BER - what to do?

[sooby77]

Hi all,

I just saw three BER fruits on my Big Boy and was wondering whether I should just snip them off. They are still green and have not ripened yet. Thanks.


Soo

[feldon30]

Yes. BER is not something that fruit can recover from. Try to make sure the plant is getting regularly watered.

[sooby77]

I have my soaker hose system watering them for 90minutes every 3 days. I will increase the frequency to every other day, for 1/2hr. The temp here in Raleigh, NC is forecast to be in the mid nineties this weekend. My Better Boy and Celebrity shows no sign of BER (crossing my fingers!)

[piegirl]

crud and double crud - my one 'ready by the 4th' had
BER today as well as a second one (big beef). Last year
BB developed BER on all the first fruits and then didn't
produce worth a hoot the rest of the season. Right now
she has 11 set on. We have had real regular rain without
having to water. However 96 predicted for the weekend.
GRRRR - piegirl

[feldon30]

Are you adding any epsom salts, dolimitic lime, etc. to the hole where you planted the tomato plant?

[piegirl]

Feldon - how much epsom salt do you put down? I placed a
tablespoon of ground egg shells into each hole when I planted
and have more I can put down if needed. Piegirl

[carolyn137]

I can't see the need to add Epsom salts, magnesium sulfate OR eggshells, or dolmitic lime or anything else to help prevent BER.

And that' b'c the problem is not one of uptake thru the roots, it's a matter of maldistribution of Ca++ within the plant. Plants that have BER fruits have been shown to have plenty of Ca++ in the vegetative tissues.

Almost any stress can induce BER and the two major ones are overfertiization that causes too rapid growth, and uneven distribution of water.

But too hot, too cold, too dry, too wet can all be inducers.

As the plants mature they are better able to deal with environmental stresses so for most folks BER goes away with time.

If there's NO Ca++ in the soil, which is exceedingly rare, then addition of same is warranted. A soil test will help in that regard. And if the soil is too acidic that can also prevent Ca++ root uptake but that can be corrected by raising the pH of the soil.

[Worth1]

No Epsom salt no lime no egg shell I just put the plants out while tiny and watered regularly and no BER.

Its the first time in years I have not had it on at least one plant.

And the first time I took care of them this way.

Worth