Anyways as the title suggests I have noticed an end rot problem on my roma tomatoes. I am growing my romas in 18 gallon containers with 3 plants per container. Everything was going great with these plants too until a couple days ago when the temperature got up into the mid 90s. I put wood chips on top of the soil for all my plants to help retain moisture but I got so busy with other things the last couple weeks I didn't have time to put wood chips on top of the soil for the romas. Yesterday I noticed the top of my soil was dried out and some of my tomatoes had end rot on them. The leaves on some of the plants are wilting and a little burnt too. I looked closer today and it appears almost all of the tomatoes have end rot on them. The uploaded image shows what most of them look like. I am pretty sure I have narrowed the cause down to lack of water. I added wood chips to the soil today to help with that problem. Seems to be working for the rest of my plants.

From the reading I have done and what people have told me my best option is to remove all the bad tomatoes (almost all of them) from the plants. My question though is considering roma tomato plants are determinate will the plants still grow new tomatoes? They have a lot of flowers on them that haven't turned into tomatoes yet. I ask because I have a backup option if not. I started propagating quite a few cuttings from these plants a few weeks ago and I have a lot that are healthy and getting big. I could pull the plants I have in the containers I have now if they wont produce new tomatoes and start with some of the cuttings. The length of the growing season isn't an issue because we are working on a heated greenhouse that should be done before the first frost (that is why I am propagating so many clippings).

Another thing I am wondering about is what to do with the tomatoes I remove from my plants. They are all green tomatoes. The end rot is small enough where I can cut it off and eat most of the tomato. However I am going to have at least 15-20 of them and can't eat them all at once. None of them are quite full size but many are close. Does anyone know how to keep them good for a few weeks or a recipe that would use a lot of them at once? I would hate to let them go to waste.

Tomato plants have a extensive root system and even though your pots are 18 gallon I would probably only have one plant per pot. Too many plants = too many roots = drying out fast even with self water pots so your issue is probably from over crowding.

If the rot on the bottom is dry like a scab you could leave them on the plant (or pick) and they should still ripen - just cut off the bottom when you eat it. You'll know soon enough if still good inside.

I would suggest removing two plants from each pot (and as many of their roots as possible) and add some fresh soil to fill on the holes. Try it on one or two pots to see if it makes a difference.

Ideally I would like to have them each in a separate 5 gallon bucket but my budget doesn't allow for that right now. Considering the romas were one of the smaller tomato plants I'm growing I used my 5 gallon buckets for other varieties and put the romas in 18 gallon containers. Believe it or not I have a few brandywines in 5 gallon buckets (did that before I knew how big those plants get). They were 1'' tall seedlings about 3 weeks ago. Right now most of them are almost 5' tall with flowers and some have a couple tomatoes. Those plants I do plan on eventually moving to a bigger container because I know they can get quite large from some pictures I have seen.

My cherry and other varieties of tomatoes are doing great in 5 gallon buckets and are already producing ripe tomatoes. I even have a black tomato plant I'm experimenting with that appears to be doing good. I have plenty of 5 gallon buckets to put my plants in but the cost of the soil I'm using is limiting what I can do right now. Once the greenhouse is going I might have more money to work with and will probably go with bigger containers but for now I am using what has been given to me for free (and the least amount of soil per plant I can get away with).

What I need to figure out now is if my romas will keep producing after I pull the rotted ones off or should I start over from the clippings I have. From what I have read romas are considered determinate but might produce a second cycle of tomatoes in some cases. Correct me if I'm wrong. A friend of mine told me pull the bad tomatoes and put the plants in the shade for a few days (nice thing about container gardening) so I think I will try that before I do anything else.

Thirsty Dirt gave you some good advice above and you'll find few growers who wouldn't agree that your plants are way over-crowded. Not to mention the issues that will develop with your 5 gallon containers as time passes and the plants age. Any plant will start out well in even a 1 gallon pot but that doesn't mean it will continue to do well. So I wish you luck.

There is some truth to the old adage that 'less is often more". Less containers but bigger containers and in this case, less plants. Not only does it mean more water per plant at a consistent level it also means more healthy fruit.

There is a great deal of very applicable information available to you over on the Container Gardening forum here.

Dave

I, too, am using containers (Smart Pots) to grow tomatoes. There seems to be some debate on whether you can put more than one plant per pot or not. However, Smart Pot officially recommends using a 20-gallon plant for ONE indeterminate tomato plant. My experience so far has said, this is a good idea as beefsteaks and romas are deep rooted and somewhat greedy regarding water and nutrients.

What I have also found is that one plant per pot along with a companion plant (such as basil) is a great way to go.

