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South Dakota

New to giant tomatos, last year was a disaster and lost many nice tomatos to BER. Is there something I could be doing now to help prevent BER in the future? Thanks in advance.

6/30/2022 1:41:14 PM

On a cliff in the desert

BER is usually caused by overwatering and lack of Calcium.

6/30/2022 1:46:45 PM

Springfield, VT

Blossom end rot is a moisture issue too little or too much. Keep them evenly moist. Calcium treatments will help

6/30/2022 2:54:16 PM

Grittyville, WA

Dont over water, nor severely underwater... Both extremes limit the uptake of calcium.

Foliar calcium chloride has been talked about but I dont know enough about it.

The critical window is DAP 9-15 or so. They are so sensitive to calcium fluctuations during that time. I hope someone has better advice... thats all Ive got...

6/30/2022 2:58:23 PM

Walla Walla Wa.

It is a transpiration issue!

6/30/2022 3:42:27 PM

South Dakota

How do you know the DAP of a tomato. Mine start to open up and I just start giving them a little tap everyday until the flower no longer opens. Am I missing a key thing with pollinating this way? How do you know when the pollen is prime to fly?

6/30/2022 4:53:30 PM

South Dakota

I have an electric toothbrush and would give that a try, but how do you know when to vibrate it.

6/30/2022 4:55:57 PM

Grittyville, WA

As the flower opens the petal color changes from light yellow to bright canary yellow... Somewhere right in there is when to pollinate. They can shed pollen early, basically the day you can see the flower petals starting to open. It may take a few days for the petal color to fade and to see if pollination occured. The DAP is a bit of a guess, it might be off by a day, give or take.

6/30/2022 6:04:54 PM

Grittyville, WA

Do you do any foliar feeding Dan? How do you water?

I already have BER. Its so irritating. I wonder if Boron plays a role as well.

6/30/2022 6:12:24 PM

Walla Walla Wa.

I don't do any foliar feeding unless I see a need for nutrient supplementation,which is hardly ever. Boron I'm sure has something to do with it, just like every mineral has an effect in the overall health of the plant, but giving it boron is not going to fix it because it's a transpiration issue more than a mineral deficiency.
I use drip tape for my irrigation.

7/1/2022 1:48:59 AM

LJ--- here is what Mr. sutherland has to say about using an electric toothbrush

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/MsgBoard/ViewThread.asp?b=33&p=705791

7/1/2022 7:01:08 AM

Bethlehem CT

Dan when you say transpiration, do you mean that too much water is leaving the plant through the leaves and the plant is not taking up enough water through the roots to replace the water lost?

7/1/2022 8:26:48 AM

Walla Walla Wa.

Ber is caused the young still expanding cells in the blossom end of the fruit are either overstuffed with water because of excess water in the plant or are collapsed because too much water has been taken out of the tomato by the plant as it slowly adapts to changing environmental conditions,the tomato kinda acts like a shock absorber for the water in the plant ,so when things are too drastic for even the shock absorber to handle is when you get the tissue damage BER and that damage usually takes about week and a half to 2 weeks to show up. So mainly it's caused by the temperature/ humidity differential. I hope this helps a little to understand ber,it took me forever to understand,mainly because it takes a long time to show up so I was thrown off by that.

7/1/2022 11:48:13 AM

South Bloomfield, Ohio

Great info, Dan.

7/1/2022 3:12:27 PM

Grittyville, WA

Some growers have had good luck with salvaging tomatoes with minor occuences of BER. I'm not quite that skilled.

7/5/2022 2:39:47 PM

Walla Walla Wa.

Salvaging is the key word, don't believe that you can grow a WR that has BER that has healed up and not rotten. There's internal damage that will prevent it from being a WR.

7/5/2022 5:35:55 PM

Hey LJ, I use Botanicare Cal-Mag Plus, A Calcium, Magnesium, And Iron Plant Supplement. 3-5ml/gallon. I am dealing with waves of heat, wind and high humidity contributing to alot of plant stress. I make Cal-Mag a part of my regular watering/feeding. I try to mark my calendar when I water (amount too & stay consistent w/o overdoing it), temp, humidity and when it rains. BER impacts peppers too. Learned early on to plan space between plants ahead of planting, soil testing, and stake up those beasts.

7/18/2022 9:01:13 PM