Eliminating Blossom End Rot on Tomatoes
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- Dirt Farmer Jay has learned some valuable lessons about how to avoid blossom end rot on your tomatoes. His findings just might surprise you! Take a look and learn the secret to growing beautiful tomatoes with no splits and no blossom end rot.
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So if you get s lot of rain during th week I would think you would stretch out the watering by a few more days. Would this be correct?
Not sure the watering issue would apply to my situation....my maters are in pots. And if they don’t get water, they do actually wilt. So I’ll stick with my lime application attempt.
Me too. My container plants wilt even if I water every other day
Hi. It's my 1st time to plant tomatoes & was happy when I saw them bearing nice fruits (*big, round & shiny) until I noticed as they start to ripen, blossom end rot appears. I know now I've been over watering. I guess my question is, will I still get a good harvest if I follow the advice on watering? Will that stop blossom end rot for the new fruits? Thanks for sharing a very informative video on it. :)
Djel D When you correct the watering, you likely won't see immediate results, as it takes a bit of time to have the plant get back in balance. Be persistent! Thanks for watching our videos!
DirtFarmerJay thank u for getting back with me. Before they start to ripen, I pretty much harvested the tomatoes. They're doing pretty good ripening on my countertop :-) i hope the new fruits are not gonna be affected as I corrected the watering schedule soon after I watched your video. Keep on sharing awesome tips! I appreciate it. :-)
Thanks , I appreciate Your show.I live up here in S.E.
Alaska ,and i have been having a bit of trouble with over watering .Hello again , and thanks.
My tomatoes are in 5 gallon pails. If I don't water for 2 days, the plants wilt and I have to add water. I've added calcium, but my Romas still have a few with blossom end rot. Any suggestions?
Go to 4:00 to get to how to....
One of the few UA-cam videos to tell the truth about BER! No weird calcium additives. Simply address your watering schedule. Thanks for posting.
I’m in southern Nevada and blossom end rot is my Mt. Olympus! I was desperate and youtube initially sent me to using actual milk, which I did and then I used dehydrated milk. Then, I used ground egg shells and calcium tabs. All this seems to have reversed the issue and I do add it bi weekly by the tablespoon. When I planted, I used fertilizer and egg shells but wasn’t enough. Lastly, they are in grow boxes so I have to water more frequently about every 2days to fill the water reservoir.
Stacy, sounds like you've got the calcium deficiency under control. Thanks for sharing! Growing tomatoes in arid settings can be a challenge. Best, DFJ
DirtFarmerJay,
I need to know what I should do have 1 tomatoes plant has curled leaves. Nebraska had extremely hot weather. So we water as much as we can in early morning and at dusk. Still have the leaves are curled tomatoes are bearing but a few. Two other plants show no signs of curling. Green peppers have 3 plants and do not seem to even grow at all. Got 1 huge green pepper off today. Funeral coming for other peppers very very sad. Any ideas on peppers I'm all ears.
Carol Hawkins
Ohhh my....that is my current issue with my tomatoes!!! It is planted on a container. All rotting!! It’s frustrating!! It’s my first time planting tomatoes.
I watered it every 3 days. I was advised to put synthetic feet but didn’t do it coz i am trying to grow organic gardening.
I just wanted to pull the tomatoes out. Will they ever recover again or it’s better to pull it out and start over again?
Hi Victoria. Sorry you are having problems with your first tomato experience! Here are a few things to think about. 1. Tomatoes need direct sunlight. If you have them in a pot that is on a porch or other covered surface, they won't do well. 2. They need soil with minerals in it. They won't grow well in regular potting soil like flowers and ornamental plants do. Get some good mulch with organic material in it and mix with some native soil (the dirt from in your yard). Add fertilizer as needed during the growth process. 3. Tomatoes like deep and infrequent watering. So best to water slowly for a longer period of time and then test the soil with your finger before watering again. If it's dry, water. If it's still damp, wait another day. 4. Plants that are planted in a pot cannot get the benefit of being in the ground with a lot of room to grow roots and also to take advantage of helpful bugs and other organism in the soil. If you must plant in a pot, you have to make sure it is protected from too much sun as the soil will become too hot and have no way to cool off because it is surrounded by a pot. I'd suggest that you start over with some new plants and see if things go better the second time around. Let us know how you are doing. Best. Dirt Farmer Maggie.
