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Location

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Date Posted

Watlington, UK

For the past few months I've been thinking how to get more Ca into the fruit to prevent a thin blossom end, and then I read this:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304423814002830

5/1/2019 5:39:48 PM

Central NY

That’s been my suspicion for awhile now...don’t even get me started on the endoplasmic reticulum....

5/1/2019 6:26:24 PM

Georgia

That article was written nearly 5 years ago. Is that the current accepted opinion?

5/1/2019 7:41:32 PM

Central NY

*ber in tomatoes

5/1/2019 7:42:57 PM

Oak Grove, Mn

BER in tomatoes...the blight of indoor growing. Pushing Ca to extreme levels in the soil or hydro has not made a dent in stopping it. Still searching for the answer....

5/1/2019 8:33:32 PM

central Nc

Reticulum? Damn near killed him!

Seriously though, I always look at it as water stress. Plant pulls water from fruit during stress and the end of the line is the blossom end. So those cells die first. I would reckon low humidity indoors could cause it too. Just a dumb guess.

5/1/2019 9:20:22 PM

Central NY

And if you add to that the multiplicative inverse of pruning excessively...well..let’s just say the science is there....

5/1/2019 9:53:29 PM

Bethlehem CT

The only time I have had BER on my tomatoes was when I grew them in a pot.

5/1/2019 9:59:10 PM

Grittyville, WA

Wall thickness... Silica is supposed to help and so is calcium. But my plants look like crap so what do I know... Not enough.

5/2/2019 1:05:35 AM

Norfolk, UK

there's a slightly more accessible article that refers to the research here (amongst other bits) - https://extension.unh.edu/resource/growing-vegetables-managing-blossom-end-rot-fact-sheet-0. It references the article and it's thinking, vs all out agreement.

@Gerald - good find and food for thought! Thanks for posting.

1/19/2020 2:58:45 AM

Norfolk, UK

p.s. Best leave my reticulum well alone...

1/19/2020 3:00:22 AM

Norfolk, UK

Domingo tomatoes I find more prone to ber here, and I've had a few early stage ones go down - no issues on any big zac, megazac, or delicious tho.

This section tho, resonates : maintaining a very high leaf:- fruit ratio with excessive vegetative growth as compared with fruit yield, especially given Domingo grow habit.

Its not something I do now, but maybe merit in keeping a few Domingo pollinations growing in early stage to spread the fruiting load (altering fruit to leaf ratio) before removing to one fruit once past the danger zone.

I seem to get it at an early stage (upto a pound), but if they get past that stage - all good.

1/19/2020 3:13:47 AM