That being said, you seem married to the idea of more than one plant per pot. Most research on blossom end rot (BER) is based on a calcium deficiency along with two other possibilities - using the wrong type of nitrogen source and/or excessive nitrogen & wide moisture fluctuations. I've linked the simple article from Ohio State for you to read. It helps narrow down the reasons for BER in an easy to read and follow manner.

Someone very wise on here made a good point that container plants need more frequent & regular applications of fertilizer along with water unlike plants in the ground. With three plants to one 18-gallon pot, have you upped the nutrient/fertilizer rates for your plants? Since you are asking the plants to split whatever nutrient you feed the pot three-ways, it only stands to reason that either all will split the difference (and all will fruit and grow modestly) or play survivor of the fittest.

Since you can't really use the BER fruit, it might seem prudent to trim it, up your fertilizer and watering routine and hope for the best for the next set of fruit.

Also, are you sure that your Romas are determinates?

BAD NEWS: you could not and cannot do anything about it.

GODD NEWS: hang around a bit longer, it will go away.

BER is not a DISEASE caused by bacteria, fungi, virus, ... It is a physiological disorder.
Luckily, it does not happen to ALL tomatoes and to those that happens, does not(usually)last all season long, bt only in the beginning when the plant is (relatively)smaller...
(I owe most of this info to Dr. Carolyn)

Funniest CURE that I have heard SO FAR is feeding the plant crushed egg shell. It is like putting aspirin on your forehead to get rid of your headache. Feeding TUMS, anti acid tablets I, s not as funny.

That being said there are a few reasons I came to the conclusion my end rot problem was due to a watering issue and not over crowding. First of all the roma plants have been healthy and showing new growth everyday for at least a month. Then a heat wave hits at the beginning of this week. That is when the problems started all of a sudden. I did not get around to putting wood chips in the containers for the romas and the soil dried out on top. By putting 2 and 2 together most people would come to the logical conclusion that the end rot is being caused by lack of water.

Not to say that there isn't going to be issues in the future due to over crowding there very well could be. Like I said it is sort of an experiment right now. Some experienced gardeners have told me I could get away with 3 plants. Some people have told me it's too many. I guess I will have to just find out for myself. I have about 20 healthy cuttings from the romas I have propagated so I have a backup plan in case things go wrong. As I said earlier I will have access to a decent sized heated greenhouse for the fall and winter so this is basically a trial run for what I'm going to be doing in the greenhouse.

I have been adding worm castings to most of my plants every couple weeks. I just got an aerator yesterday and I'm going to make some worm casting tea and try that. Does anyone know how much castings I should use for 5 gallons of water or any websites that might have more info about that?

I pulled about 15 rotted tomatoes from the plants last night of various sizes (none full sized). I ended up cooking them under the broiler and cutting the rotted part off then put them in salsa. It turned out pretty good. I am probably going to have about 10-15 more to pull off today. Some of them with very minor rot I am going to leave on and see how they do. I will keep you all updated on what happens here.

BER (Blossom End Rot) is not usually a result of a lack of calcium in the soil or growing medium, but rather a transport issue. Rapidly growing plants/fruit can't transfer enough calcium to the end of the fruits and BER raises its less than pretty head. However.....

Because your plants are in containers, there could be a deficiency of calcium in the growing medium. You can use either dolomitic (garden) lime or gypsum to treat the deficiency. The suggested amount is rate of 1 tbsp/gallon of soil, or 1/2 cup per cu ft when you are preparing the containers. I can't begin to guess how much to use as a top dressing, you may want to ask about it over in the container forum.

I hope that helps.

Betsy

The other thing was his watering method. He asked why small roots were growing at the top of his container. I suggested he water each pot slowly, until water came out from the bottom holes. The roots might have grown up rather than down if no water was reaching the lower potting media.

The latest info I've read suggested that calcium is not as important for BER as once thought. Watering patterns may be the most important.

I've seen recipes with as little as 1/2 cup to 2 cups. I have about 8 different recipes tucked into my Evernote notebook. If you list what you plan to put in your tea based on ingredients you have on hand, I can find the correct proportions per any given recipe. Just let me know.

Just FYI, I've learned that gardening has a ton of variables so you have to find what works for you. Guidelines are just that - guidelines not cut and dried rules.

Glad to hear you were able to salvage the damaged fruit.

Just went out and looked at my plants. They all have new tomatoes on the top of them that weren't there last night. The leaves are not quite as wilted and I think they are starting to come back. I pulled about 10 more smaller rotted tomatoes off and plan on trimming some dead leaves off later. The weather has cooled down a bit and we might even get some rain here finally (then I can fill my rain barrels again). I think there might be some hope of getting some ripe tomatoes off these plants if I keep up on my watering.