DirtFarmerJay thank you so much for ur tips. Very much appreciated. I will definitely give u update.
Hello Jay. I think you hit the nail on the head in saying that adding lots of nitrogen fert causes lush foliage with fewer fruits. I have found this out to be true in my garden. I subscribed to you because I think you really know your stuff. I'd appreciate it if you give my channel a peek, and if you like what you see, don't hesitate to subscribe. Thanks Jay, keep up the good work. Lucas
You, and all the other bloggers on you tube are such a wealth of knowledge even when you talk about the mistakes you.made in the past. It is March right now in san diego and I have a couple dozen tomato, sunflower, pepper, bean, and squash plants in their toddler months. Not ready.to.go in the ground yet, but I am preparing the soil. Thank you fir all the great info. In the past I would just wing it and plant. Sometimes I had good crops, other time I would get blossom end rot, splitting, and generalized crappiness. I will change things this year.
You got it right ! It is amazing how many people think you must try to force feed lime to tomato plants ! Ha ha :) Things just dont work that way ! Of course there might be a calcium deficency in the soil but that is unlikely ! Also adding lime it is not a good idea if you don`t want to change the soil ph ! Gypsum is what to use ! And even moisture ! Even moisture Even amount of moisture ! Super dry then super wet and you get end rot !
zinodeee I've come across people using milk...yogurt soil sounds gross. Some people only see the world through a keyhole perception. calcium is no longer accepted in use of agriculture because calcium has been identified as a trans element making us substitute for the real nutrient we need. Also it's not a cause of over watering it's a humidity issue, transpiration will actually increase calcium uptake. we could also just do a lil research and find that amino acids are a great chelate agent to help the uptake of calcium much more efficient.
I add 2 oyster calcium vitamin tablets per plant for tomatoes, peppers, all plants. 1 on each side of the plant at the time I plant them. This helps eliminate most of the problem.....
+Pamela Will - GREAT insight. Thanks for sharing. I've seen that calcium uptake can be affected soil temps as well. There's lots of variables to deal with, but this sounds like an easy and inexpensive way to get a defense going against BER. Best Regards, DFJ
Thanks, this was really helpful. Grew up field farming 'maters and all other vegies... this suburban planting in pots is challenging and very different! I was way over-watering because plant so big and dirt so small. Will swap up what we're doing next year. Appreciate your help.
What I neglected to say is that by not watering my potted deck tomatoes enough, any calcium in the soil was not able to be taken up by the plant, therefore, I believe that is the problem for me. I can see where watering too much would also cause problems. It's a fine line!
I knew about BER , blossom end rot/calcium deficiency before and seemed to have that in check by adding pulverized egg shells during planting... until a very hot summer last year and watering more than usual. In looking for other reasons for BER..I learned the plant has to absorb the calcium to prevent it, but over watering slows down absorption of nutrients...so less calcium is taken up to prevent the condition. Usually I have ditch irrigation available for a weekly soak, but drought cut the irrigation season short, so I was watering more frequently with the hose and found more BER on the tomatoes. Then I finally went the longer and deeper, less often to mimic the irrigation once a week or longer, also using a moisture meter at the root zone to indicate when soil was drying, and everything improved dramatically. I also use a lot of mulch. So looking forward to a better crop this summer. Farmer J in NM.
Sounds like you are off to a bumper crop this year with all the care you are putting into the garden. Hope you enjoy a bountiful harvest! Best DFJ
Finally! The answer to my tomato problems! Thank you from Canada
Finally, someone who does not recommend using lime.
I'm told (and believe) that the mulch also helps to prevent mud from splashing onto the leaves, thus mitigating the chance for soil borne diseases to impact the plant.
