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scotty66_gw

Blossom End Rot - dang it!!!

scotty66
11 years ago

I believe I have blossom end rot... but it only seems to effect my celebrity tomatoes at this time. and some of the celebrites seem to have damage on top as well (is that still BER). should I pick off all the damaged fruit and discard?

The other varieties of seem to be doing really good (black prince, mr. striipey, big boy and husky cherries).

I have read that tums can be applied for quick fix... does anyone here have experience with that or a better fix?

If I use the tums, should I just shot them in the ground as the link at bottom suggest... seems like diluting in water would be quicker. Also, the link at bottom says heavy rains can cause this, we just had 3" over the last 5 days.

This picture if of the bottom of a celebrity tomatoe (so sad to look at).

Is it still BER if the damage is on top?



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The good stuff.

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this is either Black Prince or mr. stripey (forgot to tag the plants)



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Husky Cherries

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My vertical string with clothsline setup has some sag... but is holding on.

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Tips from a Tipsy Gardener �

Comments (11)

  • digdirt2
    11 years ago

    Your plants are showing signs of a great deal of stress - a bad case of tomato leaf roll, especially on the Mr. Stripey - and so I'd not be surprised to also see BER as both are lack of consistent soil moisture issues. If you can resolve the tomato leaf roll the BER should also disappear.

    The second pic down with the damage on top is tomato fruit worm (aka army worms, corn ear worms, etc.). Eggs are laid singularly on top the tomato at the base of the stem and the larvae tunnels into the fruit.

    Dave

  • scotty66
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    the mr. stripey is the only plant with leafs like that. I just assumed that was normal, since it's making so many tomatoes.

    I'll keep an eye out for those worms, hadn't seen any yet, and I'm out there pinching suckers every other day (this will be my last year of vertical trellising, to much work).

    I'm going to give all my tomatoes (and even peppers) a dose of tums tomorrow. even though it's only the celebrity tomatoes with issues so far. From what I've read elsewhere, BER is common in raised bed after extended period of rain. something about the rain flushing the nutrients out. maybe I'll mix it in with some fish emulsion.

  • jean001a
    11 years ago

    Skip the tums.

    The calcium shortage is because of insufficient soil moisture to transport the calcium to the ends of the tomatoes.

    Supply enough water so that the soil remains evenly moist. After you water, check the soil to see how deep the water went -- Hint: use a trowel.

    See the FAQ -- http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/tomato/
    Second item on the list

    Here is a link that might be useful: BER

  • Bets
    11 years ago

    Our favorite tomato expert Carolyn137 wrote an excellent response to a question about Blossom End Rot (BER) and I am quoting it here:


    With BER there is NO problem with absorption of Ca++ though the roots. The problem is maldistribution within the plant that can be induced by a number of stresses which include uneven delivery of water, too much N, growing in too rich soil, too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry you name it.

    As the plants mature they can better handle the streses that can induce BER so usually it goes away.

    The two exceptions are first, if the soil has NO Ca++ as confirmed with a soil test, and that's a rare condition, and second, if the soil is too acidic in which Case Ca++ is bound in the soil.

    Again, adding lime, egg shells and on and on can not and will not prevent BER b'c absorption of Ca++ thru the roots is OK.

    Paste tomatoes are especially susceptible to BER and I think someone in a post above mentioned that.

    If you go to the top of this first page and click on the FAQ link and scroll down you'll also find an article about BER in case some of you have never looked at the FAQ's And there's some darn good articles there as well, but I wouldn't pay any attention to the variety list b'c it's way out of date.

    The old information about BER being caused solely by lack of soil Ca++ has been shown to be wrong with research that's been done in the last 20 years or so, but it's going to take another generation before the real story gets into books, websites, magazines, etc. Most of the better websites already have the correct information.

    BER affects not only tomatoes, but peppers, squash, cabbage, cauliflower, etc., and it's a huge multimillion dollar problem for the industry, which is WHY all that reasearch was done. For instance, when tissues were taken from a plant that has BER fruits and was assayed for Ca++, the normal level of Ca++ was found, it just wasn't getting to the blossom end of fruits. And there's also a condition called internal BER where the fruits look fine, no evidence of BER externally, but when you cut open the fruit the inside is black

    Hope that helps

    So, what it comes down too is: Tums do not work, nor do egg shells, milk, and other "home remedy" treatments. Foliar spray only works in some cases. Time and good management practices work best.

    Good Luck!

    Betsy

  • terrybull
    11 years ago

    jean did you mean too say dowel as in wooden dowel.not trowel?

  • digdirt2
    11 years ago

    Dowel or trowel - either works when it comes to checking moisture levels. So do fingers. :)

    The Mr Stripey or whatever it is isn't the only one showing signs of tomato leaf roll. It is just the worst case.

    You won't see the worms. You may see the moths and if lucky you might see the eggs but the 'worms' are already inside the tomato.

    And as the others have said the TUMS serves no purpose. Your problem is soil moisture IN-consistency.

    Dave

  • mickyfinn6777
    11 years ago

    I am very surprised that you got a bit of BER when the plants are planted in the ground rather than in pots or grow bags, it is quite rare for this to happen in such cases.

    That type of leaf roll is usually caused by slightly high nitrogen in the soil reacting to cool nights and moderate days the nitro in the leaves does this, better results will be obtained when day and night temps are more evenly matched and it will go away.

  • digdirt2
    11 years ago

    I am very surprised that you got a bit of BER when the plants are planted in the ground rather than in pots or grow bags, it is quite rare for this to happen in such cases.
    That type of leaf roll is usually caused by slightly high nitrogen in the soil reacting to cool nights and moderate days the nitro in the leaves does this, better results will be obtained when day and night temps are more evenly matched and it will go away.

    That may be true in the UK but certainly isn't the case on this side of the pond.

    BER can happen just as easily in in-ground beds as in containers and while excess nitrogen can play a secondary role along with plant maturity and weather, the primary issue is inconsistent soil moisture levels that affect the circulation system of the plant.

    Dave

  • carolyn137
    11 years ago

    M, until recently I grew ALL my plants inground, thousands of them over the years, and had more than my share of BER as do almost every one of my tomato friends .

    Usually there is more BER with container grown plants as you also noted and one needs to add extra Ca++ in those cases.

    Carolyn

  • jean001a
    11 years ago

    It was asked "did you mean too say dowel as in wooden dowel.not trowel?"

    Nope. I meant trowel. Stick it into the soil tilt it a bit so that you can look at the soil in order to determine if it's wet, moist, or dry.

    I find that container-grown tomatoes have more BER than the ground-grown relatives because
    - the root system is restricted;
    - heat builds up in containers and thus limits root function;
    - and containers, depending upon their size, can dry rapidly on a summer day.

    BER is a water-transport issue wherever the tomato is planted.

  • scotty66
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Quote "That type of leaf roll is usually caused by slightly high nitrogen in the soil reacting to cool nights and moderate days the nitro in the leaves does this, better results will be obtained when day and night temps are more evenly matched and it will go away."
    .

    @mickyfinn6777, I sure hope that's what it is, I had thought the plants were healthy because they had lots of tomatoes. I have checked all the fruit and I don't see any others with BER (or any other issues). Central Texas just had a cool front and a week of rain roll through here. temps were lower 60's to upper 70's. We are now back to normal: dry with upper 60's to upper 80's.

    The Husky cherry tomatoes are really starting to produce lots of sweet and tasty cherries. I had two black princes just starting to turn color, sadly, my dog was impatient and did a snatch and run on one of them. My fault for not closing the gate behind me.

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