Help, blossom end rot.

[Snookie]

All of my tomato plants are growing beautifully and getting lots of blossoms which die before becoming tomatoes.

 

[jan]

Are they getting enough water and sunlight?

 

[editec]

Probably still too cold at night.

It's got to stay above about 50 for the flowers to go into fruition

 

[Snookie]

Plenty of water and sun. It's never gotten lower than fifties 80% of the time.

 

[peach174]

Perhaps they are not pollinating right.
Maybe there is not enough insects or bees that are out yet.
Try shaking them gently, when the flowers start to grow to get them to pollinate.

The other thing might be too much fertilizer. If you use it, start doing it every two weeks rather than every week.

 

[Snookie]

Perhaps they are not pollinating right.
Maybe there is not enough insects or bees that are out yet.
Try shaking them gently, when the flowers start to grow to get them to pollinate.

The other thing might be too much fertilizer. If you use it, start doing it every two weeks rather than every week.

I think that might be the problem. I planted them in pure mircle grow potting soil.

They don't warn you about it in the directions. They would rather sell you more. It makes me mad.

 

[peach174]

Yep that might be it.
You needed Miracle grow Organic choice garden soil.

 

[JWBooth]

Blossom end rot results from a deficiency of either water or calcium.
Lime and regular watering will do the trick.

 

[Snookie]

Blossom end rot results from a deficiency of either water or calcium.
Lime and regular watering will do the trick.

Is it too late to add lime?

Dam, I should have known better. It's happened before.

 

[peach174]

Try Rot-Stop T Spray and apply it once a week to the leaves, to supplement calcium deficiency.
You can get it at any garden center or Walmart.

 

[Snookie]

Thanks for the help people.

 

[JWBooth]

Blossom end rot results from a deficiency of either water or calcium.
Lime and regular watering will do the trick.

Is it too late to add lime?

Dam, I should have known better. It's happened before.

Never too late. Just water it in well.

 

[Snookie]

Again, thanks everybody doe the feedback.

I put some lime pellets on the plants and I am starting to get real tomatoes.

Luckily, I didn't plant them all at once so only a couple of plants got ruined.

The lime worked very quickly.

 

[Dot Com]

I'm growing a couple tomato plants for a friend and they seem to be ok in the same medium. I notive that the few tomato plants that I've grown are susceptible to pests though.

 

[Snookie]

I'm growing a couple tomato plants for a friend and they seem to be ok in the same medium. I notive that the few tomato plants that I've grown are susceptible to pests though.

I use sevin dust for buggies. Those buggies sure love pepper plant, cucumber, and egg plant leaves.

 

[millyvanilly]

Blossom end rot results from a deficiency of either water or calcium.
Lime and regular watering will do the trick.

Is it too late to add lime?

Dam, I should have known better. It's happened before.

I have heard of crushing some egg shells and soak in water for a while and then pour that water around your tomatoes.

I have not tried it but don't know why it wouldn't work. Plus, it is free if you eat eggs...

 

[freedombecki]

The best tomatoes I ever planted were from some seeds I got called "Box car Willie" tomatoes. They may have been ugly-looking, but their deep red color and super flavor definitely told me they were full of good antioxidants. All you ever see in the store is anemic Romas from poorly-nourished hydroponic plants in greenhouses. I hate those mealy-mouthed pink things with zero flavor.

Oh, Here's what the Box-car Willies look like after picking, and the dark red is no exaggeration:

Glad the smart people in gardens pointed you in the right direction, Snookie.

 

[syrenn]

Egg shells..... i save egg shell all year, crush them up and and a few handfuls to the pots for calcium. They also LOVE coffee grounds!

 

[Snookie]

Egg shells..... i save egg shell all year, crush them up and and a few handfuls to the pots for calcium. They also LOVE coffee grounds!

My grandmother used to throw egg shells, coffee grounds, garbage, on her garden area during the non growing seasons.

Best dam vegs I ever ate.

 

[FuzzyCat]

What you had was blossom drop, not blossom end rot. Blossom end rot happens on the ends of the tomato fruit.

Causes....

•Temperature Too High or Too Low
• Lack of Pollination
• Nitrogen - Too Much or Too Little
• Humidity Too High or Low Humidity.
• Lack of water
• Stress from insect damage or disease
• Too Heavy Fruit Set

ETA....egg shell water & egg shells alone don't produce enough calcium in the right forms for plant uptake. It is when they rot away that the calcium is released into the soils and the plants are able to uptake it when the mineral numbers all come together. What your grandmother was doing, putting kitchen scrapes in the garden, is just one form of composting....letting everything return (rot) to the soil....as we all should be doing!

How to control it....

Controlling Tomato Blossom Drop

1.Grow varieties suited to your Climate
The most frequent cause of tomato blossom drop is temperature.
•High daytime temperatures (above 85 F / 29 C)
•High Nighttime Temperatures (Below 70 / 21 C)
•Low Nighttime Temperatures (Below 55 / 13 C)

Tomatoes grow best if daytime temperatures range between 70 F / 21 C and 85 F / 29 C. While tomato plants can tolerate more extreme temperatures for short periods, several days or nights with temps outside the ideal range will cause the plant to abort fruit set and focus on survival. According to the University of NV, "...temperatures over 104 F / 40 C for only four hours can cause the flowers to abort."

By using Sevin dust, you are not only killing bad bugs you are also killing those we need to pollinate the vegetables. Few insects are bad...only 3% of the entire insect population.

I certainly hope you are at least using a veggie wash before you eat any thing that has been treated with chemicals. Just google "homemade veggie wash" and use the recipe that has white vinegar in it....follow the directions.
Everyone should be using this for ALL veggies & fruits....home grown, commercially grown or farmer's market (organic) grown.

If you have further problems of any kind relating to any type of plants...I suggest that you post your questions on the "hgtv message boards".
I haven't posted enough here to allow me to post a link, just google what I put in quotes and scroll down the hgtv site until you find the General Gardening forum. The gals there can answer all kinds of questions and have great advice. Several including myself, have completed the Master Gardener's courses for their respective states. Many have also been gardeners for 50-60 yrs.