What caused this??

These were picked off my "Early Girl". Could someone tell me what happened here? I've never seen this before.

It's called Blossom End Rot (BER), and there are a gazillion camps of thought on what causes it. Some say it's an inability of the plant to absorb calcium (a much needed nutrient in the tomato world...).

Since I've grown tomatoes (2007), I've always added Dolomitic lime to my planting medium, whether I did a soil test or not (never have), and whether my soil needed it or not (don't know -- never did a soil test). I just always have added the Dolomitic lime. And, sometimes the BER didn't come, and sometimes the BER came later in the season. And sometimes the BER came before I remembered to add the Dolomitic lime.

When I planted out my seven tomato plants this season, I FORGOT to mix in the Dolomitic lime. But, I remembered within a week. So, since they were already planted in a neat line, I made dinner-plate sized wells in the soil directly over where each root ball was (since I plant the roots in a deep, "L" shaped trench, I knew the roots fell directly in-between each plant). Once I made the wells, I sprinkled the Dolomitic lime LIBERALLY into the depressions and filled them each with water. They looked like big pools of milk, but they drained straight down over each root ball. I filled the depressions each about 3 times, until I felt all the lime had dissolved downward onto the root systems.

This is the very first season I have not lost bunches of tomatoes (only 1 or 2 this season) to BER. And, the BER that is coming on now is affecting only the new fruits coming out on one plant. I'm going to redo the wells and do another application to all the plants tomorrow.

I hope this helps.

P.S. I honestly don't know why BER happens. But, I do know that (for me) adding the calcium seems to help stop it at some point. I'm just glad my application this season held it off as long as it did, so I could harvest some lovely BER-free fruits.

I used powdered Dolomitic lime. It comes in a pelleted version, too. In the past, I either sprinkled the powered lime in a solid layer under the soil or mixed it into the soil. When I dug out my plants at the end of the season, the lime placed in a layer had formed a concrete sheet. And, some of the lime mixed into my soil had formed little concrete pellets. This season was the first time I watered the dry lime straight down into the soil. It seems to have worked better than ever with this method. I guess dissolving it that way really mattered!

Hope I have helped you. It is not too late to apply. And, at some point, you may want to do a soil test to check for what might be missing from your growing medium.

Here's a link to some pics of what BER looks like. It takes on many forms, and, it also may affect peppers too.

http://www.google.com/search?q=blossom+end+rot+tomatoes&safe=active&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=XjmyUdjbDI6MyAHIvYCQDQ&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1024&bih=653

Linda

This message was edited Jun 7, 2013 3:13 PM

Thanks Gymgirl. The advise is very helpful. I'd never seen this before and was taken aback by it. Now that I know, I can take preventive steps next time. Our growing season is just about over, but will try again when cooler weather arrive. Thank you. Dorothy

I have found that BER especially targets any type of 'paste' tomatoes. As a rule I have never added calcium to my soil at planting time - this year I have 72 plants and the only ones that seem to be affected are the Speckled Roman, a paste variety. In my garden it seems to happen early in the season but not later. For what it is worth. Good luck

The BER ive seen looks darker then that. Is there a chance it could be sun scald?

An old timer told me to add wood ashes, about a cup or two per tomato plant, to soil in ring around plant, then lightly dig it in. Do this within a few weeks of planting. Never had BER since. Maybe there is calcium in wood ashes.

Our resident tomato expert, Dr. Carolyn Male, would normally comment but she has been in the hospital. As best I recall, she says blossom-end rot is related to issues with calcium, but more to do with water and the plant's ability to take up the calcium that is there during dry periods. I would look up some of her messages related to BER and link, but the browser on my phone makes it too hard to cut and paste.

My first impression echoes 1Lisac. It looked like Sun scald to me also. Here is a link to the Ohio Extension on what BER looks like. http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/3000/3117.html
The BER I have experienced looked dark like this as well. Sun Scald produces more the blister effect your tomatoes exhibit here. Here is a link concerning Sun Scald:

http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/gardens-gardening/your-garden/help-for-the-home-gardener/advice-tips-resources/pests-and-problems/environmental/sunscald/sunscald-of-tomato-and-peppers.aspx

Just Google the two to compare.

This message was edited Jun 8, 2013 7:48 PM

Floridagardner,
Are the affected spots on the fruits in your pic on the sides or the bottoms of the fruit?

Linda

Looks like sunburn to me too- BER is much darker in color.

Hello, thank you everyone for the advise. Gymgirl, the affected spots are on the bottom where the bloom would start the fruit. As mentioned before, I've never experience this. This is the first year since living in FL that I've grown tomatoes with any success and then this happens. I originally come from NJ where tomatoes grow with no problems, or at least none I've experienced. I'll keep an eye out for other problems if they arise. I've learned that once the night temp is a constant 70 or above the blooms will not set. So according to this, our season is just about over until late summer early fall. Again thank you all for the advise. Dorothy

That temperature range isn't real strict. It's been above 70 here at night and I have tomatoes setting like crazy. Some varieties do better then others, with the heat. L

Are the fruit mushy on that end? There are some diseases that will cause the fruit to be soft, discolored and even smell bad. Don't give up on your plants, they will stop when they are ready. NJ gets pretty hot too.

I vote for sunscald as well.

Just got home from the hospital and rehab today a very serious situation called septic shock. It's not unusual for some to die from it, but I didn't.

Carolyn

Hooray for you, Carolyn---we all missed you and prayed for you to get back home.

I'd vote for sunscald too, except the spots have been confirmed as being on the underside, or the butt, of the tomatoes.

Which, as I recall, is "where the sun don't shine".

Carolyn it is so good to see you posting. Glad your better.

LOL GG- that is true. It looks like sun scald but it is in a strange place. It just doesn't look like BER though.

Carolyn,

Glad to see you back and posting. I dropped your name earlier in this thread, hope I didn't misspeak. I had a bout with septicemia last fall. Fortunately it was not a resistant strain. The opportunistic viral infection a few days later was the real problem. It left me incapacitated for a couple of weeks, and weak for months. Glad you are recovering!

David

Welcome back, Carolyn!

Whew!

Serena looked great, didn't she? I think this is the very best time of her life!

Great to have you back.

Linda

I think it's sun scald too! I agree, BER is usually much darker, almost black and when it hit my tomatoes, that area was almost concave. Just my opinion!
Sharon

Yeah, Carolyn's back!

Welcome back Carolyn!
Because of the location on the tomatoes I am pretty sure it is BER. I have some that looks just like that. Sunscald happens on the tops or sides where the sun hits the fruit.

Keith

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1031&bih=380&q=tomato+ber&oq=tomato+BER&gs_l=img.1.4.0l2j0i10i24j0i24l4j0i10i24l2j0i24.3960.34177.0.48266.18.15.0.3.0.0.230.2413.0j14j1.15.0...0.0...1ac.1.17.img.jh3GUul_avY

Above is a Google IMAGES search and you have to put you pointer over a piucture b'c other conditions are also shown, to confirm it's BER, or not.

Suncald usually occurs after fruits are strarted to pick b;c doing do rearranges the foliage exposing areas that weren't exposed before.

And I see in the picture that some fruits harvestged were almost to full ripe.

Carolyn, who doesn't have a horee running in this race so call it BER or sunscald, whatever best describes either of those problems.

Nothing on that link shows BER that doesn't look dried out, sunken and dark. Maybe the bottom of the fruit was wet and exposed to the sun. The only other time I've seen anything like that other then sun scald was when the tomatoes were like a bag of mush and stunk really bad.

Dorothy, do you have any yellow or black spots on the foliage?
Marcia