What is YOUR remedy for blossom end rot (BER)? - Page 3

cythaenopsis · August 27, 2013

^ It's also possible that the organic fertilizer improves the water retention of the potting medium, so that it doesn't dry out as quickly. Just a guess on my part.

I am very curious to know if a BER afflicted fruit should be plucked off immediately, or if it should be left on the truss. The instinct is to pluck, as the BER "looks like a disease", although we know it's a physiological reaction to current conditions. I wonder if it's best to leave the fruit on. After all, the plant reversed the nutrient flow to compensate. Is it a permanent state? If so, then leaving it on will continue helping to supplement the plant's nutrient demands and therefore plucking it off wouldn't be a good thing.

bcday · August 28, 2013

I take affected fruits off as soon as I see them. It's always just been a temporary condition early in the season here. Later fruits don't seem to be afflicted by BER regardless of the nutritional status of the plant. .

cythaenopsis · August 28, 2013

^ It's late in the season and I just got BER from erratic watering (I accidentally missed a couple of days on two occasions that induced wilting).

After some additional reading and consideration, I've decided to abort all of my BER affected fruits. My thought is that it's better to let future nutrients go to other fruits rather than being shared with fruit that will probably just continue to suffer from spreading BER. It's not like the fruit stops growing. It continues, while the BER spreads. Since BER is the reversal of some nutrient flow from the fruit to the plant, you'd think it wouldn't continue growing but it does. So, it's still getting something from the plant. Even if you can salvage a portion of the fruit to enjoy, it's probably not worth the trade-off as I'm sure the taste won't be all that great (nutrient depletion).

August 27, 2013	#31
cythaenopsis Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Hoboken, NJ USA Posts: 347	^ It's also possible that the organic fertilizer improves the water retention of the potting medium, so that it doesn't dry out as quickly. Just a guess on my part. I am very curious to know if a BER afflicted fruit should be plucked off immediately, or if it should be left on the truss. The instinct is to pluck, as the BER "looks like a disease", although we know it's a physiological reaction to current conditions. I wonder if it's best to leave the fruit on. After all, the plant reversed the nutrient flow to compensate. Is it a permanent state? If so, then leaving it on will continue helping to supplement the plant's nutrient demands and therefore plucking it off wouldn't be a good thing. __________________ I'm GardeningAloft.blogspot.com (container growing apartment dweller)

August 28, 2013	#33
cythaenopsis Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Hoboken, NJ USA Posts: 347	^ It's late in the season and I just got BER from erratic watering (I accidentally missed a couple of days on two occasions that induced wilting). After some additional reading and consideration, I've decided to abort all of my BER affected fruits. My thought is that it's better to let future nutrients go to other fruits rather than being shared with fruit that will probably just continue to suffer from spreading BER. It's not like the fruit stops growing. It continues, while the BER spreads. Since BER is the reversal of some nutrient flow from the fruit to the plant, you'd think it wouldn't continue growing but it does. So, it's still getting something from the plant. Even if you can salvage a portion of the fruit to enjoy, it's probably not worth the trade-off as I'm sure the taste won't be all that great (nutrient depletion). __________________ I'm GardeningAloft.blogspot.com (container growing apartment dweller)

August 28, 2013	#32
bcday Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: NY z5 Posts: 1,205	I take affected fruits off as soon as I see them. It's always just been a temporary condition early in the season here. Later fruits don't seem to be afflicted by BER regardless of the nutritional status of the plant. .