The plants themselves look fine and are growing really nicely, but all of the tomatoes I grow get blossom end rot! I think even my bell peppers are gonna get it as I saw a spot on one of the newly growing peppers. Thing is I'm growing zucchini and NONE of them got blossom end rot.
How do I stop this??
Some details of they might help
I live in Southern NV. I have a compost machine that makes compost so my tomatoes get fresh compost. I've tried adding milk to the water for calcium. I tried bonemeal last year. I've done miraclegro and concentrated seaweed feed. They get plenty of sun and water. The leaves done seem damaged.
The only thing I can think of is trying bone meal again.
by Jaded-by-Anxiety
22 Comments
People will claim i am scientifically wrong…
But I plant a half egg shell in the hole with every tomato and pepper plant and ive never ever had an issue with BER
Last year I stared getting that about mid summer. I pulled off all the bad ones. I started adding a few spoonfuls of ash from my firepit to each plant and started fertizing more often. I did this every Friday. My plants exploded and I never got another tomato with end rot.
Hello Nevada friend!
I believe it’s likely an issue with the watering. You mention they get plenty of water, but it being plenty is not exactly the problem. As you can review from the auto-mod comment, it likely is from inconsistent (erratic) watering.
Mulch them generously. BER indicates the plant isn’t getting enough calcium but adding calcium to the soil usually isn’t the solution. They’re absorbing calcium because of inconsistent watering. Mulch helps the soil retain moisture.
I started growing in an earthbox or knockoff. The water chamber on the bottom prevents the wet-dry swings that cause this.
I got two tomatoes with extremely mild BER last year.
Cal/Mag. Sold everywhere you can get fertilizer/soil/plants/seeds.
I recommend reading through this information. It’s very helpful.
https://www.reddit.com/r/vegetablegardening/comments/wt6tgw/blossom_end_rot/
Fox farm Cal-Mag works really well for the ones in my greenhouse
Put on a tutu and ballet slippers. Place yourself in the middle of your tomato patch and sing “I’m a little teapot” while twirling counterclockwise. In 3 to 4 weeks your BER will be gone!
There’s actually a pretty good chance this will work since BER is an early season phenomenon that generally resolves itself without any change to your gardening habits.
I cut and toss any fruit that displays BER as soon as I notice.
1-2 tbsp Cal mag in a gallon of water. Apply bi weekly. This solved my BER issues.
When the nights are still cold, tomato roots find it hard to uptake the nutrients they need. When the nights stay above 60 degrees, the problem disappears unless your soil is short on calcium. If so fertilize them with a balanced fertilizer that contains calcium.
I stopped having issues with blossom end rot when I started using Epsom salts on my tomatoes. Just a couple of tablespoons around the base of the plant once a week or after heavy rain.
I live in a hot desert climate too. Once the plants get 6-12” tall and the summer heat sets in I mulch my tomatoes with a few inches of compost on top of the garden soil. It keeps the soil cooler and keeps it from drying out during the day. Pretty much eliminated my problem with BER.
Egg shells. Grind them up in a coffee grinder and sprinkle around the garden. Works pretty quick in my experience.
The 2 main culprits for BER are inconsistent watering and calcium deficiency (normally caused by inconsistent watering) my problems went away when I stopped hand watering and got my tomatoes on a timer with drip irrigation same soil same everything else.
I would hand water every day but not deeply and had BER.
Now I run my irrigation for about 90 minutes 3 times a week. I’m in a arid dry climate, however my heats probably not as intense as yours.
I suggest getting a soil test which will almost certainly prove you have no calcium or mag deficiencies. You mention you add compost so that even lessens the already slim chance.
Inconsistence moisture in the soil causes issues with uptake even when both are present in the soil.
Variety might matter too especially in more extreme climates.
If they are in pots it is difficult to keep them properly hydrated. Use a very large pot and a moisture meter. Use an organic fertilizer for tomatoes. Well fertilized plants use less water.
Consistency in soil moisture is key.
Not sure. I always put a bunch of Epsom salt in my soil, before I plant. Depends on your soil. Try that next year. Not sure, but good luck.
Blossom end rot comes on when there is something wrong with the roots or plant that it is not able to uptake the calcium properly. Sometimes adding calcium can help, but most times adding more to non deficient soil does nothing, or even leads to other deficiencies since calcium compete for uptake with things like magnesium.
I wish it was just low calcium in the soil because that would be SO much easier to treat! Instead the causes tend to be things like overwatering, underwatering, inconsistent watering, shallow watering, root rot, too hot weather, plant stress, low soil pH, or too much nitrogen fertilizer.
Unfortunately the suggestions of cal-mag, foliar calcium application, eggshells, tums, epsom salt, banana peels, coffee grounds, etc are adenoidal, and when actually studied, generally ineffective. There is a LOT of misinformation out there around blossom end rot. It’s seriously everywhere. I highly advise folks to get their information from evidence based sources like universities or extension offices. I put “edu extension office” at the end of my searches then look for those in the results.
Here are a few quick sources but there are many more, seemingly almost every extension has a page debunking myths associated with BER.
“… low soil calcium levels are rarely a cause of blossom end rot.”
“… blossom end rot is most often caused by low soil pH or plant stress due to unusually cool or hot weather, drought, or wet soil conditions.”
-[NC Cooperative Extension](https://pender.ces.ncsu.edu/2024/03/why-are-my-squash-rotting/)
“More often however, there is plenty of calcium in the soil, but its availability for uptake and transport to fruits is impaired. Drought stress, alternating soil moisture extremes, and damage to a plant’s roots all can inhibit calcium uptake, as can waterlogged or cold soils, and high concentrations of ammonium (NH4+), potassium (K+), and magnesium (Mg++) in soil.”
“In addition, high relative humidity OR low relative humidity in combination with hot, windy weather can limit transpiration, thus preventing calcium from reaching fruits.”
-[Wisconsin Horticulture Division Extension](https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/blossom-end-rot/)
“This is a problem born of calcium deficiency, most often the result of erratic watering.”
“Adding calcium to the soil is generally ineffective.”
“To reduce blossom end rot, water plants on a weekly basis during dry weather to provide a consistent supply of moisture to the plants. Mulch the area around plants to conserve and maintain uniform soil moisture levels. Also, avoid applying large amounts of nitrogen as excessive nitrogen fertilization may contribute to blossom end rot.”
-[Iowa State University Extension and Outreach](https://yardandgarden.extension.iastate.edu/encyclopedia/blossom-end-rot)
“Most of the time, there is enough calcium in the soil so this is rarely the cause.”
“Applying liquid calcium fertilizer directly to leaves has limited effectiveness because calcium doesn’t move very far in plants. If calcium is applied, it should be done when the fruits are small.”
“Avoid over fertilizing plants, especially with fertilizers that use ammonium as their nitrogen source, during early fruiting.”
-[University of Illinois Extension](https://extension.illinois.edu/sites/default/files/blossom_end_rot_062021.pdf)
I hope that helps. I know it’s a frustrating problem!
I plant mine with lots of bone meal to start off
Using cheap CalMag helped me stop bottom end rot immediately.