Is this the start of blossom end rot ?

[hardland]

I just noticed a small dark area at the end of my purple russian tomato friut. The fruit is still green and about the size of a very small egg. The end of the fruit has a dark, almost black area about 5-10mm round. I sthis blossom end rot and if so, what can I do??

[hendi_alex]

Sounds like it to me. Sometimes a plant's fruit are affected and then later as the root system matures, the problem goes away. IMO irregular water supply in the number one contributor to blossom end rot. The problem is related to calcium deficiency though. It wouldn't hurt to work some peletized lime into the soil over and and just beyond the root zone. I think that spraying with a dilute solution of milk is supposed to help, and there are other sprays available. Here is a quote from:

Douglas C. Sanders
Extension Horticultural Specialist
Department of Horticultural Science
College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
North Carolina State University

"The plants may be sprayed with a calcium solution at the rate of 4 lb of calcium nitrate or calcium chloride per 100 gal of water (or 4 level Tbs per gal of water). This spray should be applied 2 to 3 times a week, beginning at the time the second fruit clusters bloom."

https://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/hil-28-d.html

[tn_veggie_gardner]

Yea, what hendi says is great on-the-spot advice. Definitely sounds like the start of BER.

[tedln]

I did some research on the web thinking I had read the Purple Russian variety may be prone to BER. From most peoples comments, it seems to be very resistant to BER. The condition you described does sound like BER though. I don't know if you have stated before, but are you growing in a container. Many conditions like BER can appear more easily in containers because moisture and nutrient levels can vary rapidly in containers.

Ted

[hardland]

So the plant still has a chance to bear good fruit. It sounds like it can be fixed.

[Dillbert]

from a long time reading & researching . . .

BER is not "fatal" to the plant - or the tomato, actually. chop it out and eat the tomato . . .

popular actual science (and it's all in an imperfect world) holds that BER is the result of calcium deficiency and furthermore the issue "happens" at the time the blossom is pollinated.

then there's the theory of eggs shells, Tums, etc, when planting.
then there's the research that says soil temp / etc / drastically affect the ability of the plant to absorb/use of any amount of available calcium.

basically the theory holds you can put 20 dozen eggs shells in, under, between or over the tomato plant and it will do no good until the environmental conditions - at blossom time - permit the plant to utilize the available calcium.

who knows . . .

but I can tell you from 30 yrs of organic gardening & egg shells, I'd be hard pressed to cite you even one single year where the early plants blossoms / fruits did not produce a couple BER types.

as the season goes on, the problem goes away, by magic I suppose.

[rainbowgardener]

Well, blossom end rot is a stress reaction in the plants, which causes them to have difficulty taking up calcium. It becomes a calcium deficiency in the plant, but it is not caused by a calcium deficiency in the soil.

One of the things that can cause the stress is cold nights early in the season. That would be why Dilbert in PA usually has some BER early in the season. I'm assuming that is not necessarily the problem for hardland's plants in South Florida (but I don't know what the weather has been like there). Other than cold nights early on, hendi_alex is right the next most common stress for tomatoes is inconsistent watering, being allowed to dry out a bit, then getting a ton of rain, for example (when the tomato fruits are more developed that scenario also causes cracking).

Here's an earlier post I did about BER:

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=86031

[hardland]

Wow, Thank you all so much for your input. I get the feeling that I will have to go thru a season, or two, to figure this out. Rookie mistakes !!
Really, What a great forum for information this is.
I'm starting to wonder how people grew Tomatoes/vegetables from scratch before all the access to information and supplies we have.
It's a hobby that I really enjoy. Thanks

[hardland]

So I purchased some Blossom end rot spray solution, it sounds like it's just concentrated Calcium. Sprayed about a diluted quart on my 4 tomato plants this morning. I am curious if my purple russian will be OK. If a fruit has the start of a dark spot, does it still have a chance? Should I pick it off? Let it grow larger? Can you let it grow and ripen then cut the tomato in half and still eat it? So many questions...

[hendi_alex]

I always cull any fruit that has blossom end rot, as it makes more sense to me to let the plant to spend all of its energy making only top quality fruit.

[rainbowgardener]

Can you let it grow and ripen then cut the tomato in half and still eat it?

Yes, it's just a rotten spot, like an apple with a brown mushy spot. You cut that out and eat the apple....

And the plant is fine. If you figure out what is causing the stress and deal with it, the other tomatoes will not get the BER.