Safe to add Agriculturial Gypsum to existing containers?
katkeeper36August 5, 2012
Hi...I'll try to keep it simple here. I ogt 10 plants in 5 gallon containers...New fruit is setting...pea sized to quarter sized. Overnight I had BER set in ( wonder if excessive heat or water hurt )
I have a big bag of Agircultural Gypsum I was gonna save for the bed next spring. Would I be helping or harming if I added some to my containers?
Containers - 5 gall buckets drilled out. Couple inches of pea stone then a mix of compost, peat moss, garden soil and bone meal....i know now I don't need the pea stones but too late for this season
Your problem is what you have in the containers already. Adding more junk to it will only make it worse.
Read here about BER and what causes it - and it isn't lack of calcium in the soil.
Then do some reading on what growing mixes belong in containers. They don't include garden soil or pea stone or compost or bone meal.
Container size is yet another problem.
Sorry but based on the information you have provided and this late in the season it is going to be really difficult to get any usable tomatoes out of your set-up no matter what you do now. Better luck next year.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: BER FAQ and discussions