Great informative video, thanks.
I've read that if you don't water for a while and then water heavily you will have problems with the tomatoes splitting as they ripen.
I've therefore always watered moderately twice a day and this year have had blossom end rot in one out of fourteen plants in the greenhouse ( in the UK). Although 1 in 14 isn't a large proportion I'd still rather have none. So my question is is my research correct, have you had any issues with splitting?
Thanks again for the info. Atvb
darrenh20102 Thanks for visiting us! Indeed, problems do happen with both splitting and blossom end rot with irregular watering. However, my experience is a bit different from what you may think. Last year, during a very dry and hot summer, I heavily mulched my plants, and watered them deeply only when they started to show a bit of wilt - or when I couldn't stand it any longer. The longest was about 9 days! To be fair, this was when the fruits were still small. I had little blossom end rot, and the almost no splitting. When I did water, I watered deeply and allowed the roots to take up what the plant wanted. In past years, I was watering moderately every day, and I got a lot of splitting and rot. The tomato plant has a very efficient root system, and when it gets to much water, it's got to put all that water somewhere - in the fruit, leading to both too much moisture pressure (and resulting splitting), as well as throwing off the calcium balance in the fruit tissues, resulting in a deficiency that manifests itself as blossom end rot. Splitting also tends to happen more readily in slicing and larger heirloom tomatoes with thinner skins, versus the paste types like roma. I've also discovered that blossom end rots occurs much more frequently in over-amended soils (lots and lots of organic material or animal manures) that have a very low percentage of native soil (and accompanying calcium that is found readily in our soil here in our area - it's likely that you don't have as much calcium where you are and would have to amend with gypsum). The same problem shows up much more with soil-less mixes (such as "Mel's Mix" for square foot gardening). Bottom line, give the plant the calcium it needs, water less frequently, let the plant use the water it needs, and avoid overwatering. That seems to be the best approach overall. Keep in touch and let me know your experiences with future plantings! Thanks again for watching DirtFarmerJay and pass us onto your friends!
What happens when Mother Nature keeps watering the plants for days???
Well, you can't control Mother Nature, but I sure wouldn't water further until the soil dries out. You might even consider putting a temporary covering over the tomato bed until the rain stops. Let me know how it ends up at maggie@dirtfarmerjay.com.
I grow tomatoes in containers & last year i had big problems with blossom end rot probably because of after 2 days my plants would wilt & i would water the crap out of them until it ran out the bottom. I don't know what else i can do. Please give me an option!Thank you.
my tomato plants are in 5 gallon buckets, if I don't water everyday they get all droopy, our temps are 80 - 90. Rarely do we get rain. I have backed off on how much water I give them every day but I still have to water. Only a few tomatoes have had BER.
How do you very your routine verses how much water mother nature gives you?
Good question. It all comes down to being aware of when it rained last and when you watered last. Also, a hand test of the soil is a good indicator. If the soil is dry and falls apart I'd say water. If it sticks together when you squeeze a handful, then don't water. You can also tell from watching how the plants are reacting. Drooping leaves are a good sign that it might need a drink.
Thanks for the info. Also, heavy watering each time gets the water deep, and therefore, the roots grow deep. Frequent light watering, encourages shallow root growth.
Also, the best way to plant a tomato plant is deep in the bed or pot. Watering deeply and less often is correct.
Who is the dude in the red truck? 😅
I am getting that rot on my tomatoes when they are green and shiny at the bottom. Thanks for the info. My question is I am growing one that is in the pot and the plant looks so healthy and it is blooming like crazy but here in Florida I get those afternoon showers and it will just flood the plant. What can I do with this big thing outside. I have it where it is under a partial awning with our RV and it is HOA here so I can put a garden in the ground!! Ugh!! So anything help would be greatly appreciated!!! Hope to here from you soon. I subscribed and liked!!!!!
Now does this apply to which zone your in or the temperatures your experiencing.
