A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Tomatos why can't i ever get them right?

I went outside this am to check my tomatos as usual and overnight, they have developed blossom end rot....I am so mad
We had a real good downpour last night, and I'm guessing they got too much water, but weren't soaking wet ...I'll just keep my eye on them and see if things improve..
if not, I am not going to attempt to grow tomatos again unless they are in the ground...

I looks like you know all about calcium and water causing BER! Just be sure to water consistantly--which is hard when mother nature interferes!! It also might be the variety, I've heard that paste varieties are particularly prone to BER. I am growing both paste and slicing and I have yet to have a single slicing tomato with BER, yet I'm regularly pulling 3 or 4 tomatoes off every paste plant.

BER is much more common in earlier fruit. Have patience.

John, I will try to have patients thanks, and
Sarah,
Well let me see....
I have Early Girls, Brandy Wine, Better Boy, Ruegers or Rutgers, Romas I don't know if any of those are paste varieties..
...I'm gonna water them this evening.............and make sure I dont' get the foilage wet.....

I'm doing much better with not getting BER this year. Part of it is that it has been a lot moister here this year than last year. And I've amended the soil with oystershell powder and egg shell powder and added as much compost as I could fit in the raised bed. Not to say I'm still not having problems but I've only seen one BER so far this year.

Paste varieties tend to be oblong or oval shaped, like your Romas. Slicing tomatoes are round such as your early girl, brandywine, and better boy. (I've never heard of the other 2 varieties so I don't have a clue what sort they are.) Because my romas have been so prone to BER this year, I'm definately going to be sure to work in some lime next year.

Sarah, you would be better off geting a soil test done before applying limestone. If your soil is already on the alkaline side, you would be making it worse applying lime. A soil test, which is usually very inexpensive, will give you a wealth of information about the pH and nutrient levels in your soil.

This common misconception that BER is related to calcium levels in the soil has to be cleared up. The latest research has proven that this is most often not the case. 99% of the time there is MORE than enough Ca in the soil to fill the plant's needs. It's most often caused by either too little or too much water, both of which will cause the plant to be unable to absorb enough calcium from the soil to keep up with the plant's growth needs. The plant then starts translocating it, pulling it away from the fruits causing BER.

Oh, and btw, paste varities are more prone to BER than others. I don't know why this is though.

This is possibly the best explanation of the occurrence of BER in tomatoes i've come across.
It's from the Uni' of Georgia and gives good detail in laymans terms of the causes, prevention etc. Suggest you stash it in your fav's.

I have Roma's this year and have not had a problem with them. I just seeded a 5 gal bucket full and am making sauce out of them.

Looks like a little outdated information at that link. Recent research has suggested the source of the problem is more due to inadequate or overabundant soil moisture causing the plant to be unable to draw the calcium that it needs from the soil. Which, if you think about the instances surrounding it's occurences, makes much more sense. BER occurs more often in container plants(difficult to keep well-watered), occurs more often early in the season to first-of-the-season fruit(immature feeder root system makes plants unable to draw as much moisture out of the soil as it needs to support growth), occurs more often in un-mulched plants(mulching holds in soil moisture), etc, etc. Most soils have more than adequate amounts of calcium available for a plant's needs. Of course, the calcium could be tied up if pH is too low.....but this is just yet another reason that soil tests are an invaluable source of information.