Calimag Supplement for BER? Also, Tomato Not Fruiting

[xpress1127]

if you have any questions about the hydrosoil set up please feel free to ask .
I have a question maybe some 1 can answer it for me I purchased calimag as a calcium/magnesium
1-0-0 (does have 1% nitrogen) supplement now I don't see any problem with any tomatoes but was wondering if I should add as a preventative against BER ?

also notice the mid big tomato plant has had flowers but haven't seen any fruit form ? flower just dies ? any help is greatly appreciated

first big plant to the left has lots and I mean lots of tomatoes forming I last counted 40 and still climbing

the 2 smallers 1 to the right where planted almost 3 weeks ago and 1 has flowers developing .

3 small plants to the front far lest is strawberry plant and 2 mid 1s are bell pepper plants and of course cilantro. . thanks for stopping by

Oo and the big guy their on the floor is a lemon tree .

[rainbowgardener]

Why are you calling it "hydrosoil" and what does that mean? In the pictures, it looks pretty much like ordinary soil (I.e. potting mix).

Re the blossom drop, that is usually a reaction to some kind of stress. Under stress (too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry, etc), the plant drops the blossoms to concentrate on survival. So you need to figure out what might be stressing that tomato plant more than the others. Also tomato plants indoors need a bit of help with pollination. Outdoors they are wind pollinated. You can simulate that by giving the plant a gentle shaking or by buzzing the flowers with an electric toothbrush.

Welcome to the forum!

[xpress1127]

Why are you calling it "hydrosoil" and what does that mean? In the pictures, it looks pretty much like ordinary soil (I.e. potting mix).

Re the blossom drop, that is usually a reaction to some kind of stress. Under stress (too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry, etc), the plant drops the blossoms to concentrate on survival. So you need to figure out what might be stressing that tomato plant more than the others. Also tomato plants indoors need a bit of help with pollination. Outdoors they are wind pollinated. You can simulate that by giving the plant a gentle shaking or by buzzing the flowers with an electric toothbrush.

Welcome to the forum!

well the container sits in a bowl of water with direct air injection into the soil so roots don't choke . best of both worlds hydroponics growth speed with organic soil nutrients .

[xpress1127]

so many views any no one can reply on if I should add the CaliMagic ? as a preventative for BER

[grrlgeek]

I'll take a stab at this.

Check out the other nutrients you're feeding - do they contain the ingredients in the Cal-Mag? If it's a soil-less soil, and your other nutrients don't contain Calcium, Magnesium, or Iron, use the supplement according to recommended application rates. The amounts are low, so I don't see that it would hurt to use it even if you really don't need it.

If the plant is under stress, causing it to not uptake existing plentiful nutrients, then don't use the Cal-Mag, and fix the stress problem. But for reference, there is an excellent thread dedicated to BER, its causes, prevention, and cures here: https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/vi ... 15&t=25876.

According to the good info in that thread I quoted, "BER is caused by multiple cellular problems in the distal end of fruits, which result from low available calcium at that location during the first two weeks of fruit development (just after the flower fades and falls away, when most of cell division and differentiation is taking place)." But it's not the cause of blossom drop.

RBG (rainbowgardener) addressed your actual issue (blossom drop) with excellent advice. You don't have to worry about BER until you actually get the blossoms to hang on and create fruit.

Those are nice looking plants and a nice light setup. I wish I had that kind of space. Good luck with your garden!

[xpress1127]

I'll take a stab at this.

Check out the other nutrients you're feeding - do they contain the ingredients in the Cal-Mag? If it's a soil-less soil, and your other nutrients don't contain Calcium, Magnesium, or Iron, use the supplement according to recommended application rates. The amounts are low, so I don't see that it would hurt to use it even if you really don't need it.

If the plant is under stress, causing it to not uptake existing plentiful nutrients, then don't use the Cal-Mag, and fix the stress problem. But for reference, there is an excellent thread dedicated to BER, its causes, prevention, and cures here: https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/vi ... 15&t=25876.

According to the good info in that thread I quoted, "BER is caused by multiple cellular problems in the distal end of fruits, which result from low available calcium at that location during the first two weeks of fruit development (just after the flower fades and falls away, when most of cell division and differentiation is taking place)." But it's not the cause of blossom drop.

RBG (rainbowgardener) addressed your actual issue (blossom drop) with excellent advice. You don't have to worry about BER until you actually get the blossoms to hang on and create fruit.

Those are nice looking plants and a nice light setup. I wish I had that kind of space. Good luck with your garden!

thank you for your help ..... they contain everything but calcium . that's the main reason I got the calimag to try and prevent the BER symptom from occurring. and it was more like blossom death they just dryed up and the yellow flower fell not the green steam afterwards the green steam turned yellow and died . I did get a small amount of blossom drop from the first plant to the left and was completely different the entire blossom dropped including steam. but good news Is that the mid big plant has new flowers blossoming and I am regularly giving them a shake . o and by the way I used a orchid fertilizer I had laying around the amount of NPH is 11-35-15 used it once in their water mix .(water soluble)