A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 Tomato bottom end rot

We have a dozen very healthy, sturdy tomato plants. We fertilized the ground with 12-12-12 before planting and we planted the first set of leaves. We planted them on Mother's Day. They were growing like crazy everyday, the best looking plants we ever had ........

NOW..... we have very small ripe tomatoes with 3/4 of them having BER. We tried a "calcium" spray purchased at the garden center ... it did not help. We tried a "BER" product we purchased ... it did not help. We were told magnesium sulfate would help? Any suggestions?

It has been dry here ... but we try to keep the ground consistently moist.

Thanks!

What I've been told is what you've done so far; 1st the calcium, 2nd epsom salts around the root system, 3rd some purchased tomato product, now try measuring the water you put out. I think it's 1 inch per week that is needed. If they get too dry they get the end rot. We had some this year and couldn't find the calcium spray. We put out epsom salts and it worked. The tomatoes that were already in the making before the salts had ber, but since then everything has been ok.

Has anyone ever used calcium pills smashed up by the roots? I did once but the results were inconclusive.

Huron... We had the same problem as you, sucks don't it? Anyways I truly believe the ungodly heat is what may be causing your problem. During our 8 or 9 day heat wave is when our fruits really got bad. We probably picked half the tomatoes off the 4 plants during that span. When temps returned to the 80s it really slowed down. We also mixed some epsom salt in a water jug and that seems to have really helped. We just got the first ripe fruit yesterday... made a ham wrap with it. It was so delicious!!! Anyways, good luck with your problem! Sounds like you are a more experienced gardener than I, but epsom salt helped me!

I just joined this forum for help because I'm having this EXACT problem -- I planted my Roma tomatoes in pots this year, and so far every single tomato has had bottom rot. Aaargh! Is it too late in the season to save them, or should I still try something like epsom salt?
MANY thanks!
--Leah

--Leah,
What are your watering practices
and/or amounts of rain and dry spells??

BER is a result of uneven watering..

Toooooo dry then too much rain or watering,
or just given too much water....

The epsom salts help a little bit in the
uptake of nutrients..or when it's lacking...

How many tomatoes do you have with it???
Are there other fruits to get ripe???

The tomato is a tropical use to consistant temps and moisture.

BER is a product of weather extremes and/or calcium deficiency. Calcium deficiency can be addressed by adding calcium (lime), magnesium (epson salts) and/or not using commercial nitrogen in any significant way. Ammoniacal nitrogen is used most often in commerical fertilizers and inhibits a plants ability to take in calcium.

It's a good idea to either keep a journal or takes notes from time to time. I make notes, refer back, commit to understanding and then discard. Also, you should be able to find helpful resources at a local University. In your case you should have Ohioline Factsheets bookmarked. Helpful, not gospel.

Calcium deficiency can be addressed by adding calcium (lime), magnesium (epson salts) and/or not using commercial nitrogen in any significant way. +++++++++++++++++++++
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Use dolomite instead of lime. It breaks down more rapidly and so acts sooner and i've also found it easier to apply:-)

I always think Mad TV.