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Old 08-05-2016, 08:32 PM
 
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Ok I know I'm not alone. So we have a lot of tomatoes. The problem is, when they turn red there is a black spot on the tomato.



The leaves aren't turning black, so I've counted out any type of blight. It seems 'Blossom End Rot' is the correct diagnosis.

From what I've read, it could be 1) a lack of Calcium available to the plant, 2) an issue with the PH of the soil, or 3) inconsistent watering/ watering over the top of plants not underneath.

The thing is, we don't plant every year. So the issue of over utilizing the area shouldn't be an issue. Every time we do plant; however, we get this same problem with the tomatoes.

I guess it has to be something with the soil. Maybe ours lacks calcium or something. I've heard egg shells, crushed bone etc.. I've also heard those don't work so well.

So any advise with this?


Side note.. we have in the same garden bed the following plants:

Zucchini, Cucumber, Green Peppers, and Cantaloupe.

We have no real issue with those plants. Everything is growing fine.
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Old 08-05-2016, 08:37 PM
 
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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How do you water? I have never had this problem, and I use a soaker hose on a timer, and water 45 minutes a day at the same time, 4pm now that it's in the 80s. It was at 1/2 hour earlier in the season. They like being evenly moist, drying out too much or being too wet causes this more often than lack of calcium.
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Old 08-05-2016, 09:00 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hemlock140 View Post
How do you water? I have never had this problem, and I use a soaker hose on a timer, and water 45 minutes a day at the same time, 4pm now that it's in the 80s. It was at 1/2 hour earlier in the season. They like being evenly moist, drying out too much or being too wet causes this more often than lack of calcium.
We water with the hose if it doesn't get rain. We don't water every day though. I have been watering about every other day depending on temperature, etc and I water about 7:30 to 8:00pm currently. All the other plants are thriving pretty good with the exception of one Zucchini plant which just recently started looking droopy with yellow leaves. It's still kicking out Zucchini's though like a mother giving birth to sextuplets I can't figure for that one if it just simply is past it's life span. I didn't find any worms burrowed in the area, and we don't have too many stinkbugs are cucumber beetles thankfully.
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Old 08-05-2016, 09:35 PM
 
Location: McKinleyville, California
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I had the same problem years ago. Two years in a row the tomatoes had blossom end rot. The next year I top dressed the bed with over a foot of turkey manure from my flock of 18 turkey, then planted 2 pounds of onion sets in the 10' by 14' bed, got over 200 pounds of onions that fall. The next year I planted beefsteak and yellow tomatoes, they did great, no blossom end rot, got over 300 pounds of tomatoes that summer. I also planted marigolds that year with the tomatoes. So I am not sure which factor affected the tomatoes, it could have even been a combination.
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Old 08-05-2016, 09:48 PM
 
Location: Mid-Atlantic
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Have the soil tested.
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Old 08-05-2016, 10:29 PM
 
Location: Out there somewhere...a traveling man.
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Blossom end of tomato fruits is the classic symptom of blossom-end rot. This relatively common garden problem is not a disease, but rather a physiological disorder caused by a calcium imbalance within the plant. It can occur in pepper, squash, cucumber, and melon fruits as well as tomatoes.
Control and prevention: Prevent Blossom-End Rot: Tomato Diseases and Problems | Gardeners.com
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Old 08-06-2016, 05:49 AM
 
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We get this too...even while tomatoes are still green! In that case I pick them, cut the rot off, and fry 'em with bacon fat.


We are now using crushed eggshells, cheap calcium pills and Epsom salts.
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Old 08-06-2016, 06:55 AM
 
Location: Eastern Tennessee
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wit-nit View Post
Blossom end of tomato fruits is the classic symptom of blossom-end rot. This relatively common garden problem is not a disease, but rather a physiological disorder caused by a calcium imbalance within the plant. It can occur in pepper, squash, cucumber, and melon fruits as well as tomatoes.
Control and prevention: Prevent Blossom-End Rot: Tomato Diseases and Problems | Gardeners.com
^^^^^this^^^^^^

I used to save egg shells to crush and put in the tomato bed. I have also used (no kidding) calcium based antacid tablets. You can also buy pellets of calcium at the coop or nursery

I see Nonchalance beat me to it!
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Old 08-06-2016, 08:56 AM
 
4,178 posts, read 3,379,473 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by grampaTom View Post
^^^^^this^^^^^^

I used to save egg shells to crush and put in the tomato bed. I have also used (no kidding) calcium based antacid tablets. You can also buy pellets of calcium at the coop or nursery

I see Nonchalance beat me to it!

But I didn't say antacid tabs!

Actually, I had wondered about those.
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Old 08-06-2016, 09:10 AM
 
6,822 posts, read 6,616,799 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wit-nit View Post
Blossom end of tomato fruits is the classic symptom of blossom-end rot. This relatively common garden problem is not a disease, but rather a physiological disorder caused by a calcium imbalance within the plant. It can occur in pepper, squash, cucumber, and melon fruits as well as tomatoes.
Control and prevention: Prevent Blossom-End Rot: Tomato Diseases and Problems | Gardeners.com
What I don't understand, if it is a Calcium Deficiency issue of the soil, and the same blossom end rot happens to Peppers, Squash, Cucumbers, and Melon Fruits (which ironically composes of all fruits/veges within the bed using the same soil) why it is not happening to all of the crops?
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