OK-what's going on with my tomatoes?!!

[desertgirl]

Ummm.....

What the heck is this?


Top of tomato ;

Bottom of tomato ;

 

[Greenthumb18]

It looks like blossom end rot to me, adding calcium to the tomato plants will help to prevent this.

 

[desertgirl]

Calcium..in what form? Can I just buy in most nurseries?

 

[Greensage45]

Hi,

A good source of calcium is eggshells. You can actually dissolve eggshell in a little vinegar which would make it more water soluble; this is what folks did in the past to supplement calcium in their diets.

I have a friend that recently showed me some bloom end-rot on her first set of tomatoes. So we looked online and we saw a few sites that indicated that this is caused from too many extremes of wet-to-dry between waterings. My friend was definitely letting her tomatoes dry out too long between waterings, and then when she did she literally was having them standing in water. I will have to check back with her to see if a more stable watering schedule helped. As far as my garden goes, I am watering in furrows and only the top 2 inches of soil dries out before I water again, so actually mine never dry out at all (roots). I have noticed a few blooms falling off, but I can never tell if that is from winds, birds, or me digging for that first red tomato!

I sure hope you find your solution. I have been told in the past that I should not need to add eggshells to my soil since it is a heavy clay, but I do and I think it has done a good thing for my soil; especially with my worm population.

Goodluck,

Ron

 

[digitS']

I think you've gotten a real good diagnosis and advice, DesertGirl.

There's just a little additional that I think may be important for you to know. Calcium actually helps regulate moisture within the plant and its fruit.

Calcium may be in adequate supply in your soil, it might be just that your tomatoes are growing rapidly right now &/or things like wind. The plants water requirement may just be very high and circumstances are just a little "off" so proper development of fruit has suffered.

This problem is also common in summer squash and eggplant. Don't despair. One good thing is that it isn't a disease that can spread. I've nearly always had a little BER in the plants despite the calcium that's available here in the soil. My problem is keeping soil moisture at adequate levels. The plants and I get past this problem and on to better times.

Get your fingers down in the soil a few times each week. If that attention doesn't solve the problem, take some steps to increase calcium levels. Actually, organic sources of calcium applied modestly aren't likely to cause any problems no matter whether you've got too little of this mineral, or not.

Blossom End Rot of Tomato

Steve

 

[Catalina]

I feed mine crab shells, milk and bone meal.

You can buy bone meal at any nursery.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

what about good old milk?? will that boost the calcium???? i've been wondering about this as i think my soil is deficient in it.

i have tons of eggshells....and then dogs who dig them up so i cant use.

but what about milk? (i should note i milk dairy goats so its 'free', such as it is) would that work?

 

[desertgirl]

Thanks, as always for the great advice!!!

It has been pretty hot, so there is a possibility that the water extremes are too severe (even thought we water a little in the morning and a little in the evening to try to prevent this, you know how the desert is...

I'll give the eggshells a try. Keep ya posted!row

 

[desertgirl]

Just an update-

i ground up some eggshells and buried them near the roots of my tomatoes. I noticed that about two weeks later, this nastiness was no longer a problem!

Thanks,as always, for such good advice!:tools

 

[vfem]

Congrats!

I'm glad you posted... I had the same issue... now mine are just cracking from so much rain!