Blossom end rot

[Leroy]

Does the rot start when the tomatoes are small or when they get closer to being ripe?

Can it just affect a few tomatoes on one plant?

[kygreg]

In my limited experience in zone 6; it mostly starts when the tomatoes are small and seems to be a little more prevalent after 2-3 days of wet weather followed by some very hot days; however in most cases it affects a small number of tomatoes on a plant and most of the fruits seem unaffected.

[GIZZARDFARM]

I spray my plants once while blooming and twice when they are fruiting with BER medicine from my Farmers COOP (mixed with water) and havent had BER in years.

Gizzard

[carolyn137]

I hope that both of you have read the thread in this Forum posted a few days ago by ami on BER.

There are no sprays that can prevent it, there is no association with Ca++ being able to prevent it.

The article that ami posted is just excellent and debunks so many myths about BER.

But to answer your question, BER is usually seen early in the season when the plants are not quite mature and are more susceptible to the many stresses that can induce it, so it's usually the earliest fruits that are affected and as the plant does mature the later fruits are usually OK.

It can appear on unripe green tomatoes as well as those almost ripe. It just depends on what stage the fruit is at when Ca++ doesn't get to the distil (bottom) part of the fruits.

So often folks use Stop Rot or something like that and say that it worked, but the fact is that BER usually disappears spontaneously when the plants mature.

[Worth1]

I have a formula for Rot X if any of you guys want to buy it from me.

No really, as Carolyn said there is no magic spray.(that works)


Worth

[Leroy]

I was just asking because. I had a few tomatoes last year thet went bad when they were ripe. We did have a lot of rain last year though.

Thanks

[bryanccfshr]

I am with Carolyn and Worth in agreement. The only way to prevent this is to try and reduce stresses such as drought stress to the tomato plants. This isn't so much the plant not getting enough calcium as it is the plant scavenging the calcium from its fruits while it is in duress. Prevent the stress and you overcome the cause.

[GIZZARDFARM]

I know that Worth and Carolyn have more knowledge in their pinky toe than i have but I respectively disagree. I use it every year and have for 10 years. 4 different years I have failed to spray them early and all four times I had BER. Spray and it dissappears. I do however agree that it will play itself out without spray, but I find it interesting that the years I spray I dont lose one mater to BER and when I dont I lose several.. IM not trying to be a smart mouth ya'll just know what turns my plow so to speak.

[dice]

Perhaps the spray has more than just a calcium compound
in it. I was reading this blog entry on humins, humates, and
humic and fulvic acids. Both humic and fulvic acids, especially
the latter, can penetrate cell membranes when sprayed on
the foliage, and one of the things they typically enable
(according to the blog entry) was greater mobility of nutrients
from one location to another within the plant (possibly including
calcium, which usually will not migrate from leaves and growing
stems to fruit).

Also, what happens if the leaves become "calcium-saturated"?
Would the plant allow calcium from the roots to be used
to meet the demand from fruits instead?

(It is possible, of course, that what the spray actually does
that is useful is reduce transpiration, and that simply spraying
a plant with water or with something that will partially seal
the pores of the leaves would have the same effect. Good
opportunity for an experiment: pick a couple of plants
that you can afford to sacrifice and only spray those with
water, while giving the others beside them your regular
anti-BER treatment, and see what happens.)

[amideutch]

Gizzard, what are the ingredients in the COOP "BER MEDICINE". Ami

[GIZZARDFARM]

Not sure Ami havent purchased any this year and used all I had last year but Friday Ill swing by the CO-OP and pick up a bottle and post the ingrediants here.

Gizzard

[gardengalrn]

Another thing I had with BER is getting all excited as that first tom starts to get ripe...only to turn it over and see the telltale black bottom. It seemed to me that certain varieties are more prone but not all fruits will end up with it. I guess I should revise and say that one year Caspian Pink had about all fruits with either BER or severe catfacing.