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ncrealestateguy

Too Early For Calcium Spray?

ncrealestateguy
10 years ago

My seedlings have their first true leaves. Being grown indoors for another two weeks.
Is it too early to start them on the calcium sprays to deter BER?

Comments (6)

  • dave_f1 SC, USDA Zone 8a
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    If you feel the need to do so, at least wait until the 2nd or 3rd fruit clusters form. So yes it's way too early and you'll damage your seedlings for no benefit. Spraying calcium is not a substitute for proper irrigation and fertility management. Fluctuating soil moisture and over-fertilizing contribute to BER.

  • seysonn
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Calcium shoul always be present in soil for tomatoes. Best way to supply it is with the fertilizer you use. Some fertilizer have Calcium. Look for MG Skake n Feed. It is about $13 for about 4lbs. It is also slow release.

    here is a picture:

  • carolyn137
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    PLEASE read the following post that I wrote about BER.

    (Blossom End Rot (BER) is one of the most common tomato problems seen in the early part of the season. It is a physiological condition, not a disease caused by a fungus or a bacterium or a virus. Therefore it cannot be treated.

    And as I'll explain below, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to
    prevent. BER has nothing to do with the blossoms, it refers to the fact that at the end of the tomato opposite the place where the tomato is attached to the stem, called the stem end, is the bottom of the tomato, which is called the blossom end. You often can see remnants of the blossom attached to that end as the tomato forms. At the blossom end one sees a flattened area that looks
    leathery and initially brown and then black, as the fruit rots.

    BER is said to occur when there is uneven watering, drought, heavy rainfall, excessive nitrogen fertilization, rapid plant growth or root pruning during cultivation, high winds and rapid temperature changes. So lots of conditions have been associated with BER. But the rapid plant growth and nitrogen fertilization are both common to conditions seen early in the season, and indeed, that is when most BER occurs. Then it usually just goes away.

    BER occurs because under the conditions just stated, Ca++ moves from the fruit into the vasculature (stems) of the plant. Or, some feel that Ca++ never reaches the fruits becasue under stress demand for Ca++ exceeds supply.This lowered amount of Ca++ is what causes BER. Excessive rates of transpiration (kind of like sweating in humans) also is involved in Ca++ displacement. Thus, the plant as a whole is NOT Ca++ deficient, the Ca++ has just been displaced.

    Many books and magazine articles tell you that by adding Ca++ in the form of lime or eggshells, for instance, that you can prevent BER. That does NOT appear to be true. It was several years ago that I found out that University field trial experiments have so far failed to show that BER can be prevented by addition
    of Ca++. I recently e-mailed my friend at Cornell who told me all this two years ago, to again confirm that it was still true, and will update you, if necessary. Peppers and many cole crops are also susceptible to BER and there's quite a bit of literature on BER and Ca++ for those crops also. The results are the same; addition of Ca++ does not prevent BER.

    Some data strongly suggests that foliar spraying with Ca++ is of no use because not enough gets to the fruits to do any good. And it's known that the sprays for fruits that are sold are usless. No molecules can get across the fruit epidermis. If they did, just what do you think would happen to the fruits when it rained.LOL

    UPDATING Here.

    Some have found that spraying small fruits when the epidermis is still permeable can help, but more have found that it's totally useless.

    Not all varieties of tomatoes get BER. Some never do, others are horrible. That's not surprising since certainly there are slight physiological differences between varieties. After all, almost all garden tomatoes, with the exception of the currant tomatoes are in the same genus and species, Solanum lycopersicum. And we humans are all in the same species, Homo sapiens, var. sapiens...and look how different some of our physiologies are.
    Whoa!

    So, BER is a physiological condition, cannot be cured, and current
    literature data suggests it cannot be prevented. It occurs on some, but not all varieties of tomatoes, is usually seen early in the season and then stops, for most folks. It would be nice to say that you could even out your watering, prevent droughts and heavy rainfalls, ensure even and not rapid growth of plants and not disturb the roots by shallow cultivating. But on a practical basis, I think we all know that's almost impossible. So, BER has never bothered me, I just ignore it, and it goes away with time.

    Adding Ca++ to soils that are Ca++ deficient makes sense, but few soils are. And if soils are acidic, Ca++ is not taken up well but addition of Epsom Salts to the soil can aid in Ca++ uptake in such acidic soils.

    Many folks add Ca++ and then see that BER disappears. What they fail to realize is that BER is going to go away anyway, as the season progresses. And that's becasue as the plants get larger they are better able to handle the many stresses that can induce it. So one cannot correlate addition of Ca++ to disappearance of BER. Universities have done so many stidies on this already
    becasue BER is a billion dollar problem in the commercial veggie industry.

    Of all the stresses that can induce BER thetwo that are most under control of the home gardener are fertilization and water delivery.

    That is, too much fertilizer causes plants to grow too rapidly and is perhaps one of the major causes of BER developing. Too rich soils do the same thing. Plant growth simply outstrips the ability of Ca++ to get to the fruits.

    Mulching to help ensure even delivery of water also can be done and is also one of the two major causes, IMHO, of BER.

    Updating again here:

    It has beenshown that plants that have BER fruits have normal levels of Ca++ in the stems and tissues, so the problem is not solely uptake from soil Ca++. And I forgot to mention that in addition to the external BER that there's a condition called Internal BER where you cut open a fruit and it's black inside .

    BER appears usually on half ripe fruits but also can appear on grass green ones.Lack of Ca++ only occurs at the blossom end of the fruit and it causes tissue destruction which leads to that papery greyish/blackish lesion appearing.Now sometimes that lesion opens up and fungi and bacteria enter and that causes the rotting and also the appearance of fungal growth on and in the lesion.

    Just pick off any BER fruits that appear and soon the next fruits to ripen will BERless.

    Many books, magazine articles and websites still say to add Ca++ as lime, eggshells, etc, and seem not to be aware of all the research that has been done in the last 20 years. But many books, magazine articles, are now sharing this newer information about addition of Ca++ not being able to either prevent or cure BER except in rare situations of low Ca++ soils or acidic soils.

    I suppose it will take another generation for the right information to be present everywhere. And from my own experience i can tell you that there will be folks who will get madder than can be when they read this kind of info becasue they simply believe otherwise. So be it. LOL Addition of modest amounts of Ca++ aren' t harmful, but I feel strongly that folks should know what's going on with past and current rsearch re BER and Ca++.

    Hope the above helps.

    Carolyn

  • digdirt2
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Could I ask exactly what calcium sprays you are talking about using?

    Dave

  • ncrealestateguy
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Calcium Chloride by Southern Ag.
    Thanks Carolyn. I respect your experience.
    Here is mine: When I don't use the spray, I get BER. When I do spray regularly, I seem to not get it at all or very little.
    I have never had my soil tested. I know I should. Oh well.
    I mulch with wheat straw to keep weeds down and to retain an even moisture content. I use drip irrigation from a lot of soaker hoses, so my moisture content is fairly consistent, except for the rain storms.

  • seysonn
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Calcium is one of the essential elements that most garden vegetables need, aside from BER problem.

    So as Carolyn has explained it well, its existence in the soil is not a guarantee to prevent BER.

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