Help, blossom end rot.

[Snookie]

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.

Thanks, that was very informative.

As for the sevin dust, aaarrrggg.

 

[GreenBean]

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...

"There are several ways eggshells can be used that will benefit your garden.
Some people like to crush them into fine particles and add them to the bottom of the hole when laying in transplants. This is fine , but it probably won't benefit the current seasons garden very much as eggshells take too long to break down in the soil to be of immediate benefit....The moist efficient way to use eggshells as a fertilizer is to make a stew out of them...." Eggshells As Fertilizer