Help with tomatoes - brown spots

[Linny]

I don't believe that this is BER. I've had quite a bit of BER this year and this doesn't seem anything like it. I noticed some of my tomatoes have a speckling of brown and/or yellow spots on the bottom of the fruit. Usually it's not bad and I don't even notice or see it when the fruit is ripe. Here is a picture of one where the condition has progressed a bit more than spots. The bottom is a brown hard area. I sliced it open and it looks and smells fine. No sign of worm or bugs in the fruit. My plants are in the ground and growing in a compost mixture. The leaves of all my plants look healthy and are growing vigourously and setting tons of fruit. By the way, the variety in the picture is a Campbells 1327. I know it looks heart shaped and it shouldn't be.


Here is a picture with the tomato on the same stem as a beefsteak shaped Campbells. The picture is fuzzy because my camera was fogging up in the heat.

[Suze]

Originally Posted by Linny

I don't believe that this is BER. I've had quite a bit of BER this year and this doesn't seem anything like it. I noticed some of my tomatoes have a speckling of brown and/or yellow spots on the bottom of the fruit. Usually it's not bad and I don't even notice or see it when the fruit is ripe. Here is a picture of one where the condition has progressed a bit more than spots. The bottom is a brown hard area.

Pic of various fruits with BER (click to enlarge):

BER PIC.JPG

Source:
http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.corne...Tom_ComDis.htm

IMO, the fifth fruit looks somewhat similar to your pic.

I've never gotten a brown hard spot on the bottom of a tomato that was quite as large as what you show, but have seen my share of slightly smaller ones before. Just because the fruit is seemingly unaffected inside does not necessarily rule out BER. Occasionally, the BER will be more of a superficial dry or leathery patch than a full blown rot that tends to ruin the tomato.

[feldon30]

I've got a question for you. I refer to the appearance of your tomato fruit to be "russetting" just like some oranges can have brown skin. I wonder, are you using any pesticides or are you in an area with pesticides being used? I just ask because the combination of different pesticides can cause russetting on fruit. I know it's an outside chance but thought I'd ask. Generally I don't hang out in Pests & Diseases.


A clearer copy of that BER picture:


Here's a picture from TAMU which shows another fruit.




If it does turn out to be BER, note that it cannot be fixed by spraying calcium or "BER spray" onto your plants. Instead, try to get the watering more consistent and if necessary, add more mulch around your plants to help regulate soil moisture.

[Linny]

Thank you for the replies. It does look similar to the 5th tomato in the picture. I'll see if I can snap a picture later today of what it looks like in the beginning stages.

I'm not sure if my neighbours are using pesticides. My garden is surrounded by 3 different neighbours. I know we are not using anything on our property.

I've been trying to keep the watering consistent and I am doing better in that regard. The obvious BER is almost gone but this spotting if it is BER is still present on all my varieties of tomatoes.