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?

.

.

.

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

.

Husky Cherries

.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

Carolyn

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.

@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.