Blossom-end Rot in Tomatoes?

[Anny]

I think I might have blossom end rot in one or two of my tomato plants. I have about 16 plants all in the same area. And two of the plants are looking a little blah, and the green tomatoes on then are rotting at the bottom right as they start to turn red.

How can I keep this from happening with my other tomatoes and how can I help the plants that seem to have it?

And am I correct in thinking that they have blossom end rot?

 

[seedcorn]

They are probably short on water and calcium. You will need a quick acting calcium. Expensive but works wonders is dried milk.

 

[miron28]

i had the same problem go to a farm store and ask them about it . they sold me some stuff worked great!

 

[vfem]

I had this... I made a mix of chicken eggs shells and coffee grounds and let them sit in water for a few days.... then watered my plants with it. The new tomatoes coming in on the problemed plants are fine now.

Hope that helps!

 

[JohnL11935]

Try this:

http://counties.cce.cornell.edu/suffolk/HortFactSheets/factsheets/Blossom End Rot.pdf

 

[digitS']

I had to click on that Cornell link, John. I find Cornell to be a wealth of information even tho' I live on the other side of the country from NY.

"Management Strategies: Since blossom end rot is so closely related to adequacy of the water supply, an important control is to regulate the moisture supply in the soil."

That's my problem every year but there's only a few of the fruit that end up with BER and then I usually get with the program and keep the soil moist enuf for the remainder of the season. My soil has calcium and that often is not the problem in many gardens but when the fruit starts to really grow quickly - adequate soil moisture becomes critical.

"If the irrigation of any kind is available, it should be used during periods of hot, drying winds." Ha! Obviously on the other side of the country from me. Hot, drying winds? Right at this moment in my tomato patch it is 96.1F, 20% humidity, with 4.0 mph from the ESE according to my friendly neighborhood weather station. Well, that's not much wind because it isn't from the W or SW.

Seems like it's just about always windy in my big veggie garden and the soil is glacial till. That's essentially gravel.

Anny, get your hands down in your soil and feel for moisture. There's lots of solar energy for growth right now. Be sure that there's adequate moisture for your plants.

Steve