No matter what I do, I always have it. I want to nip it in the but this year.
I have put lime in the hole, blood meal (someone told me to) never seems to work i've used egg shells. even the stupid spray that is for blossom end rot.
I had a whole truck load of lime put on my garden 2 years ago. the ph is almost 7 just a tad less.
I found a recipe I wanted to try, got it out of jerry's back yard problem solver book
1 heaping shovel compost
1 tsp gypsum
1 tsp epsom salts
water in crushed egg shells around the plant when watering.
What is gypsum and where can I get it?
And what are your home made remedies for blossom end rot. I am abou tto plant my maters and want some advice.
Blossom end rot EVERY year
Are you planting in the same area every year? If so I would plant the tomatos in a different place. I had this problem two years ago and did the lime thing and last year it was all fine.
Sorry I can't be more help.
Susan
Cool spring conditions and the type of tomato usually contribute to BER. Whatever you put into the hole this year other than fertilizer won't be used by the plant.
Lime in the fall might help.
Jerry Baker stuff sounds good, but most often the problem corrects it's self anyway when the temps moderate...and it just looks like his stuff worked.
His 'recipes' usually do no harm, but I'm not convinced that they are everything he promises either.
I do plant them in a diff area every year, and I use the lime that's powder, so it should activate in the ground right away ? I don't use the pelletized lime.
The BER culprit in my patch was erratic watering. Haven't had a case in two years since getting some organic material in the soil, mulching heavily, and watering properly. I'd sure like for BER to continue to be a thing of the past
Frank
WE have some nasty rain in the spring, It will rain for a week solid then not for a week. I can't control the water from the end of march till the end of may, Mother nature ruins things sometimes. I do have to water alot in july and august. So I guess i'm goin g to have to live with the erratic watering. I have some really good compost out back I think I'll incorporate it into the holes when I plant the maters this year and see if that helps some.
I'd still like to try to find some gypsum if anybody know s anything about it.
Kathy Gypsum is the white stuff sheet rock is made from.Ernie
your kidding LOL. So I can just crush up the interior part between the two pieces of paper and that's it?
Kathy, It's not BER, but I had lots of problems with uneven water causing splitting. I'm thinking of putting some of my tomatoes in a PVC or cattle-panel hoophouse to control the downpours. Then I can water myself and even out the moisture. Is that an option for you? There is a great Greenhouse forum that has several discussions of both types of hoop house.
David
For some of them I may be able to, we usually plant around 30 or so plants, I'd have to buy quite a few cow panels, and the ones we do have, we're making trellis's for this year on the cucumbers. I can't bend over to pick them after a while, and DH said he'd bring them off the ground this year for me. I'm looking forward to having cukes waste high
If you have a ph of 7 you will not need to add gypsum.
It would only make your soil more alkaline.
I have not had a problem with BER since I started using Epsom Salts.
To increase my ph I use Dolomitic limestone which also contains magnesium.
Dolomitic? what's that?
I had my soil tested last year and brought the results into my local Agway. the owner suggested dolomitic lime. I spread that on and didn't have a problem with ber. It was a new location for a garden so I don't know if I would have had the problem or not!
Sue :)
kathy - don't worry about getting too much rain. It's not enough rain that's the problem. Your soil surely has enough calcium. The problem is that the plants can't absorb enough calcium if the soil is dry. Also, tomatoes like a pH of about 6.5. 7 is a little alkaline. The right pH allows the plant to absorb nutrients.
Get a rain gauge and water if you don't get an inch each week. Make sure each plant is well watered every week whether by you or by mother nature.
I don't know how you water - if by hose or soaker hose, put a tuna can on the ground or under the soaker hose and make sure it fills up a good inch before you stop. If by hand, give each plant a good gallon or so.
Anyway, this works for me. One year I just didn't water during our dry spells and BER ruined a lot of our tomatoes. The next year we watered and no BER.
Other tips: Use plenty of phosphorus (the "P" in NPK fertilizers) and low nitrogen (the "N"). Use plenty of organic matter or compost. Don't plant tomatoes until it really warms up. Don't prune. Mulch. Don't disturb roots. I read these varieties are resistent to BER: Mountain Spring hybid, Manalucie, New Yorker, Italian Gold, Walter.
Hope this isn't "too much information" : )
This message was edited Mar 14, 2008 11:36 AM
Nope, never enough info as far as I am concerned LOL Thanks for the watering tips too. I plant my tomatoes in a furrow you might say and start the water slowly at one end and let it run all the way to the other end. As usual, the ones on the front end look alot better than the end, so sometimes, I start the hose inthe middle of the row and work on the far end. This is all done during the dry months. I normally don't have to water till June or July.
I have plenty of good compost I plan on using when I plant the tomatoes which will be soon I hope. we're up to 70's during th eday now and 50 some times lower at night.
