tomatoes going wrong

[strawhat]

hi all
my tomato plants are growng wild, tomatos are already hanging from the plant, still green. all looks very promising.
but a strange thing occurs: before the tomatos even get ripe, they seem to rot from their bottom part (not where they are attached to the plant). it appears as a soft circular brown to black big spot.
any ideas? the 2 possibilitis I thought of are too much irrigation (every other day) or the fertilizer I used (an organic product with the composition of 5-5-7).
any ideas what's going on?

[opabinia51]

That is blossom end rot, and fungal infection that is brought on by a Calcium deficiency in the soil such that the tomatoe plant cannot fight off the opportunistic fungi. Spray the tomatoes with a calcium spray when they are green and as they turn red as per the instructions on the bottle. You can buy the spray at just about any local nursery.

For the future, place crushed eggshells and/or bone meal in the soil. You can usually get buckets of eggshells from local restaurants or cafeterias and just crush them and add them to the soil. Free and easy. Eggshells also contain, Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium (NPK) as well as a few other micronutrients (like Calcium). So, I would recommend using them instead of bone meal.

Bone meal apparently also attract local dogs to dig up your garden, and you don't want that! And it costs money, and there's no point in spending money when you can get something that is better for free.

Oh, and one small tip, rinse the eggshells with water before adding them to the soil.

[strawhat]

thanks, very helpfull

[pixelphoto]

on the egg shell do make sure you crush them up good and you may want to bury some around the plant it will take some time beofre it becomes available to the plants as nutrients hopefully all your tomatoes don't die before that happens.

[strawhat]

surprisingly, now most of the tomatos are OK. some of them still have this "rot", but only a few. I didn't add anything to the soil. so maybe it wasn't that fungus and calcium deficiency thing?

[Jess]

It is definitely blossom end rot they were suffering from but they are more likely to suffer a calcium deficiency through not being able to take it up than it not being in the soil.
Have you changed your watering routine at all or has it rained or stopped raining lately? Drought and excessive rain can cause this too. If the soil moisture level is not regulated the plant cannot take up the calcium that is present and so suffers this condition.

[LMcNair27]

[quote="opabinia51"]Spray the tomatoes with a calcium spray when they are green and as they turn red as per the instructions on the bottle. You can buy the spray at just about any local nursery.[/quote]

Hi, I'm also a new tomato gardener, and am having the same problem with my tomatoes. Glad to hear that it is possible to get this to go away without having to replant the tomatoes. So just to clarify, you're saying to spray the actual tomato fruits with the calcium spray? (Not the leaves or soil or anything?)
Thanks!

[Gnome]

LMcNair27,

So just to clarify, you're saying to spray the actual tomato fruits with the calcium spray? (Not the leaves or soil or anything?)

I believe that Opa is suggesting a foliar spray. This will of course also wet the fruit and probably, to a lesser extent, the soil as well. This is a response to a cultural problem, it is preferable to practice sound horticultural methods rather than try to play catch up.

[url]https://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/plantdiseasefs/450-703/450-703.html[/url]

Norm

[Inamon]

As per an earlier post;

Blossom end rot is caused by a calcium deficiency. This leaves soft tissue that often is infected by fungal spores, often resulting of total loss of that particular fruit. End rot is a totally physiological condition occuring most often in the early fruit. Mostly due to calcium deficiency but can also occur because plant has been hardened to fast, weather conditions are cooler during early growth (sometimes in late cooler summers).

"If your calcium is off add limestone (for acid soils with a pH below 6), or gypsum when the soil pH is in the 6 to 7 range. If calcium levels are okay, the next most important control is to maintain optimum soil moisture. When tomatoes experience the slightest bit of drought, BER may result. Using mulches will usually significantly decrease BER as excessive evaporation from soil is reduced. If growing on bare ground, avoid cultivating too close to plants to prevent root damage and the need to maintain deep root development. Varieties will vary in their susceptibility so if you have a problem with a particular variety, choose a new one next year. When side-dressing plants, using a nitrate type fertilizer like calcium nitrate is preferable to ammonium based ones like urea. Finally, don't bother to use calcium sprays. They are worthless in combating the problem. The same problem can occur on pepper and eggplant." As per Thomas A. Zitter, Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, and Steve Reiners, Associate Professor, Horticultural Sciences, NYSAES, Geneva, NY

[dondrdon]

hi all
my tomato plants are growng wild, tomatos are already hanging from the plant, still green. all looks very promising.
but a strange thing occurs: before the tomatos even get ripe, they seem to rot from their bottom part (not where they are attached to the plant). it appears as a soft circular brown to black big spot.
any ideas? the 2 possibilitis I thought of are too much irrigation (every other day) or the fertilizer I used (an organic product with the composition of 5-5-7).
any ideas what's going on?

blossom end rot can also be brought on by high heat conditions, and lack of water during these conditions, especially if the night time temps are still warm, (not below 70 F) my tomatoes are doing the same thing, but the whole plant looks bad

[LMcNair27]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I bought some calcium spray at the nursery today, so hopefully that will help. The guy there said to just spray the whole darn plant with it - leaves, flowers, fruits and all.