OR!!
am I just making excuses for watering my tomatoes too much;) haven’t noticed any issues thus far;) just don’t want to experience them I guess sir!
I heard from hobby farmers who sell roadside; who don’t irrigate. They insist that their vegetables taste better than ones that have been aptly watered.
Now, I would agree that would be washing the nutrients in the soil away if I were to water my tomatoes every day.
I hear that could be a problem perhaps?
I also heard that stressing your tomatoes promotes better tasting and more appealing fruit to predators who would possibly want to endanger the plant?
I've watched three vids so far. BER caused by underwatering, overwatering and/or not enough calcium in the soil. If you only water once a week, don't they show wilting? Overwatering? You mentioned that the plants only take up what they want, so how can you overwater them? Drowning them? LOL It's all very confusing. Now I have to stop my wife from watering them every day in the 5 gallon buckets. She's a retired RN so I expect to see IV bottles hanging on them. Interesting video, though.
I have to say you are awesome! thanks for describing in detail what happens to the plants. The same thing happened to my garden last year.
I'm not planting tomatoes this year. I've got bell peppers. They have end rot already. This video explains a lot. I will take your advise.
Rose Blake Glad to be of help. The rot or brown lesions you may get on peppers are usually because of prolonged sun exposure. The skin of the pepper literally gets sunburned by UV rays, and the tissue dies. Peppers do well with some shade cloth to cut the strength of the sun's rays, or having peppers planted in wide rows with varieties that have a good amount of leaves to keep the fruit shaded. Thanks for watching and pass us on! Best, DFJ
Thanks for your help...
That really was one of the best videos, Very informative
Tam Me Thanks for your kind comments. We've also found that blossom end rot is more likely to happen when soil-less mixes are used. The native soil is much more likely to have the needed calcium your growing tomato plants will need to produce unblemished fruit. Thanks for visiting dirtfarmerjay.com!
Im new to tomato growing so this may sound like dumb question, but does your watering method apply to five gallon buckets too? I have a raised bed as well. Also, I am spraying miracle grow once weekly on my plants...is this too much. I wondered if I am depleting the calcium. Thanks abunch, Kevin.
I have my tomatoes in containers. Does that change anything with their care? They have a curl look to them and my 1st tomato had blossom end rot. It is often 100 and dry here in southern cal. I water when my meter reader says going almost dry. Can you help? I want so much to do this right!!!! Thx.
does the watering system also apply to container tomatoes ? I think I have been over watering , but the leaves started shrivering up !!1
Good job on the video DFJ
I dont know how to slow down nature. Lol. Beginning of growing season, rain for about 3 weeks, almost everyday & hard.
Use organic mulch, right, around ur veggie plants? Most mulch at my local hardware store has chemicals on them.
How do you water and feed when tomatoes are planted in pots due to my sandy soil.I live in the deep South .Zone 8b
you didn't mention if you had bought the same variety tomatoes both years, that can also make a difference
That's exactly what I did- high heat days so I watered every day- boom end rot!
Hi: I planted tomatoes in my lawn area, added a little bonemeal and some other organic material including worm castings. The larger tomatoes are suffering from blossom end rot, but the grape size tomatoes are fine. I have also added some gypsum and tomato specific fertilizer.
We have had little rain this year and I try to water 1/2 inch every 5-days. Do you think it may be a calcium deficiency or the result of drought conditions?
heavymechanic2 First, thanks for watching! Second, way to go on growing some of your own produce. As common as tomatoes are, and the success that we all largely enjoy from them, they can be a bit finicky. I also like your approach on soil amendments. Without standing there with you and seeing first hand all of the surroundings, we can't determine for sure what is happening. Having said that, I do have a few suspicions. You can see if what I suggest has any validity for your setting.
