Frankhartx wrote:

Your soil may already contain enough calcium and
magnesium so adding more is a waste--but you don't know that since you
don't know the composition of your soil--so get a test and stop messing
around and don't listen to quacks with theri magic miracle cure alls

No magic. No miracle. No cure-all. And absolutely no quackery.

Blossom End Rot (BER) is caused by a lack of calcium. This, in turn, is
caused by a lack of available calcium in the soil. Either there is an
inadequate level of calcium in the soil or pH / watering problems prevent
its uptake. If the plants are experiencing BER but the pH is fine, then
adding calcium to the soil and correcting the watering problems will
correct it. Given the seriousness of BER, I do not think the ~$1.00 per
year I spend on calcium supplement tablets for spot application in my
garden --about 9 cents per plant-- to be a waste. (A ~$3.00 bottle lasts me
about 3 years, thus ~$1.00 per year)

I believe I was the first poster (this growing season) to relate how I used
this product. The person who broke up the tablets and sprinkled water over
them did not do as I suggested. Different techniques yield different
results. I stated that I pushed 3 tablets into the ground near the tomato
and pepper plants at the time of planting. This allows natural processes to
dissolve and distribute them so that they are available by the time the
roots grow into the soil beneath where I pushed the tablets into a hole
made with my finger and then covered over to keep the birds from trying to
eat them. This process takes a long time to complete ... which is okay
because the plants need small quantities over the fruiting period, not
massive one-time washes of it. Colin applied crushed tablets to the surface
of the ground, then watered. When he did not see all of the material
disappear instantly, he questioned whether it was sufficiently water
soluble to be available in a form the plants need.

Colin, as you continue to water through the season, the particles will
progressively dissolve and leach down into the root zone. Some of the
calcium will be bound up chemically into other compounds and become either
unavailable to the plants or only slowly available. Oh well. Some will miss
the roots and continue leaching down past them. Again, "Oh well". Some will
be found by the bacteria living on the roots and used. Bingo!

I'm not a quack. I was getting BER, researched the problem online and began
adding the tablets as a convenient means of countering the problem in my
soil. I have never recommended this as a panacea but as a specific response
to a specific condition and only if that specific condition has manifested
itself in a particular plot previously. If soil is in the proper pH range
and calcium is present in sufficient quantities and watering is handled
properly, then BER will not occur. If the soil pH is wrong or the watering
is mis-handled, then all the calcium in the world would not be enough. I
count on other gardeners to know the approx. pH in their own soil and to
apply water properly. If they don't do these simple things then they
probably should avoid mucking about in the soil chemistry at all.

IIRC, only one other person chimed in stating that they were doing as I do
and getting the results I get. That certainly is not sufficient data for
anyone to follow our path blindly. It is, however, a cue that the answer
might lay in this direction. By NO means should the patter on a newsgroup
be taken as authoritative. This is an INFORMAL forum. Information is given
in a simplified form and is often anecdotal in nature and ALWAYS without
warranty of any sort except "it worked for me".

Soil testing, while laudable, is not as simple a matter as you imply. The
local extension service (Wayne County, MI) is a PITA to work with. I
imagine there are other areas of the country that give good service, but
Detroit isn't one of them. There is NO way that I can see that they are at
all interested in doing soil tests ... they seem to be much better at
erecting barriers than they are at providing services. Their hours are
extremely limited for sample carry-ins and all of them during normal
working hours when farmers might be able to slip away for a while but most
factory rats with a garden in the backyard are not going to have that much
liberty from their employers, they do not publish fees and addresses on
their web sites, (IMO) ignorant people answer the phones ... all designed
to discourage rather than encourage use of their soil testing services by
individuals.

You are right ... it is important to have some sort of clue as to what the
soil contains before adding stuff willy-nilly. However, the presence of BER
is a valid indicator of a calcium deficiency. If the soil pH is correct and
the water discipline is correct, then the problem is a deficiency of
available calcium.

I'm no quack and a soil test is not the only means of getting a measure of
what's in the soil. Farmers corrected for deficiencies long before the
cow-colleges were ever created. There are indicator conditions and
indicator plants that tell the story in sufficient detail that a person
skilled in their reading probably has no need to pay for a soil analysis.

The person applying small quantities of dolomitic lime will reap some
benefits this year ... and more next year. No harm will have been done. It
would be another matter entirely if he were applying it by the shovel-full.
ANY deleterious modification of pH that he might be causing is limited to a
very small area and the soil directly beneath it and is mitigated by the
very slowness of availability you point to as a handicap and the very small
quantities involved.

You told him "Your soil may already contain enough calcium and magnesium so
adding more is a waste--but you don't know that since you don't know the
composition of your soil"

Well, does it have enough or not? "May" doesn't 'cut it'. You don't know the
composition of his soil either. If he is experiencing BER, he has some
combination of a calcium deficiency or a watering problem. By adding
calcium to his soil he has taken one variable out of the equation and can
then isolate watering / pH as a source of the problem. However, he did not
state that he was experiencing BER, either. So neither of us can tell
whether adding anything at all was warranted. Or not.

Had he asked me about adding the calcium I would have asked him if he had
observed any symptoms in the past, the nature of his soil, its pH and so
on. Since he did not ask me directly, I would NOT have advised him to spend
anywhere from $12-$50 for a soil test or even the lesser sum for a soil
test kit (and less reliable results) from the local garden center. He
doesn't need that level of detail for this particular circumstance. I check
my pH and I watch my plants. I add a boat load of compost as a mulch all
year round. I would recommend he do this much blindly. More than that,
though, needs more information from him.

I don't have that information and neither do you.

Bill
--
Zone 5b (Detroit, MI)
I do not post my address to news groups.