1) I planted them a little too early, the soil was too cold and inhibited the root growth some, this is just occurring in the first fruits and will subside (possible, I planted them at the end of April I think)
2) Too little water (very unlikely)
3) Too little calcium (possible)
4) They're planted too close to other plants and aren't getting enough nutrients because of competition ( suppose this is possible, but I think that #3 is probably the most likely candidate).
I picked off about 8 bad ones today. Right now I'm thinking about getting a food with a higher phosperous amount...Cindy, what do you think?
I'm having the same problem and think it is lack of calcium for me also and maybe a little competition. I'm going to get bone meal today and clip off the bad ones too, thanks!
ReplyDeleteShannon,
ReplyDeleteWe have lots of info about Blossom End Rot here http://www.tastefulgarden.com/store/pc/viewContent.asp?idpage=41 but generally this time of year Blossom End Rot is caused by too much rain. It usually goes away very soon after the first few tomatoes. Always make sure to Lime the garden every year to help prevent BER as 9 times out of 10, your pH is off.
Thanks Cindy. We have had a lot of rain. Already on the affected plant it seems to be tapering off and there a quite a few healthy looking tomatoes on it now.
ReplyDeleteIt's probably calcium deficiency. I seem to recall a recommendation involving used egg shells or bonemeal. Cindy's lime recommendation would also work. See:
ReplyDeletehttp://pubs.caes.uga.edu/caespubs/horticulture/blossom-rot.html
Well, so far it seems to have gone away. I'm not finding any new tomatoes with the problem, and it looks like my biggest issue with the tomatoes now is to wait for the day when I go outside and have more ripe ones than I can handle (I'm hoping!). Thanks to everyone for pointing me to the helpful information.
ReplyDelete