My tomato plants aren't doing good...

This is my first time growing tomatoes. The plants themselves look good but all my tomatoes rot on the bottom before they ever get big or ripe.


What am I doing wrong??

Thanks!
Amanda

Hi Amanda,

Much talk about this on the Tomato Forum. It's called blossom end rot (BER). I think some varieties of tomatoes are more prone to it than others. I had it last year at the beginning, then after the first couple of weeks they seemed to straighten out and were fine after that. I only had it one variety of tomato -- can't remember now which one it was.

However, it is caused by a calcium deficiency.
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/pp/notes/oldnotes/vg19.htm

There is treatment for it. I don't know whether it works or not as I've not tried it.
http://www.gardeners.com/Controlling%20Blossom-End%20Rot/5354,default,pg.html

Good luck,

Karen

The best and only real cure for B.E.R. is consistant and proper watering . Do not let the plants dry out. When you water do so deeply it is much better to water a couple times a week very well than every day very shallow.

Proper, even watering is a necessity, and I also advise on sprinkling pelletized lime and/or epsom salts around your plants.

feldon30,

What does the lime and/or salts do?

My tomato plants are having the same problem but right after the super big rains they turn brown and mush starting on the bottom half. Will the lime or epson salt help that?

Cant speak for the lime, but the Epsom salts add the deficiency the plants have, also the watering needs to be regular and properly wetting the roots as tomatoes are gready feeders and take up a lot of nutrients from the soil, either indoors as I have to grow mine, or out doors in the soil you will learn that any fruit, veg that has seeds growing inside or on the skin like strawberries, need a rich humus pile of stuff added to the soil under the top layer if you can, then as the roots grow down, they get all the nutrients they need, plus it helps retain moisture better in the soil as you water. good luck. Weenel.

Thank you WeeNel. =) Would compost count as the humus you're talking about? So a good layer of Epsom salt, then humus on top? Thank you so much for your advice!!

I would not put more than a small handful of Pelletized Lime and even less than that of Epsom Salt per plant. I don't have the exact info on why to use one or both products, except that lime can stave off BER.

feldon, and others, the lime will help to contribute a bit of calcium to the soil as well as raise the pH a bit. Dolomitic lime will also add magnesium so if you use that type of lime you can skip using the Epsom's salts (Epsom's being magnesium sulfate). Epsom's alone won't do anything for BER.

Consistent watering and proper feeding is your best bet. And Amanda, BER most often appears in the early part of growth/production of a tomato and quite often goes away on its own; later fruit will not show signs of it. You may have plenty of calcium in your soil but it is just not be completely dispersed though-out the plant and/or making it into the fruit itself.

Wish I knew more about where you were in Texas, your temperatures, and your soil. I was under the impression your soil was more alkaline out your way. If so, adding lime would not be helpful. Feldon will know more than I about soil conditions. (Heck, until recently I pictured Texas as one bit "Raw Hide" movie set with open lands. I had no idea it also had wonderful lush forests/trees, and even foothills!)

Happy Gardening!
Shoe

Texas is over 700 miles tall and over 700 miles wide. There are all manner of climates and growing zones. Folks in the panhandle get snow.

The soil here is gummy, terrible clay soil which is like trying to grow in play-doh. I just stripped off the grass, built a box, and filled it with soil from elsewhere. Then lots of compost. So I don't really worry or depend upon the existing soil.

"The soil here is gummy, terrible clay soil which is like trying to grow in play-doh."

Hah! Feldon, that has got to be the best description of soil I've ever heard. I know exactly what you are referring to! Love it!

Thanks! Texas is like a county all to itself, isn't it? Has its own varied climates, it's varied turf from mtns to desert to lushness. One of these days I'll get there!

Shoe

You would be welcome here any time, Shoe.

Let us know when you arrive and a bunch of us would be happy to show you around.

Thanks, Bubba_Mo! One of these days I may be giving you a holler! The past 6 years I've made it further West each time I've been able to make a get-away from here. Unfortunately my wanderings have only included (so far!) Tenn, Ky, Indiana, Missouri, eastern Arkansas and doubling back thru Alabama, South Carolina, etc. If I keep it up each year I'll go further west and eventually they'll let me into Texas, eh?

Feldon, I hear you made it to Efland, NC last year (Tomatopalooza). I hope to make it to ya'lls tomato fest one day as well!

Best to All,
Happy Gardening in all the gardens of Life!

Shoe

Guys, I hate to be the party pooper, but biochemically speaking magnesium is needed for calcium absorption. It's normally a trace element, but may be missing or in low supply in less than perfect soil. The magnesium in the epsom salts helps the plant absorb more calcium and prevent BER.

All Epsom Salts will do is mask the problem which is improper watering. Thats my story and it works for me. I grew in buckets in a gh for years and the plants near the doors allways dried out and allways got BER. I hooked up a drip water system on a timer and it went away.

Most plants improve and grow out of it on their own if you water right.

Wish I had a solution for BER. Last year all six of my Jaune Flamme tomato plants came down with a case--and they were all in Earth Boxes, which theoretically ensures the watering is very even. ( Dolomitic lime had also been added to the soil in the boxes.) I had other heirlooms planted that didn't have a problem. By mid-season (late August here) there was no more BER to be seen. It just went away. I concluded that some types are just more prone to BER than others and that it will go away in time.

Had my soil tested at UConn two years running now and it has an above optimum level of magnesium (317 lbs per acre). Calcium levels are a hair under optimum at 1686 lbs per acre. As excess magnesium can block calcium uptake, adding Epsom Salts to my soil would be counterproductive and might even induce BER. I almost added Epsom Salts the first year growing as I had seen it mentioned on several forums as a general panacea and preventative. Now I'm looking for calcitic limestone instead of dolomitic limestone as added magnesium is what I do not need.

I carved a 30 x 40 foot garden out of a lawn which hadn't been regularly maintained in over three decades. Do not believe anyone added magnesium to the soil but it is a puzzle to me that the levels are where they are. With our sandy loam and rain, P, K , magnesium etc are leached out of the soil fairly rapidly.

Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott at Washington State University on the science behind the efficacy of Epsom Salts as a soil additive:

http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/~Linda%20Chalker-Scott/Horticultural%20Myths_files/Myths/Epsom%20salts.pdf

Bottom line to it is soil which is intensively cultivated may lack magnesium but adding it without testing the soil first may do no good and might do some harm.



This message was edited Jun 22, 2008 10:21 PM