Usefull cure for BER. - Page 2

travis · July 24, 2006

"Apparently paste tomato varieties as a group tend to have more problems getting Ca++ to the fruits b'c of their vascualr system. When did you last see a cherry tomato variety that had BER? How often have you seen a heart shaped variety that had BER?" [Carolyn]

Great points (a pun may soon become obvious).

And does this apply to "sausage shaped" tomatoes ... especially those with pointy tips like Opalka or Jersey Devil?

How about the Marzano paste types? Are these elongated pointy types mostly BER resistant due to vascular structure?

PV

michael johnson · July 25, 2006

The varieties that get BER and the varieties that dont get it, is becoming stranger and stranger by the minute,

I cant help but wonder why-one type of roma type toms get it and others like san marzano dont -its very odd indeed.

I am off to Portugal for a week on thursday for a bit of a late holiday break, so whilst I am there I shall be visiting lots of local markets etc, and shall take particular notice of any signs of BER present in the dozens of elongated type tomatoes of various varieties on sale there and see a lot of them actualy growing in situ as well_ shall probable bring back a variety of seeds as well-to try.

We are actualy going on a sort of pilgrimage realy as the wife in particular wants to treck all the way up to see the shrine of Fatima in the north of Portugal.

Regarding Cherry tomatoes and the like- they just dont seem to get BER at all do they, its a great pity they cant breed the resistant properties of it into larger tomatoes.

Rock Dust- wonderfull stuff, wish I had bought some years ago, the only problem with it is the weight, as they usualy sell it in 25 kg bags, the postman struggled up our drive with it to deliver it and admitted to almost giving himself a hernia-( I think he was hinting for a tip ** ) the main thing about it is-once you have spread it on your ground dig it or rake it in straight away, dont do like I did and just leave it on top for a day or two, I also put some in all my pots I use for ring culture tomato growing, and it tends to set like concrete if you leave it, but once mixed in with the soil/compost it behaves normaly n the soil structure.

Kenyadenola · August 2, 2006

Quote:

And does this apply to "sausage shaped" tomatoes ... especially those with pointy tips like Opalka or Jersey Devil?[

As a matter of fact I happen to have one Opalka that does have BER.

I also have several fruit on my Heidi that have BER, and according to the Good Dr.'s book, my garden must practically be under water! Considering that where those two plants reside there is a hardpan of clay about 2 feet down, I would say that is the issue, although there are several other paste varieties in the same area that do not have BER quite to the same extent. I am guessing that it is because the Heidis are right where the soaker hose starts and I have noticed that in order to get more water to flow at the end of the soaker, I have to turn it on a bit higher, which means the first plants get more water than the last plants. Next year I am going to go with shorter lengths of soaker hose.

barkeater · August 2, 2006

The only advice I can give to prevent BER is to 1. Lime your soils (East Coast experience only) 2. Grow IN THE GROUND 3. Water before bone dry.

Randomly, with enough tomatoes planted, any tomato can exhibit BER with one or two tomatoes that ripen prematurely.

If you see BER AFTER you've picked good ones - you've got a BIG water problem.

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July 24, 2006	#16
travis Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Evansville, IN Posts: 2,984	"Apparently paste tomato varieties as a group tend to have more problems getting Ca++ to the fruits b'c of their vascualr system. When did you last see a cherry tomato variety that had BER? How often have you seen a heart shaped variety that had BER?" [Carolyn] Great points (a pun may soon become obvious). And does this apply to "sausage shaped" tomatoes ... especially those with pointy tips like Opalka or Jersey Devil? How about the Marzano paste types? Are these elongated pointy types mostly BER resistant due to vascular structure? PV

July 25, 2006	#17
michael johnson Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: UK. Posts: 960	The varieties that get BER and the varieties that dont get it, is becoming stranger and stranger by the minute, I cant help but wonder why-one type of roma type toms get it and others like san marzano dont -its very odd indeed. I am off to Portugal for a week on thursday for a bit of a late holiday break, so whilst I am there I shall be visiting lots of local markets etc, and shall take particular notice of any signs of BER present in the dozens of elongated type tomatoes of various varieties on sale there and see a lot of them actualy growing in situ as well_ shall probable bring back a variety of seeds as well-to try. We are actualy going on a sort of pilgrimage realy as the wife in particular wants to treck all the way up to see the shrine of Fatima in the north of Portugal. Regarding Cherry tomatoes and the like- they just dont seem to get BER at all do they, its a great pity they cant breed the resistant properties of it into larger tomatoes. Rock Dust- wonderfull stuff, wish I had bought some years ago, the only problem with it is the weight, as they usualy sell it in 25 kg bags, the postman struggled up our drive with it to deliver it and admitted to almost giving himself a hernia-( I think he was hinting for a tip ** ) the main thing about it is-once you have spread it on your ground dig it or rake it in straight away, dont do like I did and just leave it on top for a day or two, I also put some in all my pots I use for ring culture tomato growing, and it tends to set like concrete if you leave it, but once mixed in with the soil/compost it behaves normaly n the soil structure.

August 2, 2006	#19
barkeater Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: NE Kingdom, VT - Zone 3b Posts: 1,439	The only advice I can give to prevent BER is to 1. Lime your soils (East Coast experience only) 2. Grow IN THE GROUND 3. Water before bone dry. Randomly, with enough tomatoes planted, any tomato can exhibit BER with one or two tomatoes that ripen prematurely. If you see BER AFTER you've picked good ones - you've got a BIG water problem.