Tomato End Rot Solution!

Dark green is a good sign of adequate nitrogen.

Usually my tomatoes have blossom end rot on the first few tomatoes and then they straighten up on their own without me doing anything special, except this year because I put on too much nitrogen just to see what I could get away with. Large plants with little fruit doesn't work too good so there is a balance. I fertilize through a dripline, inorganically, but I also use compost, manure, and/or blood meal early in the year. Therefore I think too little nitrogen may cause blossom end rot too.

Do you know your soils pH?

I put 10.4 oz of soil and 1.25 cups of distilled water in a quart mason jar and invert several times (don't shake, that raises pH) and let it settle for several days. Then I'll withdraw the clear liquid and test with a pool pH tester (phenol red) or use bromothymol blue to get my pH level.

Also don't disturb the soil and meaure the soil layers to figure out your soil type. Don't use the soap if you are doing the pH test. I've noticed it doesn't really help any anyways.
 
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Dark green is a good sign of adequate nitrogen.

Usually my tomatoes have blossom end rot on the first few tomatoes and then they straighten up on their own without me doing anything special, except this year because I put on too much nitrogen just to see what I could get away with. Large plants with little fruit doesn't work too good so there is a balance. I fertilize through a dripline, inorganically, but I also use compost, manure, and/or blood meal early in the year. Therefore I think too little nitrogen may cause blossom end rot too.

Do you know your soils pH?

I put 10.4 oz of soil and 1.25 cups of distilled water in a quart mason jar and invert several times (don't shake, that raises pH) and let it settle for several days. Then I'll withdraw the clear liquid and test with a pool pH tester (phenol red) or use bromothymol blue to get my pH level.

Also don't disturb the soil and meaure the soil layers to figure out your soil type. Don't use the soap if you are doing the pH test. I've noticed it doesn't really help any anyways.
I plant food plots for wildlife each season. Any time i start a new plot or every 3 yrs i take soil samples and send them off to be tested. I include a garden sample then as well.

The natural ph is betweem 5.8 and 6.1. In my garden it is usually 6.5-6.8.

We have very heavy clay soil thats also very rocky. You need a pick axe to break the surface and even in the garden i can stand on a shovel upright and not sink into the soil more than 1".
 
So one of the most common problems with growing tomatoes is that dreaded black spot on their bottoms (end rot) that seems to show up out of nowhere during the hot dry spells of summer particularly after a wet spring.

I always knew growing up that it was due to a calcium deficiency. We would usually have to suffer through that season and then add lime, egg shells, and calcium granules to correct it for next season.

Well, this year is the 1st occurrence of the black spot (reminds me of the dance the crew in "Pirates of the Caribbean" do when the Kraken is released after Jack Sparrow). There are treatments on the shelf you can find but they can be expensive in my opinion for what you get and have shown little improvement for me. But I found a treatment that is so simple yet makes sense and works. Milk! (Thank you internet!)

For those of you whom already knew this, where have you been all my life 😁. For those of you that dont, just pour 2 cups of milk & 4 cups water onto the soil surface beneath each plant for an initial treatment. Then follow up with 1 cup of milk in 9 cups water every 2 wks thereafter.
This remedy may have saved this year's harvest for me and so I felt compelled to share it with anyone unaware of its effectiveness.
I have been in a garden since i could walk and am still learning new things. I love it!
Studies have shown eggshells don’t break down to a usable form fast enough..use bone meal or a commercial calcium, magnesium solution..ive prepared holes with bone meal, kelp, greensand, and long acting organic tomato fertilizer and never ever had blossom end rot..
 
Studies have shown eggshells don’t break down to a usable form fast enough..use bone meal or a commercial calcium, magnesium solution..ive prepared holes with bone meal, kelp, greensand, and long acting organic tomato fertilizer and never ever had blossom end rot..
Too slow in their intact form. I save every shell during the year (10 lbs+) and grind it up to almost a powder form and add it to the garden in February or when i first till.
Each season gets a dressing of lime either in the fall when everything is put to bed in the winter or in feb as well.

This is the 1st time that ive gotten end rot here at the new house. But it has been a problem that has shown up now and then my whole life. This milk solution seems to be the fastest fix ive come across.

Prevention is always the best cure.
 

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