blossom end rot

[~*B*~]

is everywhere in my garden.

my beautiful tomatoes are starting to turn red
finally and we started picking today and almost all
have rotten bottoms. some of my hot/green peppers
have rotten spots on the too. what do i do?

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

I believe this is a lack of calcium and the usual "fix" is bonemeal in the soil around each plant.

HTH

Rusty

 

[mamagardener]

My tomatoes are doing terrible this year, we have gotten some but not nearly as much as usual. It's the rain, we have had way too much.

 

[pips&peeps]

Blossom rot is from a lack of calcium in the soil. I had it in my very first garden.

I used milk replacer powder all around my plants and it worked! (I had a calf that I had to bottle feed and it was left over.)

Haven't had a problem since.

Now, I have a giant pumpkin with all male flowers no females which = no pumpkins.

 

[~*B*~]

we have had a ton of rain and more is coming.

 

[Whispering Winds]

Quote:
Thanks Rusty, because mine are doing the same thing, and my dh and I was just talking about putting a good fertilizer down this fall and working it in . . .and I know calcium is critical for that blossom end rot . . .we will have Alpaca poo to spread too, and have mixed it with the old dead grass that has been laying there for a year, so should make a good rotten mix. I am really sad about my tomatoes, as I had planned on canning juice, tomatoes, pizza sauce and salsa and nothing . . .is it too late to try the bonemeal around them right now, and then water it in?

 

[insiderart]

Quote:
Thanks Rusty, because mine are doing the same thing, and my dh and I was just talking about putting a good fertilizer down this fall and working it in . . .and I know calcium is critical for that blossom end rot . . .we will have Alpaca poo to spread too, and have mixed it with the old dead grass that has been laying there for a year, so should make a good rotten mix. I am really sad about my tomatoes, as I had planned on canning juice, tomatoes, pizza sauce and salsa and nothing . . .is it too late to try the bonemeal around them right now, and then water it in?

Not too late yet. Go ahead and work the calcium in around the plants. Look the plants over and remove any fruit you see with BER (so the plant doesn't waste any energy on them, and works on more fruit).

You can also get blossom end rot from fluctuating soil moisture (too much to too little, or vice versa) especially if it swings back and forth a lot. Blossom end rot and fruit splitting are the main reasons you need to kind of get on a schedule with watering your tomatoes. So for example, if it's been very rainy then dries up with very little rain, or if it's been very dry and rains a lot. Or alternately if you water a lot one time, then just a little next time.... You get the idea. This can also be a major reason for a tomato crop developing blossom end rot.

Good luck!
Terri

 

[TammyTX]

I put crushed egg shells around mine but I never had a big problem before, so......not sure it that was it.