I was sick for a few days and did not water my garden. There was a very unusual and very light rain one morning but other than that the plants did not get any water. When I went out this morning I saw a few of my tomatoes had BER. Could this just be from the lack of water? Is there anything I can do to save them or should I just keep watering them? I want to give my hubby clear instructions since I am having a baby in a few days and will again not be able to water the plants.
Oh, one more thing. They are in large containers not in the ground and it is starting to get hot here (80's). I grow them in partial sun because I have found that the summer is so hot here that full sun burns the plants.
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ButterflyGarden
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applestar
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I'm not entirely familiar with BER except that I did get them on some of my Roma-type sauce tomatoes on just the first few harvests -- they were OK after that.
There's a sticky thread on BER though, that has a lot of information:
https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25876
Once it gets hot, they may experience Blossom Drop. I think there's a sticky thread on that as well.
Take care of yourself. Wishing you all the best!
There's a sticky thread on BER though, that has a lot of information:
https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25876
Once it gets hot, they may experience Blossom Drop. I think there's a sticky thread on that as well.
Take care of yourself. Wishing you all the best!
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rainbowgardener
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BER takes a while to show up (turn black) so if your's showed up only a few days after not watering then it was not the cause for those fruits. BER is common in containers because for the low ratio of root area to plant top. It is one of the few times when (in addition to water stress) calcium level in the soil could be a factor. And if you were growing plum shaped tomatoes, most likely they were going to get BER in a conatiner no matter what.
gardenvt, I don't think anyone was saying that containers cause BER but that in a container a tomato (especially a plum type) is more susceptible to BER due to the small soil area and nutrients.
My Romas always get and outgrow BER but it's SOOO frustrating tossing that many tomatoes until they do outgrow. I know you can eat them but I eat with my eyes first. Each year (3rd year now) I try to prevent BER so I'm crossing my fingers that I got it right this year!
Back on topic, like TZ said I wouldnt think 3 days of no watering is the problem. Have you had any problems with BER in the past? In containers they may need more calcium or if I remember correctly (TZ please correct me if wrong) it could be from too much nitrogen and the plant takes in too many nutrients too fast and there are none to replace them?
My Romas always get and outgrow BER but it's SOOO frustrating tossing that many tomatoes until they do outgrow. I know you can eat them but I eat with my eyes first. Each year (3rd year now) I try to prevent BER so I'm crossing my fingers that I got it right this year!
Back on topic, like TZ said I wouldnt think 3 days of no watering is the problem. Have you had any problems with BER in the past? In containers they may need more calcium or if I remember correctly (TZ please correct me if wrong) it could be from too much nitrogen and the plant takes in too many nutrients too fast and there are none to replace them?
The nitrogen doesn't do anything like bind up soil calcium, it just helps make the tops too big for the roots, and we are back to not enough water + calcium passing through the plant to get calcium to the fruit. In ground tomato roots will fill the soil for five feet in all directions (125 cubic feet if my math is correct), which is a lot more total available calcium than in any practical container, which is why adding a bit more calcium to the mix is not a bad idea if you are having BER problems every year. Containers do help warm roots up which helps them absorb calcium early in the season, but they are often undersized and so dry out quickly creating water stress.
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ButterflyGarden
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So it must be that they need Calcium then. I put some egg shells in before I planted them but I guess it was not enough. My mother is coming from the States in about 2 weeks and is bringing something for BER (as I do not have frequent access to a well stocked nursery or garden store), in the mean time is there anything I can do? Would it help to try to put in more eggshells now?
I don't think I can repot them because they already have fruit.
By the way, they are not Roma or plum but various other container size varieties. There are no full size tomatoes.
I don't think I can repot them because they already have fruit.
By the way, they are not Roma or plum but various other container size varieties. There are no full size tomatoes.
There is not much you can do now because calcium additions are pretty low solubility and mostly react/dissolve based on to soil acidity, so you can't water them in like fertilizer.
Next year I would add about 1/2 cup of powdered limestone/dolomite (garden lime), or eggshell, or crushed seashell-oystershell-chicken scratch, or white calcareous beach sand per 5 gallon container. Mixed well into the potting mix.
You could try leaf pruning...removeing a few large lower leaves, which would shift the root to leaf ratio. BER "infects" tomatoes early in development during the two week period after the flower falls off, although the effects show up much later. So time the pruning to flowering because if done too early the roots will have time to stop growing to regain the previous equilibrium.
Next year I would add about 1/2 cup of powdered limestone/dolomite (garden lime), or eggshell, or crushed seashell-oystershell-chicken scratch, or white calcareous beach sand per 5 gallon container. Mixed well into the potting mix.
You could try leaf pruning...removeing a few large lower leaves, which would shift the root to leaf ratio. BER "infects" tomatoes early in development during the two week period after the flower falls off, although the effects show up much later. So time the pruning to flowering because if done too early the roots will have time to stop growing to regain the previous equilibrium.