it needs.

I found a product at my garden store that you dilute in water and spray on the leafs. This helped my indoor tomatoes. Ask for a spray on product for tomato end rot. That,s what I did and the clerk showed me several products.

 

[Dale]

This works for blossom end rot. Mix equal amounts of dry Epsom Salts and dry mortar mix together. Sprinkle few tablespoons around tomato away from the base. Then mix into the soil. I learned this way to prevent blossom end rot probably 30 years ago on a gardening show, called The Joy of Gardening, and it works every year. That show was the one that advertised the Troybilt tiller. Miss the gardening shows on TV.

 

[Crabbergirl]

Welcome back Dale!

Sounds like you guys got this covered.

Hello to our new members. I see several on this thread alone! Glad you found us.

 

[Dale]

Thank you....I am so ready for spring to get here to plant my spring veggie garden.

 

[Crabbergirl]

I think we may have skipped spring. I am with you about the planting. I started a couple weeks ago and things are looking good!

 

[mr_yan]

I woke up to 6" of new snow. It was raining when we went to sleep yesterday.

Anyway if BER is from lack of calcium how is it that epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) prevent it? I know that tomatoes and peppers like heavy sulfer and magnesium but this does not help with the calcium needed for cell wall creation.

I had some big problems with BER last year and lost several pounds of tomatoes and about a dozen bell peppers to it.

I have been collecting egg shells to pulverize and mix in when planting. I currently have about 3 pounds worth. I also have a small bag of dolomite lime. I am still slightly worried about pushing the pH too high but I do have a lot of peat mixed in to help with that.

 

[Dale]

The mortar mix is the Calcium and Epsom salts is Magnesium Sulfate (which gives nutrients in the soil). Here is an interesting article about problems with tomatoes...http://www.yourgarden.com/qa/eng/special-tomatoe.htm

at the very end it mentions the Epsom Salts and mortar mix as well. As I said I have used this method many many years and been successful.

Good luck to you.

 

[mr_yan]

Ha, sorry, either I'm a blind reader or I was wrangling a toddler when I read that. I totally missed the mortar part. I'll be doing a tile counter top this spring so will try this with any left over mortar I have.

This year I'm doing a grape type (never had problems with these as the fruit is so small), Cherokee purple which is a big vine indeterminant and tasted great last year, and Roma paste. I've never done the Roma, or a determinant tomato for that matter, but have heard that the heavy single fruit set tends to have BER problems.

 

[Dale]

You shouldn't have a problem with the grape midget type tomatoes with BER. The Cherokee Purple are an awesome tomato...when we take a trip to NC near the fall of the year we always get the Cherokee Purple tomatoes to bring home. Our local farmers market sells them but they are $2 a pound. Our summer is way to hot to try to grow the Cherokee Purple because I never get my tomatoes out til way past our last frost.

With the dry mortar mix and Epsom Salts, been using it probably 30 years and it does eliminate the BER.

 

[Jade]

This works for blossom end rot. Mix equal amounts of dry Epsom Salts and dry mortar mix together. Sprinkle few tablespoons around tomato away from the base. Then mix into the soil. I learned this way to prevent blossom end rot probably 30 years ago on a gardening show, called The Joy of Gardening, and it works every year. That show was the one that advertised the Troybilt tiller. Miss the gardening shows on TV.

I found a good show on PBS called "growing a greener world". I have only seen a few episodes but have thoroughly enjoyed them. It is on VERY early in the morning, but we can record on our cable box, so I do that. I really need to give PBS a donation.

 

[Dale]

On SC ETV on Tuesday evening at 7 PM EST, an hour show called Making it Grow....sponsored by Clemson University. You can follow them on FB and ask all kinds of questions etc. I miss all the gardening shows in days gone by.