BER, overwatering or underwatering?

shellba · July 8, 2010

Hello everyone. I am hoping someone can help me here. I have BER on some of my Maters (Bulls heart, Arkansas Traveler, and Italian Long Sauce.) A couple with it on my speckled Siberian also. Here's my dilemma. We have had a horrible hot humid heat wave here in the western part of PA. ( about a week of temps ranging in the 90's) I have been faithful about watering my in-ground Maters every other AM. I ALWAYS check the soil before watering. Finger test about 3-4 inches in and the soil is usually dry the whole way down, but a tad cool on the tip of my finger. This is when I water. Now, I have noticed that some of my plants have BER. A lot of them had set some big beautiful fruit, but the ones further up the plant that were just coming on before this heat wave seem to be developing BER. I tested my pH, and it is neutral at 7.0. My question is am I watering too much or too little? I'm not quite sure which way to go. I have read what I could find on here, and I think I am going to hop on down to the nursery or tractor supply to try to find a calcium supplement to use as a soil drench. I thought maybe I would need to fertilize (only fertilized once this year, but have been spraying with spray-n-grow--no added fertilizer in it) When I planted I put 1 aspirin tablet, 2 handfuls of bonemeal, a handful of espoma bio-tone with mychorrizal, a handful of garden tone, some crushed eggshells, and some shrimp shells down deeper in the hole. I fertilized about 3 weeks ago with miracle grow for tomatos, not relaizing that it had ammoniacal nitrogen in it. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Shelly

TheClaw · July 8, 2010

I have heard that when temperatures soar, the plants will try to conserve moisture by drawing it back out of the fruit, causing BER.

Can anyone else confirm?

Good luck Shelly

**carolyn137** · July 8, 2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheClaw

I have heard that when temperatures soar, the plants will try to conserve moisture by drawing it back out of the fruit, causing BER.

Can anyone else confirm?

Good luck Shelly

No, I can't confirm that but the exact opposite has been disscussed seriously in scientific circles and that's that even with normal BER, non hot weather, that it occurs due to increased transpiration through the leaves.

It would make more sense to me that possible compensation for water loss in high temp situations would also be via transportation b'c something in the back of my mind says it's a one way street into the fruits with liquids and no way back out. And wilting of the foliage in high heat tends to support the transpiration scenario.

shellba · July 8, 2010

Thanks for the responses. Carolyn..based on my original post, do you think I am overwatering? Underwatering? I'm not sure how to correct this. Any advice is most welcome. Thanks

Shelly

ubergoober · July 8, 2010

I am pretty sure that with mine, it was the excessive rain we had here 2 weeks ago. I think that it was the rain that caused the BER here in my garden right now. My fruit that had set during the really rainy 2 weeks are the affected fruit now. Newer fruit that has come on since then seems to be OK so far. And only two of my plants are experiencing it (KNOCK ON WOOD). My Pruden's Purple and now I am seeing some dark spots on my Costoluto Genovese.

dice · July 10, 2010

What about mulch? That would regulate soil moisture better,
so that you don't get such large swings between wet and dry
in hot weather.

Here is a spray-on calcium supplement, reasonably priced,
but I have never seen it in stores around here:

http://www.groworganic.com/item_F173...Chelate_G.html

(I would usually give a plant a thorough foliar spray with it
at night and then pour about a half gallon around the roots.
That is a lot as a foliar feed, but not so much as a root drench
when compared with mixing gypsum, lime, etc, into the soil.
It is pretty much immediately available to the plant, though.
In a self-watering container, I dump a couple of tablespoons
down the fillup tube if they are showing signs of BER.)

