Is this Blossom End Rot

ArthurDent004 · May 8, 2013

I've been monitoring my first growing tomato. I had noticed some black spots earlier but when I looked today the picture below is what I'm seeing. My plant is now two feet tall with a 18 inch spread. I see two other tomatoes forming so I'd like to prevent these forming tomatoes for suffering the same fate.

Rockporter · May 8, 2013

Yes they are BER, just pull them when you see them and the plant should grow out of it. If I remember correctly you are growing in SIP and this is normal.

ArthurDent004 · May 8, 2013

I was afraid you were going to say that. I've been mixing GH CalMag in my nutrient solution each week but that must not be adding enough Calcium for the plant. I had read other posts that said once you see BER you can't save that tomato.

Rockporter · May 8, 2013

Right, the tomato is gone. Wait a couple of days and see if the plant grows out of it, if not you can add a stronger cal/mag solution. I am not familiar with what you are using so would not give advice on such.

ArthurDent004 · May 8, 2013

I'm using this
http://generalhydroponics.com/site/i...nts/calimagic/

This is the product label
http://generalhydroponics.com/site/g.../CALiMAGic.pdf

It was left over from my hydroponics build of last year. I was adding some additional MG Shake n Feed with Calcium to my plant and noticed that two of its bottommost leaves looked the included pictures. I suppose now I'm going to be suspicious of every brown or gray spot I see on the leaves of this plant.

JamesL · May 9, 2013

Arthur,
BER happens. Adding the cal mag probably won't help so don't overdo it. You might have plenty in there and the nutes are still getting locked up and unavailable for some reason.
As Rockporter noted, they will grow out of it.
Can't really tell what's going on with the foliage issue. Mold? Not really sure how to establish a spray routine inside. Spot spraying with 1 or 2 percent hydrogen peroxide might be in order. You might need something stronger if it looks like it is spreading.

Urbanfarmer · May 10, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArthurDent004

I've been monitoring my first growing tomato. I had noticed some black spots earlier but when I looked today the picture below is what I'm seeing. My plant is now two feet tall with a 18 inch spread. I see two other tomatoes forming so I'd like to prevent these forming tomatoes for suffering the same fate.

Yes, that looks like BER. BER is something you should rarely, if ever see.......if you do 2 things correctly: don't let your rootzone experience wide fluctuations from wet to dry, and, use a balanced, complete formula with immediately available calcium.

Mixing and matching with a little bit of this and a little bit of that can compound your problems, dramatically.

In 30 years of growing I've seen BER on a handful of tomatoes. They were always on container plants that I let dry out.

Best regards,

Master_Gardener · June 19, 2013

When I started gardening, I had a serious problem with BER. The weather was very hot and dry and I was 'just' watering, not knowing what I was doing or how much water I was applying. I measured the time it took me to fill up a 5 gal bucket and did some math. When I need to water now, I use a timer to determine when I have applied enough water.

That seemed to work for me.

May 8, 2013	#2
Rockporter Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Texas Coastal Bend Posts: 3,205	Yes they are BER, just pull them when you see them and the plant should grow out of it. If I remember correctly you are growing in SIP and this is normal. __________________ In the spring at the end of the day you should smell like dirt ~Margaret Atwood~

May 8, 2013	#4
Rockporter Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Texas Coastal Bend Posts: 3,205	Right, the tomato is gone. Wait a couple of days and see if the plant grows out of it, if not you can add a stronger cal/mag solution. I am not familiar with what you are using so would not give advice on such. __________________ In the spring at the end of the day you should smell like dirt ~Margaret Atwood~

June 19, 2013	#8
Master_Gardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: Central Indiana 6a/41 Posts: 131	When I started gardening, I had a serious problem with BER. The weather was very hot and dry and I was 'just' watering, not knowing what I was doing or how much water I was applying. I measured the time it took me to fill up a 5 gal bucket and did some math. When I need to water now, I use a timer to determine when I have applied enough water. That seemed to work for me. __________________ Russel USDA: Zone 6a, Sunset Zone 41 - 15 miles NW of Indianapolis, IN I had a problem with slugs. I tried using beer but it didn't work, until I gave it to the slugs.

May 8, 2013	#3
ArthurDent004 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Cordova, TN Posts: 148	I was afraid you were going to say that. I've been mixing GH CalMag in my nutrient solution each week but that must not be adding enough Calcium for the plant. I had read other posts that said once you see BER you can't save that tomato.

May 9, 2013	#6
JamesL Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 1,992	Arthur, BER happens. Adding the cal mag probably won't help so don't overdo it. You might have plenty in there and the nutes are still getting locked up and unavailable for some reason. As Rockporter noted, they will grow out of it. Can't really tell what's going on with the foliage issue. Mold? Not really sure how to establish a spray routine inside. Spot spraying with 1 or 2 percent hydrogen peroxide might be in order. You might need something stronger if it looks like it is spreading.