ber in different varieties

[Cranky]

I had a fairly successful season growing about a dozen varieties. All the plants received the same amount of water throughout the season. There was a minimum amount of ber on most of the non plum/paste varieties. I grew opalka, gilbertie and orange banana plum tomatoes and all three had over half the fruit with ber.

Do different varieties require more or less watering and or calcium?

Any help would be appreciated.

[SharonRossy]

We would need to know more about your growing conditions, in ground, container, and if container, what mix you used, as well as the type and frequency of fertilizer, and watering regime. From my experience, roma-type tomatoes tend to have more ber. However, any variety can experience ber if watering is not consistent. For example this year I had ber on at least four varieties, none of which were roma-type tomatoes. A lack of moisture due to improper watering when I was away, (blame it on my husband) was the cause. It eventually straightened out. Also, if a plant has too rapid growth from over fertilization, I believe can have an impact as well.
I'm no expert, so I hope those who know more will chime in. Just my experience.

[Cranky]

Originally Posted by SharonRossy

We would need to know more about your growing conditions, in ground, container, and if container, what mix you used, as well as the type and frequency of fertilizer, and watering regime. From my experience, roma-type tomatoes tend to have more ber. However, any variety can experience ber if watering is not consistent. For example this year I had ber on at least four varieties, none of which were roma-type tomatoes. A lack of moisture due to improper watering when I was away, (blame it on my husband) was the cause. It eventually straightened out. Also, if a plant has too rapid growth from over fertilization, I believe can have an impact as well.
I'm no expert, so I hope those who know more will chime in. Just my experience.

I grow in ground. My soil was originally heavy clay, but over the years I have improved it by bringing in a lot of topsoil from a river bottom quarry, aged cow manure, and some free mixture from a local nursery. The soil is acid so I add lime (microna). When the plants go in the ground I use fishbone meal, blood meal, and some organic potassium. During the growing season I make compost tea for both root and foliar feeding.

My question is about different varieties needing different amounts of water or calcium. Why are only the plum tomatoes getting ber and the rest hardly any at all? Also all my plants are grafted by me onto rootstock seed I by from Moles in England and have been happy with. Very vigorous disease free foliage.

I read that certain paste tomatoes do well in dry regions. Maybe the right amount of water for one variety damages another.

[joseph]

Some varieties are highly susceptible to developing BER pretty much regardless of how they are cared for, and other varieties can be terribly mistreated and are highly unlikely to develop BER. My strategy is to neglect the tomatoes and only replant seeds from varieties that don't develop BER.

Tomatoes with oblong fruits tend to be more susceptible to BER. I don't try to figure out what specific combination of genes and environment makes them more susceptible, I just don't replant seeds from plants that previously experienced BER. My growing conditions and watering habits vary from year to year. The only tomatoes that are invited back to my garden to grow again are those that never develop BER regardless of growing conditions.

[Gardeneer]

I agree on everything Joseph has just said above.
All my gardening years have had BER with 2 varieties : Roma and SanMarzano. and I just stopped growing them. Never again BER problem.
However container growing has different rules and requirements. That is, more variety might develop BER than just Roma/Sanmarzano types.
Gardeneer

[MrBig46]

We use a preventive spray fertilizer Wuxal per sheet. Can also be used 0.5% solution of calcium nitrate.
Vladimír

[NarnianGarden]

I have see BER at the beginning of the season, or during an extended cold / hot period. Yes, oblong fruits tend to be nore vulnerable.. also heart shaped ones. Black varieties seem to be resistant and resilient, no matter the weather.
Still, the taste in Orange Banana is so worth every trouble that it will be invited back next year.

[Cole_Robbie]

Originally Posted by joseph

Tomatoes with oblong fruits tend to be more susceptible to BER.

Yes, exactly. When I saw this thread title, I was thinking the same thing. It's often said that paste tomatoes get BER the worst, but most of them are oblong. I have noticed BER just as bad on oblong-shaped cherry tomatoes.

Moisture inconsistency is what causes BER. It displays itself as a calcium deficiency, but the real culprit is the inconsistent water.

[Cranky]

Too much water, too little water, not enough calcium or soil conditions that prevent Ca take up can cause ber. Different varieties do better or worse than others in different climates, soil conditions, wet or dry regions. Maybe one variety does better in a dry climate than another variety, for example, or vice versa.

Where I live there is no rain throughout the summer and it rains all winter. I water all my plants the same amount, once per week or so all summer.

In the beginning of the season, once the plants are in the ground the opalkas and gilberties all look wilted. They are stressed by something and look almost dead. All the other varieties look great. This is the time of year where the soil is still wet and some rainfall still occurs.

There is kind of a transition period between the dry and wet seasons. Once the rains stop completely and I start watering regularly the opalkas and gilberties and orange banana plants perk up and get healthier. The soil is drier. I assume the ground is too wet for them when the rains keep the soil soaked.

Maybe these varieties do better in drier soil. (???) Maybe the same amount of watering the other varieties do well in is too much for the varieties that get ber. (????)

I was wondering if anyone had any experience with water needs or tolerance (wet or dry) with different varieties. The right amount of water for certain varieties might cause stress and damage for others. We know too much or too little water is a problem, but too much or too little may not be the same for all varieties. I don't want to give up on these varieties if the solution is as simple as getting the moisture right.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Cranky

Too much water, too little water, not enough calcium or soil conditions that prevent Ca take up can cause ber. Different varieties do better or worse than others in different climates, soil conditions, wet or dry regions. Maybe one variety does better in a dry climate than another variety, for example, or vice versa.

