Hi texas grrl. The problem you described is a common one called Blossom End Rot. It is caused by inconsistency in moisture and the lack of calcium, both which can readily be handled. Even little tricks such as adding crushed egg shells to the planting hole can greatly help prevent this problem.

There are a lot of web sites that will tell you all about it and how to prevent it. Do a search and you will most likely find your problem described and the treatments given. In fact, there is a product especially for this called Stop Rot. One link you might enjoy is: http://www.gardeners.com/Controlling+Blossom-End+Rot/5354,default,pg.html

I think this will get you on your way to solving the problem of BER (blossom end rot) and help give you a nice, pleasant, productive garden this year.

Best wishes.

Don

Hi texas grrl. The problem you described is a common one called Blossom End Rot. It is caused by inconsistency in moisture and the lack of calcium, both which can readily be handled. Even little tricks such as adding crushed egg shells to the planting hole can greatly help prevent this problem.

*****

I'd like to add to what you said, please.

Inconsistent moisture is one inducer of BER and mulching can help, too much fertilizer is another one b'c it causes stress to the plant, and high winds can also induce it as a stress, but lack of calcium is no longer felt to be an inducer for the majority of folks unless their soil has no Ca++ or their soil is acdic, which binds up Ca++ in the soil and that situation can be fixed by raising the pH.

In the last 20 years or so there's been lots of new data to show that Ca++ is not the major problem. And it's the impact to commercial veggie and fruit growing that has led so many Universities, etc., to do that research b/c of the monetary impact on the industry.

Stop Rot has not been founbd to be useful. Directions say to spray it on the fruits, but the tomato epidermis does not allow any molecules to enter. If it did the mature fruits would blow up after every significant rain.Spraying it on the foliage is also highly controversial as many University studies have shown.

Ca++ needs to get to the distil portion ( blossom end) of the fruits and when there is stress the movement of Ca++ in the plant is altered/

If preventing BER with Ca++ alone added in almost any form, and that includes eggshells as well, worked, the tomato industry would save millions of dollars each year b'c BER not only can affect tomatoes, but also squash, peppers, Cabbage, and several other crops.

There's a FAQ at the top of this first page that's pretty good and a search here at the bottom of the page will bring up lots of threads and posts about BER b'c it certainly is one of the more common problems one sees.

When growing in containers it is suggtested to add some Ca++ b/c the frequent watering washes out a lot of any Ca++ that might be in the various componenets used to fill the containers.

And adding Ca++ if the soil has none, which is very rare, also is in order.

Hope that helps.

Carolyn

Thanks for the info. I'll do some online research and prepare to have healthy tomatoes!

Be careful with online research. Some of it is a bit old
and reflects past thoughts which have now been more or less
debunked.

I seem to recall seeing that the eggshell thing is one of
the things debunked. The shells can't break down quickly
enough to do any good. Could be wrong though.

Seems like the most recent thoughts I've seen is that it's
the varying soil moistures that appears to be the main
culprit. Keep the soil evenly moist. That's what I did
and it seems to work for me. I added a heavy layer of
much to my regime.

I think (and this is my opinion) that you most often see
BER early in the year. This is due to the shallow roots
at that point. Later on in the year, the roots have penetrated
futher down to where the moisture is less affected by the
drying out of the soil.

Good luck.

I think (and this is my opinion) that you most often see
BER early in the year. This is due to the shallow roots
at that point. Later on in the year, the roots have penetrated
futher down to where the moisture is less affected by the
drying out of the soil.

Very intersting thought.... I like it... I've always thought
that the cooler temperatures earlier in the growing season may have an effect on the transfer of Ca++ in the plant...
however, I like your idea better.

Either way, mulch and consistent watering are two very good
ways to avoid BER.

Lee