bottom rot in tomatoes.

[simple life]

I have alot of tomatoes growing, still green but a couple of them have turned brown on the bottom. They are on different plants and they are up high on the plant, getting plenty of sun. What is causing this?

 

[Dace]

Blossom End Rot. You need to add some calcium to your soil. Try lightly digging in some crushed egg shells.

 

[bills]

Pray that you don't have tomato blight, and it's just the blossom end rot problem, which is easily cured. Is any of the foilage starting to discolour?

Bone meal gently dug in, and watered may help as well if it's the calcium problem. Regular watering is also important to insure the plants roots get to fix the calcium.

 

[simple life]

Thanks so much, all of the foliage looks good and we water everyday. The soil was trucked in as a mix of loam and compost so I thought it would be fine but its obviously not. I will use the calcium.

 

[SewingDiva]

Natalie, funny you should post this, we have the same problem!

And I dont live that far from you. Our tomatoes are going crazy this year, very prolific, and like you it affects just a few fruits on certain varieties (Green Zebra and Marvel Striped so far.)

When I first stared to garden years ago I experienced blossom end rot, and at the time it affected every tomato on the plant. I also had rampant vine growth but very little fruit, not the current situation at all. Back then I was also an ignorant rookie and I was dosing my plants with Miracle Gro like a drug dealer , and I suspect excess nitrogen was the culprit.

I've never been convinced that the calcium hypothesis applies to every situation and my gut tells me that blossom end rot is a more systemic problem with many origins. How could egg shells possible help a plant that is fully mature? The egg shells won't break down for weeks, and my tomatoes are already setting fruit.

We should compare notes to see what develops with this problem.


~Phyllis

 

[simple life]

Isn't it strange how it affects only some of the plants and they are in the same bed? We have had alot of rain this year(its raining here tonight again) and we water when its dry, so the plants look great with lots of fruit and then this is happening.
I haven't been using any fertilizer since the soil was trucked in, its loam and compost mix.
I am not even sure fertilizer would help since they are growing great.
I have coffee grounds from starbucks that I am debating sidedressing some of the plants to see what happens, then I have the 10-10-10.
Yeah, lets keep tabs on what we do and what happens with the plants. It would be good to compare what happens. By the way, one of mine is the green zebra variety too.

 

[Reinbeau]

I am a bit further south of Natalie and haven't had much rain at all, until this week, and at that, we still haven't had more than .a quarter of an inch overall in July. My tomatoes are showing no sign of blossom end rot. I have been using the red plastic mulch these past two years and I have to say I think it makes a difference. I've always had a problem with early blight, that's minimal, and the tomatoes seem to ripen evenly, with little blossom end rot, no matter what the rain situation is. Might be worth a shot, even at this late stage, to give it a try.

 

[Grow 4 Food]

I would add pellitized lime. About a cup per plant, just scatter it around the bottom and rake a little bit. You should notice a difference in a couple days. I would go ahead also and remove any and all tomatoes that have this problem - red or green.

 

[simple life]

Thanks for all the help, its much appreciated. Where do you get he red mulch? It downpoured here for a while last night and everything is pretty wet, is it better to wait for things to dry out or just add the mulch to the wet soil, I don't want to cause any rot.

 

[Grow 4 Food]

IMO, I would let it dry out. You won't be compressing the soil by walking on it in the mud either.