Fertilizers, Sprays, and Growing Tomatoes

[dice]

"In an earlier post here it was said to add
Epsom Salts to the planting hole to prevent
BER. It seems the dosage was 1/2 cup."

Epsom Salts contain magnesium and sulfur.
BER (Blossom End Rot) is a calcium deficiency
disease, which may be brought on by either
too little calcium in the soil or planting medium
or by too little water (drought interferes with
the uptake of calcium by roots).

Reference:

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/t...fruit/36c.html

Adding epsom salts to gardens is usually considered
a benefit (plants do need magnesium and sulfur), but
not as a specific BER remedy.

Any of ordinary lime, dolomite lime, gypsum, ground eggshells, or ground oyster shells would be appropriate
for preventing BER (assuming that the soil does not
dry out). Gypsum will lower soil pH, from a little to a
lot depending on how much you use, all of the others
will raise it. All of those need some time in the soil
before the calcium becomes available to plants, so
adding them to a planting bed long before sowing seed
or transplanting seedlings into it is recommended
(I would do it in the fall to be available the next
season). Most of these will last for a few seasons
before you need to do it again.

In a pinch, you can just crush an eggshell
in your hand and drop it in the planting hole
under a seedling. Very little of it is going to
dissolve over a season, but it is right there
handy for the tomato plant's roots, and that
may be enough to prevent BER.

Soils in many places have plenty of calcium
naturally, so keeping them from drying out
is all that is needed to prevent BER. That
may not be the case with a custom organic
mix in a raised bed, but it is also easy to
fix in that kind of garden.