First, tomatoes that get a lot of nitrogen (very common in grass fertilizer - ammonium sulfate is about 1/5th nitrogen) will grow lots of foliage, but will tend to have difficulty on getting fruit to completion. Grape and cherry tomatoes are from "wilder" heritage and are usually indeterminate varieties, meaning they will grow and produce throughout the season until killed by frost. They don't tend to have as much blossom end rot problems in my experience as some of the more common larger tomatoes, that tend to be determinate (grow to a certain size, fruit in a more condensed period of time, and subject to more environmental issues that can lead to more fruit development problems because of a shorter, more condensed formulative period.
Second, watering cycles can indeed create blossom end rot - but it's OVERWATERING that creates this problem. The tomato plant has a very efficient root system. If there's lots of excess water ongoing, this means the plant needs to put that excess water somewhere - in the fruit. This upsets the calcium balance in the fruit, with not enough calcium present to tomato tissues to properly form - hence the canker that forms.
Lastly, the biggest culprit is calcium deficiency overall. Where I live, in the Mountain West of the U.S., calcium in the soil is not a problem! Most of our mountains are limestone and our water is hard with lots of suspended calcium in it. I see BER occur in soiless mixes until later in the season until the bed has been watered with calcified water for the season.
What area of the country are you? Is your soil tend to be alkaline or acidic? I trust some of this may be helpful to you and you can try some different things next season.
I'm on the east coast and the soil PH is around 7. There is a problem with root knot nematodes. Not had a lot of success with tomatoes but late season bush beans did excellent. I use lawn fertilizer very sparingly (2 lbs per 5,000 ft, 3x a year), just to green up the grass.
heavymechanic2 Sounds like you are doing a lot of things right, but this year's weather conditions affected your tomatoes. Next year, rotate your crops as much as possible to see if you get the same thing. As you know, there are so many variables in gardening from pests, nutrition, night-time temps, soil PH, and so forth. Because you have more acidity than I do, it's good you added gypsum. You might amend it more before planting next year. Let me know how it turns out. We'll both get smarter.
As far as I know I watered all my tomatoes the same way every year for three years and this is the first year I had blossom end rot. I usually check them once or twice a day and usually the big plants are wilting at one of those times and I give them some water. I water them all, but I give the wilting ones more. They are in containers. I did have one plant in the ground one last year and it did not need the daily watering.
Brendan, there are variables that need to be looked at to explain why this is happening this time around and not other seasons. Some that come to mind for me are variety change from year to year (some cultivars are more prone to BER than others), soil mix changes, location/sun exposure, and irrigation source or frequency changes. If those are the same from year to year, or if the soil mix has not been changed out after couple of seasons, you likely have micro-nutrient depletion. To even out water availability in the soil mix, you can add in a small amount of water-storing poly crystals to store and release water more evenly. As for the mid-day wilting, that is normal and doesn't necessarily indicate more water needed. If the wilt stays as the plant moves into shade or the evening hours, then it does need a drink. Just a few thoughts! Best Regards, DFJ
@@DirtFarmerJay I bought my plants, beefsteak, at home depot. The soil came out of bags, and I think maybe the quality was not as good as other years. Maybe not properly decomposed. I have been adding treatments, so far, not much help. Just found a gnawed green tomato today. I hope bird damage, not vermin. And a zippered tomato. And two kinds of caterpillars. Next year I am going to pay more attention and take preventative actions.
Grass clippings are a bad idea, introduces spores
Thanks for the info, last year I had 50 better boy plants, I should've had a large yield of fruit, but nearly all was lost to blossom end rot. This year (so far) has been a better year. I've cut back on watering, and fertilizing, and my tomatoes are doing great!
Matt Shepherd Glad to hear it, Matt! Let me know how it goes through the harvest. Where in the country are you? Best, DFJ
In Virginia, I'm growing better boy tomatoes and Brandywine tomatoes and some zucchini, cucumbers, squash, potatoes, onions, and green peppers. Other than not having any blossom end rot, things are taking longer to mature and produce
some people talk about adding lime to the soil what do you say.
