Since you are using a good nutrient, the problem is probably not the quality of calcium. I do not know what your problem is, but here are some thoughts:

 Bolting with a high fruit load increases Ca2+ demand.

 High temps & winds may cause increased water loss through the leaves. These factors concentrate Ca2+ in the leaves rather into the fruit. This is increased for tree tomatoes. Removing older leaves at the bottom of the plant can help. Spritzing the plant during the hot hours or using a fan may help cool it.

 Elevated EC may be a factor.

Possible options include:

 Change the nutrient solution & flush the system.

 Foliar sprays. Ask your hydro dealer whether they suggest calcium or a magnesium spray.

Thanx for the info baci. I change the nutrient quite often. I rinsed the roots with fresh water as I thought there may have been some salt build up. I also am trying cal-mag as a supliment to the flora series. I pulled about a dozen BER tomatos already and am hoping for the best. The plants seem thirsty and are drinking about a gallon a day. Some Pics are on my website if anyone would care to peek.
Noone

Here is a link that might be useful: noone's place

Let us know if your supplementation works out for you. I have been seeing quite a few tomatoes with blossom end rot on tomatoes sold in local grocery stores.
The perlite is moisture retentive  it might be retaining salts also. My fan might not have been a good idea in the heat unless the leaves can be kept moist also. I have started putting shade cloth on my tomatoes.
Your tomatoes look great.

keep using the cal-mag. I used it about 7-10mls/gl during heavy feeding time. It seems to cure the problem pretty quick. The extra mg doesn't hurt either.

Hi

Just wondering, how large is your reservoir?

Hank,
the controller reservoir and two hydro units hold around 2 1/2 gallons each. The master reservoir holds 5 gallons. BTW I noticed some fungus or something growing around the main stems and am treating it with a spray. Again am hoping for the best and have pulled a couple dozen fruit off because of BER already hoping not to lose the whole crop. I will post more pics on my website this week for the experts to diagnose the fungus.
Thanx in advance for all your help!
Noone

Here is a link that might be useful: Noone's Place

Fungus Pictures Posted 7/25/05. Anyone else have this Problem?? Anyone Know what this is and how to Combat it??
Any Input Welcomed!
thanx,
Noone

Here is a link that might be useful: Noone's Place

Hi Noone,

The reason why I asked about the size of your buckets was the high drop in pH/day (-1.5) and the loss of water (1 gal/day). This is usually indicative of a less than optimal reservoir size.

I think it would be informative to measure your EC (electrical conductivity) on a daily basis. It is always a good idea to keep the EC constant.

One way to do this is to increase the volume of your nutrient solution. Doubling the volume should reduce the pH drop by half. Water loss due to transpiration and evaporation will still be 1 gal/day but the EC change will decrease again by half.

I notice some minor algae growth on the perlite but some H2O2 should take care of that.

I wish my tomatoes looked as good as yours. :-D

Calcium,Calcium,Calcium and a little epsom salts will not hurt. You can spray the foliage with milk You can use like the 1%. A tomato plant after it has fruit will use a gallon of water a day and if you have hot weather like we have had it may be more. I have 50 plants and my 50 gal. reservoir empties out almost daily or a least 2 days.

Thanx for the Input chili. I had no Idea that U could spray with MILK! Won't that really smell??? Anyway the CalMag seems to be working.

I also am worried about the proper levels of nutrients. I do not have an ec meter and I know the water is evaporating quite a bit. This is what I'm doing. Please let me know if it seems right.

After filling the system with fresh nutrients. Say 10 gallons, I add 5 gallons of water twice before I re-mix and add more nutrients. The water here is @ a ph of 6.5 so no adjustment is necessary. (c:

And to Hank_mili,
I do not have the space right now to increase the size of my reservoir. As far as the algae on the pearlite, Does it really hurt anything?? and How to apply peroxide to the system??

I have updated my website with recent pics and am happy to say the tomatoes are finally comming in!

Thank You All for all the great advice!!

Noone

Here is a link that might be useful: Noone's Place

i had a little BER this year but it was not due to calcium deficiency, but due to too high of reservoir temps.

the algae doesnt hurt anything.

go easy on the h2o2 as it kills the beneficial things as well as the bad.

i pH down to 5.2 when i mix more nutes, and let it drift around until the next refill. different nutrients are available at different pH levels.