BER on plants in pots

[FILMNET]

I have BER on some plants in pots now, 5 gal pots Super Marzano and Jaune Flamme plants, Can i leave the BEF Tomato's on the plants and get seeds from the Heirloom plants for next year. Jaune Flamme ?

My Pots

My nice Berkley tie Dye, this plant is in ground

My nice Black from Tula plant in ground also

My ground plants are great here is Earl Fauxe

[nctomatoman]

Not surprising - once plants have fruit that are set, water or heat stress - a wilting plant on a very hot day - will lead to onset of BER. In the ground, the plants can find it easier to find water (esp. in heavy clay soil). That is why I am watering so much this hot summer, with so many plants in pots.

[FILMNET]

This week we have your weather 90-95 humid

[coloken]

Same question. I have it on the first fruit on a GH tomato. Will the seed from that fruit (F6) be OK?

[nctomatoman]

Yeah - though you don't get to experience it alone - we are back up into the muck right along with you! I am hoping that the plants sent plenty of fruit over the few relatively cool days....more blossom drop ahead, I fear!

[FILMNET]

Last year i made the mistake of growing Roma's, terrible BER, but the ones in 5 Gal pots, i used garden lime ,1 cup in a gal of water spread over the leaves and the rest into the pots . It actually stopped BER.

[rsg2001]

My first BER this year.... an Eva Purple Ball in a container. I wouldn't worry about it; just don't let the containers dry out and get parched. Uneven watering makes container tomatoes prone to this but it usually doesn't last. So far, knock on wood, I have lots of fruit set but thus far just that one BER.

[ubergoober]

I was just coming to post that I too lost my first to BER on my Pruden's Purple. With all that rain that came recently, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. It pained me to take it off but I did. Now I have the extreme heat to contend with this week.

[dice]

I would water the ground around the bottoms of those small
pots as well as the container mix in the pot itself. If they
have roots into the ground under the pot, that will give them
more area to take up water from.

[amideutch]

Thats a good Idea dice. You can also get some Calcium nitrate and add 1 Tbls per gallon of water and use that to water your plants with. Start out with bi-weekly applications and go from there. Ami

[FILMNET]

Calcium Nitrate ?I will look for some, I have garden lime i bought?will this work? We are by the coast here and have only 10 days or less of terrible heat a year, So the 5 gal pots last year took a summer to grow, i have 10 hole in each pots now

[amideutch]

Calcium Nitrate is available at Hydroponic stores, Ebay and Amazon. For containers this is the best short term fix as the Calcium is immediately available to the plant. BER is caused by other factors as well but if it is a calcium deficiency this is the quickest fix. Ami

[Worth1]

The terracotta pots breath and therefor evaporate water.If you simply must use terracotta pots you can put a plastic bag inside the pot or use a sealer on the pot to stop evaporation.
The pots are too small, you need at least 10 gallon pots.(Think cheap trash can)

It takes only one dry out of the plant to get BER.

Dice has the best advice so far. if the roots are coming out of the bottom of the pots water the ground.
Which brings me to this question what is wrong with the soil so that you dont just plant the tomatoes in the ground or use raised beds?

Worth

[FILMNET]

Thanks guys , i grower 3 plants from seeds of 24 different plants this year, I gave 15 or more plants to friends. I put 16 plants in the garden, put I had 10 plants i wanted to grow for seeds, i used pots.
So i have 26 different plants, only Berkeley Tie Dye i have 2 plants. This is my first year growing Heirloom plants.

[ubergoober]

This article by our own Carolyn tells a lot about the whole calcium and BER lore. http://www.victoryseeds.com/informat...rolyn_ber.html

I think with me at least it was the torrential rains we had for about a week or two straight.

My poor poor Pruden's Purple