A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum The Tomato Forum "dry rot"

Hello Everyone,

I am growing beautiful tomato plants full of nice green tomatoes. I had 2 tomatoes that were ripe, so I picked them. The bottoms of the tomatoes were black and rotten. I called the local nursery and they told me that it was "dry rot" and that there was not enough water. I thought that I had given the garden plenty of water. Has anyone heard of this?

tomatoes can get 'blosom end rot' from a lack of calcium, I've heard. mine have never gotten it so i'm not completly sure if the rot develops at the bottom or where it attaches to the plant. more advice should be coming along shortly. welcome to the forum!

Yup, 'dry rot' is from a calcium deficiency. Most time tilling around them too deeply or even the fact of transplanting them in cold soil will cause it. It's a strange thing....adding calcium now won't help them either.

I'd keep them watered more often to see if it will control it now. How often were you watering before?

The Technical name is called Blossom End Rot. It can come from too much water at once- or lack of Calcium, or Magnesium. Usally it occurs when a dry spell is followed by a wet/rainy spell. Try using Epsom salt next time you plant. You may even want to try to side dress the plants now for further crops coming on. Epsom salt is Magnesium Sulfate and cheap to buy.

Epsom salt is great for magnesium but you should also add a calcium supplement like bone meal to the hole. You can still get BER after using calcium if the watering is extreme.