tomato's

[ohiojim]

last 2 yrs. my tomato's get what appears to be blossom end rot. someone told me i needed lime, anyone have this prob. and a cure ?????

 

[Hotflashjr]

Blossom end rot is a function of lack of calcium in the soil. The calcium can get tied up in the soil depending on a couple different factors. Cal-Lime will help with that as well as a bit of Epsom salt in the bottom of each hole while planting. You can also do a foliar spray with calcium in it. There are many commercially available products which you can use or I have heard a home solution can be made with egg shells. In the orchard we spray all of our apple trees with a foliar calcium treatment each year and I just use a bit of that spray on my tomatoes. Soil amendments take time to build so each year working to build your calcium is a good idea and then do a foliar spray once or twice as well because it will take you a few years to bring the soil up to par.

 

[Traditional Farmer]

High Cal lime and do not put chemical fertilizer on your tomatoes the N will cause problems.A product called Planters II is great too.I also mulch my tomatoes at least a foot
deep with waste hay from where I've fed the goats and cattle.

 

[rustyfarmall]

Had a problem with blossom end rot about 3 years ago. Epsom salts cured it. Do a Google search for tomato blossom end rot, epsom salts.

 

[Gerry....WI]

Variety of tomato can mean a lot .

I have not had blossom end rot with a cultivar called
Celebrity.

Very flavorful with the right amount of acid and nice volume on the plant. Great for sandwiches and canning.

 

[Danny Prosser]

Cheap way to cure this is what a girl from the county ag office told me. Get cheap powdered milk and put some in the bottom of each planting hole. It Worked.

 

[Keith Molden]

The powered milk in the hole does work. We were bothered with it and I put about a cup of the milk in each hole. I thought the guy that tod me was crazy but think about it, milk is calcium. Kind of tells me that I need some lime in my garden too. LOL.

 

[Hobo,NC]

I did what Bruce (VA) told me to do I may get a few early ones that have a issue but very few. Bruce can grow a mater but they are not as good as mine are :lol:



http://forums.yesterdaystractors.com/viewtopic.php?t=792525&highlight=meal

 

[FBH44]

I believe the best way to add calcium for tomatoes is gypsum powder, or granules, also called calcium sulfate. It adds calcium without changing the pH. Available at farm and home stores, 40# or 50# only $10 or $15.

 

[in-too-deep]

My wife likes to put eggshells in the hole when we plant them.

 

[old]

Put a tablespoon of Epsom salts in the hole then a bit of dirt then the plant. My dad did that every time he planted his tomato's

 

[Ozlander]

You might want to have a soil test done.
Friend of mine has a 1 acre garden. Added the same fertilizer every year.
Guy at work talked him into doing a soil test.
Results came back and he had the take back all the fertilizer he had just bought (several hundred dollars worth) and get completely different fertilizer.
Now he does a soil test every year.

 

[RJKeith]

Hotflash is correct, blossom end rot in tomatos, as well as other plants, is cause by a lack of calcium. If your soil is acidic, lime is good, if the pH is high, a neutral calcium supplement (with sulfur) is available.