I'm jealous! It barely gets up to 60 here, if we're lucky, and it's still below freezing a lot of times at night. We generally have long cold springs which drives everybody crazy. That's cool about planting in a furrow, then you sort of have an irrigation system going there.
Mmmm, can't wait for those tomatoes!
Well, I'm procrastinating - I'm supposed to be cleaning for Easter.
WE use to plant in rows, but it's such hard work, and we always ended up making little trenches down each side for watering, cause we always lay the hose and the beginning of the row and let the water run down each row for watering . It's easier and saves on watering and time, and youc an actually walk into the garden after watering, with using a sprinkler you sink, and can't hardly get to the sprinkler to move it, and it wastes water, Half the time we're watering the grass.
I love the furrows, it works well, and now most of our plants are planted in furrows. in the veggie garden.
Try "Messenger" this year. Eden Bioscience makes it. What a difference! Should be at your local garden centers.
kathy_ann have you thought about burying pots like cans with lids between your plants so that you could have water to the plant slowly over long periods of time? I am going to use cans that I had opened with a opener that does not leave sharp edges, put very tiny holes in the cans bury them between your plants so that the top of the can is barely out of the ground and fill with water then put the lid back on to keep critters out of it and you could even cover the lids with straw until you need to refill with water again. I read a post about ollas (I think that is how they are spelled) they are made out of unglazed clay like the cheap flower pots. Since they are unglazed they let the water leach out to the plant roots slowly so they don"t receive to much water. You can make these by gluing two pots together and plugging the drain hole of the bottom pot. The hole in the top pot you use to fill it with water. I will find the link for you.
Here is the link I was telling you about.
(HYPERLINK@www.enewsbuilder.net)
Seems like too much work LOL. I usually plant the tomatoes close together more so than other folks since I have planted so many in the past. Watering in the furrow works pretty well for me.
I think melody hit the nail on the head when she mentioned the COLD conditions. Maybe you are planting them out too early. i have read that calcium absorption is "highly correlated with solar radiation and temperature of the root system."
http://www4.ncsu.edu/~mdtaylo3/Site/Publications/BER-A%20Ca%20Deficiency.pdf
note the paragraph under uptake and translocation.
I've seen bags of gypsum at discount lumber yards. It is my understanding that it doesn't change the ph of the soil.
So my guess is that it's not that you have a calcium deficiency, but rather a cold condition that doesn't allow the roots to absorb the calcium.
Len, if BER is caused by low soil temps, and maybe irregular watering, wouldn't black or red plastic mulch solve both of these problems. I've had BER and never have used the plastic mulch, but am thinking I will try it this year, maybe mulch half the plants and not the other half and compare them. My watering is by irrigating in trenches next to the plants, usually twice a week because of our hot winds and arid conditions.
I don't know if my problem is planting them too soon, I'll admiti've done that in the past, I've not always had to deal with BER but most years I do, I'm waiting this year and planting them at the end of march after easter. When all chances of frost are very much completely gone, and it's 75 degrees here by then,
we'll see if it helps.
I am also going to use compost from our compost bin and epson salt, and leaving off everything else out of the ground. I also use to always stick horticultural lime in the hole every year too. I'll leave that off too since you all think my ph is ok or a little alkaline.
marye, i am an amateur not an expert, and i don't think the experts are sure of the causes, but have some very interesting observations. I suppose we would have to know what the soil temperature is or what the critical temperature is where calcium absorption is diminished. but here is a link that i found a little eyeopening on the different colors of plastic mulches and how much they raise the soil temperature.
black=5 deg higher @ 2"
red=doesn't say
clear=8-14 degrees higher@2"
also the contact between the soil and the plastic mulch seems to make a difference.
http://www.hort.uconn.edu/IPM/veg/htms/colrmlch.htm
kathy_ann, you might also try a few plants isolated from the rest that you just don't do anything to but water if they need it.
Interesting article, however, the summary suggests that the results are inconclusive. I didn't see anything in it about BER. I guess local experimentation will answer my questions and curiosity.
marye i think the purpose of the article was to see if the different color mulches had an effect on yield.
Yes, I concluded that too, but blossom end rot, does effect yield. They mentioned aphids and some other insects and yellow mulch. I guess it just didn't go far enough to answer my questions. I understand that a person has to ask the right questions to get the right answers, and maybe nobody asked them to explore BER in relation to their colored mulches.
I will start with black plastic, which I have on hand already. And for future plantings I should look into the varieties that are BER resistant. I am in a short season area so need to have early varities but there must be some that will do the job here. . And I need to keep records. My poor memory can't tell you which of mine did good or bad last year.
This foliar spray calcium has worked well for me.
http://www.spray-n-growgardening.com/prodinfo.asp?number=NUTRICAL&top=7
The Spray-N-Grow people have quality stuff for gardeners,
Mm