BER and Calcium!

When we lived in Louisiana, I always had to add calcium to my soil to prevent BER on my tomatoes. Normally the condition occurs due to moisture excursions either up or down. In some cases, it occurs due to unavailability of usable calcium in the soil. It isn't unusual for mineral deficiencies in plants to occur even when the minerals are present. Some minerals simply get locked up in forms that can't be absorbed by the roots.

I started using an amateur method of making sure calcium was available by placing calcium antacid tablets on all four sides of every tomato plant when I planted it. It worked or at least I can say, my BER problems ended.

Living in Texas, I believe I have enough "available" calcium in my soil to normally prevent BER. Last year was not normal. We had a three or four day period early in the spring after the tomatoes had formed when we had about four inches of rain. My tomato beds were soaked and the plants absorbed a lot of water with rapid growth. It resulted in many of my earliest tomatoes having a lot of BER. It was especially hard on my beefsteak varieties.

This year, I plan on adding some extra calcium in case we get another extended rain event. I can't make up my mind if I want to use my amateur method with the Tums tablets (cheap and easy) or the expert way with Calcium Nitrate ( a little more expensive and complicated).

I would appreciate comments about the two methods.

Ted

[carolyn137]

http://tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=26102

From the disease Forum.

Please check out post #12 where someone linked to my article on BER b'c I think it does help.

Carolyn

Originally Posted by carolyn137

http://tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=26102

From the disease Forum.

Please check out post #12 where someone linked to my article on BER b'c I think it does help.

Carolyn

Thanks Carolyn,

I agree with everything in your article especially the part about BER not being something that can be "cured". I also agree that it will go away after the first blush of damage to the crop on the forming and growing tomato fruits. It has however reappeared on late season new tomatoes when the critical moisture conditions are present.

My anecdotal evidence of my experience in Louisiana did cause me to believe that while it can't be "cured", it may be reduced in overall severity by the presence of more available calcium. Some tomatoes will still be damaged, but possibly not as many. The tendency to have BER problems under certain conditions sometimes seems to be variety specific resulting in my experience last year with more beefsteak types than other types. I've never seen it on a cherry tomato for example. Someone else may have, but I haven't.

I mentioned using the calcium tablets in Louisiana with good results. I have no way of proving or even knowing if the reduced incidence of BER was a result of the added calcium or if it was simply coincidental. Since I don't know many things about growing tomatoes, I tend to do a lot of things that may help that are not proven but may help a little. I try to avoid those things that have a high potential for harm.

I place the tablets about three inches from the main stem about one inch deep. I don't want to cover all the roots with calcium which may be harmful, but by placing them on all four sides of the plant, the plant can grow some roots into the calcium zones while others grow between the calcium zones. I haven't seen any evidence that the plants are harmed and I can't prove to myself that it helps, but it may.

I asked for comments about other folks experiences because I'm not sure the calcium in the tablets is in a form that is as readily available to the plants as it is in calcium nitrate.

I've really appreciated your willingness to share your knowledge about tomato growing over the years based on scientific knowledge and real life experience. It has been invaluable to all of us.

Ted

[Fusion_power]

Ted, check the PH of your soil and adjust it if needed with lime to raise the PH or with acidifying compounds to lower it. PH is implicated about half the time when calcium availability is a problem.

Consider getting some diatomaceous earth to use around your plants. It contains calcium in a form that becomes available very slowly, but is especially useful when heavy rainfall is a problem. As a bonus, it helps control insects.

Do use the calcium nitrate. It is available in a foliar spray form.

DarJones

[carolyn137]

I hadn't realized that the article linked to was a very old one from 2001 at Victory Seeds.

There's a more recent updated one that I did, and someone at GW linked it to it, I may have it in my faves, but no time to look now.

It has a discussion about soil pH and the effects on root uptake of Ca++, and much more updating including the efficacy of spraing foliage asgleaned from many website and I think some comments on that stupid product Stop Rot, which actually can be marginally effective if very small greenies are sprayed with it but I'm not one to go out there and try to figure out if greenies are going to go on to develop BER when they grow up to be large greenies.

I'll try to find it when I'm not packing seeds for my seed offer.

Carolyn

[Dutch]

Carolyn was this the post?
http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...top+Rot&page=2
Dutch

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Dutch

Carolyn was this the post?
http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...top+Rot&page=2
Dutch

It looks like it's the more updated onewith the foliage stuff and soil pH comments and some other updates but there's also another one as I recall,or think I recall.

For many years I've been somewhat obsessed with BER and have searched the internet for info at U and college places where trials have been done and so much more.

Well I remember the one version where it was shown that plants with BER fruits have the normal amount of Ca++ in the stems which led to the suggestion that there was NO lack of soil Ca++, rather, it's all the variables that can stress the plants that cause maldistribution of Ca++ within the plant and also raised the role of transpiration as well.

But it's also good to remember that with acidic soils Ca++ is bound in the soil, and there are some, very few, soils that are devoid of Ca++

Thanks for that one though, it's better than the one at Victory Seeds which Mike had asked me to write.

Carolyn

[amideutch]

This year, I plan on adding some extra calcium in case we get another extended rain event. I can't make up my mind if I want to use my amateur method with the Tums tablets (cheap and easy) or the expert way with Calcium Nitrate ( a little more expensive and complicated).

I don't think the extra Calcium is going to help especially when the plants get flooded. I would be looking more to raised beds or containers where adequate drainage can be assured.
The problem with water soaked or super saturated soil is oxygen depletion in the root zone. When this happens a lot of things happen to include nutrient uptake problems and stress to the plant to name a few.

Ami