Samuel, it depends entirely on the composition and pH of your soil. Where soil is alkaline and built from weathered limestone (like where I live) adding lime just makes the problem worse. In acidic soil, with higher rainfall, it may be helpful. Best, DFJ
I have the opposite problem, too little water for my container tomatoes on a hot deck. If I don't water them every day, they wilt, I water and they perk up. I was out of town for a week at the end of June and entrusted someone else to keep them watered, not sure how many times they dried out. When I planted, I used a good bagged organic soil and some bone meal and organic fertilizer. One thing I have not done is to mulch but will do that now. Anyway, I have 1 plant with BER out of 4 and they are each a different variety. I am now going to try adding pelletized lime mixed with water to try and stop the carnage.
Christine May Got both of your messages. There's another variable to nail down in your case. That's the pots themselves. What size are they? What color? What are they made of? Pelletized lime will likely help, but if the pots are not sizable enough or dark colored, they will cause issues by keeping the soil mass very warm/hot. A tomato plant can do just fine in very hot weather as long as it has adequate water and cool roots. The lack of cool roots may be a problem for you. Tell me more and we'll go from there. Best, DFJ
I am limited to 2 1/2 gal bucket gardening. What should the watering frequency be for tomatoes in buckets compared to tomatoes in the ground? I generally wait until I see the first signs of wilting to water my tomatoes, but in the heat of summer that can be every 1-2 days. Does that make sense to do it this way??
Dale Peace Good to hear from you. There are a couple of factors here. First, is your soil from around your place with amendments, or are you using a soil-less mix? If there isn't calcium in the soil to begin with (more common in the eastern part of the US than the west), you will likely have BER. If you are using an amended soil mix, your chances of suggest are higher. Are your buckets a self watering type with a reservoir, or are you top watering them? If self watering, the plants will self regulate and take what they need. If top watered, I would tend to hold of watering until slight wilt occurs when they are in the shade. Are the pots light in color? Plastic? Terra Cotta? Give me more info and we can go from there. "Talk" to you soon. DFJ
DirtFarmerJay
I fixed the BER problem this year by spraying my plants with crushed "Tums", one Tum per gallon of water in a sprayer. I spray the fruit and the leaves about once a week. Works great!
I am using bagged garden soil and potting mix in the containers. I renew the soil with worm castings, organic fertilizers, fresh mix, etc. every year by emptying the buckets, removing as many large roots from the previous season and mixing up a fresh load of nutrients.
Since I'm almost always home, I water by hand and only in the evenings after the sun is off of them.
As for the pots (30+ and growing), most of them are black, not my first choice but the only ones I could find on the cheap. I also have about 10 blue buckets. I thought about painting them white to reflect the sun, but the black and blue buckets don't really seem to be causing a problem.
A f r f BTDirtFarmerJay t
Thanks for the vid. Good info.
This is my first year with tomatoes and this is exactly what happened. Along with too much watering, I am wondering if pruning(as in, not enough) would also contribute to this problem.
Glad to help. If there is not enough available calcium to build the structure of the tomato fruit itself, then you will end up with BER. Overabundant growth can contribute to it. I prune my tomato plants, slow down the watering, and are seeing very good results, including reduction of cracking. Hope this helps! Best, DFJ
I have been gardening this property for 36 years and until last year I have been robbed of my tomato harvest by blossom end rot. Last year I added bone meal and hydrated lime when I transplanted and did the weekly watering. I can't remember the gents name that posted the video but I took his advice and it worked. I had a bumper crop of tomatoes even after a devastating hail storm in mid July. I'm doing it again this year.
charles vereschagin Great idea - depending on what part of the country/world you are in. Arid parts tend to have alkali soil, which usually already has an abundance of calcium. Where there is heavier rainfall, the soil tends to be more acidic and benefits more with applications of lime (to make the soil less acid) and bone meal, to raise the calcium levels. Sounds like you got the right combo. Indeed, do it again this year and see if the problem is once again eliminated. The watering frequency is a good one that you are doing as well. Thanks for writing and watching our videos! Best, DFJ
Get to the point!!
In the end there was no point - he just liked to hear himself talk.