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Re: Blossom End Rot Tomatoes

Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

Kim,

Blossom End Rot (BER) - from 100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden;

"Stresses early in the season promote the development of BER;...include too 
much fertilizer (causing too rapid plant growth), uneven delivery of 
moisture, and high winds (which cause drying).  Any or all of these stresses 
cause calcium to leave the fruit and go into the main part of the plant, and 
this lack of calcium in the fruit allows the black spot to develop.....

In past years, it was thought that the addition of calcium to the soil would 
prevent BER, but more recent research suggests that this is not true because 
the entire plant is not calcium deficient. ...  If your soil is known to be 
calcium deficient, which is quite rare, you might want to add a small amount, 
but adding calcium does not prevent BER....

BER usually disappears as the season progresses, probably because larger 
plants can withstand the many stresses that induce BER.  Not all varieties of 
tomatoes are equally susceptible---paste tomatoes are the most vulnerable... 
The two most important things you can do to prevent this disease are to 
ensure even delivery of moisture by mulching, and to avoid overfertilizing."


Kim, every year I get BER, and it goes away as the season progresses.  
Usually it is just my paste types that get it, but once in a while some of 
the beefsteaks get it too.  As the summer goes on, the BER goes away.  If my 
soil was deficient in calcium, then, I would think that the BER would never 
go away.   

Also, I water my tomatoes about twice a week, depending on the rain.  My soil 
drains well, and so I give each plant about a gallon of water each time I 
water.  Last week, when we had that terrible heat spell, I watered about 
every other day.  Even with a heavy layer of mulch my plants were wilting in 
the morning, before the heat even set in.  No signs of BER, Yet!  

This year I am only growing a couple of paste type tomatoes, the rest are all 
beefsteak types.  I just got tired of the BER thing, so I'm not going to grow 
as many that will get it. 

Denese - holding her breath and keeping her fingers crossed that the evil BER 
gods will stay away. 
(near Cincinnati, zone 6a, almost in zone 5)


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