Your soil additives sound like they would have quite a bit of
calcium (eggshells, shrimp shells, bone meal, etc), so lack
of calcium may not be the problem. You could be right about
the ammonia in the Miracle Grow. After a few weeks that
should mostly be converted to nitrates, but the plant will
have absorbed some unconverted when watering with it
in real hot weather.

amideutch · July 10, 2010

In your kind of heat I would water once a day especially if the plants are getting full sun the whole day. Calcium is probably not the problem and as suggested before the plant is probably going to the fruit for added moisture. Don't think the Ammonium nitrogen will bother the plants as it causes more problems in hydro systems. Ami

July 8, 2010	#1
shellba Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Derry, PA Posts: 11	BER, overwatering or underwatering? Hello everyone. I am hoping someone can help me here. I have BER on some of my Maters (Bulls heart, Arkansas Traveler, and Italian Long Sauce.) A couple with it on my speckled Siberian also. Here's my dilemma. We have had a horrible hot humid heat wave here in the western part of PA. ( about a week of temps ranging in the 90's) I have been faithful about watering my in-ground Maters every other AM. I ALWAYS check the soil before watering. Finger test about 3-4 inches in and the soil is usually dry the whole way down, but a tad cool on the tip of my finger. This is when I water. Now, I have noticed that some of my plants have BER. A lot of them had set some big beautiful fruit, but the ones further up the plant that were just coming on before this heat wave seem to be developing BER. I tested my pH, and it is neutral at 7.0. My question is am I watering too much or too little? I'm not quite sure which way to go. I have read what I could find on here, and I think I am going to hop on down to the nursery or tractor supply to try to find a calcium supplement to use as a soil drench. I thought maybe I would need to fertilize (only fertilized once this year, but have been spraying with spray-n-grow--no added fertilizer in it) When I planted I put 1 aspirin tablet, 2 handfuls of bonemeal, a handful of espoma bio-tone with mychorrizal, a handful of garden tone, some crushed eggshells, and some shrimp shells down deeper in the hole. I fertilized about 3 weeks ago with miracle grow for tomatos, not relaizing that it had ammoniacal nitrogen in it. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Shelly

July 10, 2010	#6
dice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: PNW Posts: 4,743	What about mulch? That would regulate soil moisture better, so that you don't get such large swings between wet and dry in hot weather. Here is a spray-on calcium supplement, reasonably priced, but I have never seen it in stores around here: http://www.groworganic.com/item_F173...Chelate_G.html (I would usually give a plant a thorough foliar spray with it at night and then pour about a half gallon around the roots. That is a lot as a foliar feed, but not so much as a root drench when compared with mixing gypsum, lime, etc, into the soil. It is pretty much immediately available to the plant, though. In a self-watering container, I dump a couple of tablespoons down the fillup tube if they are showing signs of BER.) Your soil additives sound like they would have quite a bit of calcium (eggshells, shrimp shells, bone meal, etc), so lack of calcium may not be the problem. You could be right about the ammonia in the Miracle Grow. After a few weeks that should mostly be converted to nitrates, but the plant will have absorbed some unconverted when watering with it in real hot weather. __________________ -- alias

July 10, 2010	#7
amideutch Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Germany 49°26"N 07°36"E Posts: 5,041	In your kind of heat I would water once a day especially if the plants are getting full sun the whole day. Calcium is probably not the problem and as suggested before the plant is probably going to the fruit for added moisture. Don't think the Ammonium nitrogen will bother the plants as it causes more problems in hydro systems. Ami __________________ Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting ‘...Holy Crap .....What a ride!'

July 8, 2010	#2
TheClaw Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Garner, NC Posts: 183	I have heard that when temperatures soar, the plants will try to conserve moisture by drawing it back out of the fruit, causing BER. Can anyone else confirm? Good luck Shelly

July 8, 2010	#5
ubergoober Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Brampton, Ontario Canada Posts: 202	I am pretty sure that with mine, it was the excessive rain we had here 2 weeks ago. I think that it was the rain that caused the BER here in my garden right now. My fruit that had set during the really rainy 2 weeks are the affected fruit now. Newer fruit that has come on since then seems to be OK so far. And only two of my plants are experiencing it (KNOCK ON WOOD). My Pruden's Purple and now I am seeing some dark spots on my Costoluto Genovese.