Where I live there is no rain throughout the summer and it rains all winter. I water all my plants the same amount, once per week or so all summer.

In the beginning of the season, once the plants are in the ground the opalkas and gilberties all look wilted. They are stressed by something and look almost dead. All the other varieties look great. This is the time of year where the soil is still wet and some rainfall still occurs.

There is kind of a transition period between the dry and wet seasons. Once the rains stop completely and I start watering regularly the opalkas and gilberties and orange banana plants perk up and get healthier. The soil is drier. I assume the ground is too wet for them when the rains keep the soil soaked.

Maybe these varieties do better in drier soil. (???) Maybe the same amount of watering the other varieties do well in is too much for the varieties that get ber. (????)

I was wondering if anyone had any experience with water needs or tolerance (wet or dry) with different varieties. The right amount of water for certain varieties might cause stress and damage for others. We know too much or too little water is a problem, but too much or too little may not be the same for all varieties. I don't want to give up on these varieties if the solution is as simple as getting the moisture right.

Now that you said that and it is true as I have seen it in many plants including peppers.
So far the jalapeno will thrive in too much water where others will die.

You might think of segregating them in a more well drained soil if that is possible.
Another option may be grafting them on to a more water tolerant root stock.
They do this with pecans all of the time to grow trees in river bottoms that stay soggy.

Worth

[Cranky]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Now that you said that and it is true as I have seen it in many plants including peppers.
So far the jalapeno will thrive in too much water where others will die.

You might think of segregating them in a more well drained soil if that is possible.
Another option may be grafting them on to a more water tolerant root stock.
They do this with pecans all of the time to grow trees in river bottoms that stay soggy.

Worth

I can segregate to a more well drained area. All varieties go onto the same rootstock.

I suspect, but do not know that the ber troubled varieties are getting too much water even though it is the same amount for all other varieties. The reason I think this is after transplanting all plants the ber suseptible varieties look like they are dying and the soil is soaked. The leaves recover as the season dries out, but then they get ber.

From the responses so far to the question if anyone has experience or knowledge about water needs from variety to variety it seems no one does. I thought someone might say they water x variety lots more than y, or x does much better with less or more water.

[MrBig46]

I am not willing to restrict my tomato varieties due to BER. Often the first and most beautiful fruits have BER. Next year I will regularly squirt on sheets of Ca.
Vladimír

[habitat_gardener]

Originally Posted by NarnianGarden

... Black varieties seem to be resistant and resilient, no matter the weather.....

That's an interesting observation!
I'm not seeing any BER at all on my blacks this year (Margaret Curtain, Blackberry)
minimal BER on pink hearts: Sexy Beast, Roza de Zarautz, Rozovyi Myod
minimal BER on Elgin Pink

However:
really bad BER on yellow/orange beefsteaks: Tobolsk, Sweet Ozark Orange, Orlov Yellow, Orange Jazz
minimal BER on one orange plum, Orange Caprese
no BER on another orange plum, Zolotoe Serdtse

Last year, I was seeing a little BER on blacks and pinks:
Wine Jug, Pruden's Purple, Ukrainian Purple

[Cranky]

Originally Posted by habitat_gardener

That's an interesting observation!
I'm not seeing any BER at all on my blacks this year (Margaret Curtain, Blackberry)
minimal BER on pink hearts: Sexy Beast, Roza de Zarautz, Rozovyi Myod
minimal BER on Elgin Pink

However:
really bad BER on yellow/orange beefsteaks: Tobolsk, Sweet Ozark Orange, Orlov Yellow, Orange Jazz
minimal BER on one orange plum, Orange Caprese
no BER on another orange plum, Zolotoe Serdtse

Last year, I was seeing a little BER on blacks and pinks:
Wine Jug, Pruden's Purple, Ukrainian Purple

I suspect your summer growing season is much like mine. How often do you water? Do you water all varieties the same.

[habitat_gardener]

Originally Posted by Cranky

I suspect your summer growing season is much like mine. How often do you water? Do you water all varieties the same.

Yes, they all get watered the same at each garden.

The ones with the most BER are in my home garden. We built new raised beds this year and purchased a "vegetable mix": "topsoil" + compost. We added lots of horse-manure compost as a mulch to one of the beds, and I did not have to water that bed for a month after planting! In hindsight, perhaps that contributed to the BER, because the mulch layer stayed moist, but I didn't test the moisture more than 3-4 inches deep. (shrug) I do have some basil along the edges of 2 beds, and some cucurbits (cucumbers, summer squash, melons) at the ends of the beds, all of which get watered a little more often, but I don't think that's been affecting the ones that get BER. Probably I've watered the tomato plants in those beds every 2-3 weeks. We have 2x/week watering restrictions, and I generally hand-water on one of those days, but I don't water the tomatoes every time. Also, the plants at home are weaker -- varying amounts of mildew.

At my other gardens, where I've added lots of homemade compost, I'm not getting BER on the Orlov Yellow, at least. I planted those gardens a bit later, so some plants are just starting to produce. I still water those gardens about every week or two.

At one garden I have lots of straw mulch, and I have seen BER there on Ozark.

At the other garden, which is a lot windier than the other locations, I have minimal mulch and have seen BER on Tobolsk. But I picked some one-pounders of Orlov and Weisnicht there yesterday! I've been adding homemade compost liberally for at least a decade, so the soil is great.