Jim Carlock wrote:
and lo and behold, it's all over the Internet. I was told this by
a lady in or about 1994.
Gosh. If it's on the Internet, it must be true.
(You didn't happen to notice that nearly all the links are to sites that
sell the stuff, and aren't what most people would consider valid souces
for medical, nutritional, or biological information.)
And now back to plants... I've been reading that in order for
Calcium to be absorbed, a plant needs magnesium as well. Epson
salt is a recognized source of magnesium... and I've been messing
with some tomato plants for the last three months but they all
seem to be going wacky on me. They started off great though
using epson salt sprayed on the plant and in the soil and using
calcium tablets.
Sparying it on the foliage isn't going to do any good, and may even
cause harm... expecially if this is something you're doing regularly.
Moderation is a virtue. If you're going to go overboard doing anything,
do it to correct a certain abnormal situation that you've confirmed
exists. You wouldn't use an asthema inhailer if you had no respritory
problems just because you've heard it really helps some people, would
you?
And they've been hit by cabbage worms and
couple other things. I left for a week and when I came back
all their leaves had turned brown. I chopped off the leaves
and some of their stems are turning brown, in fact I chopped
off some stems as well. Now some leaves are growing back
and they are hanging in there.
There are often some mutants that'll stand up to an amazing amount of
abuse.
Some of my problems are that one particular tomato plant is
in full sun (90 degree F temps +) 9 hours (++) each day, so
it needs watering a couple times a day. Even when the plant
is in the shade at later parts of the day, it's getting a lot of sun
because the sun is reflecting off of white stepping stones.
Is it in a container? Is it in soil that's far too sandy?
My plants sit in a corner of the garden that has been getting 12+ hours
of sunshine a day, and it's been 90+ most of the week. 103 yesterday,
and 100 today. Two inches down, the soil is still moist from a soaking I
gave them Tuesday morning. (And for those who like more scientific
things than finger touch, the moisture meter shows everything is fine.
Of course I have mulch that slows the drying of the soil, and I use a
soaker hose so I don't have to get the foliage wet. (Tomatoes do not
like wet foliage.)
It's been a month since I've given the plant calcium and epson
salt and it's growing very very slowly now.
I don't know if it has blossom end rot or not. The leaves are
coming in very green, but some of the stems are turning brown
around the very ends of the tips.
You don't have any fruits yet? How far north are you? How late did you
get started?
It did appear that the epson salt and calcium tablets were
working but there's some other things going on and I do plan
on keeping this tomato plant going, but I've reached a point
that has got me stumped.
Why do you think the epson salt and calcium tablets were working? Until
you get some fruit, you wouldn't see any blossom end rot. And your story
so far sounds like it wasn't working, and you nearly killed everything
once already.
I'm currently testing out some 1-2-1 fertilizer with trace amounts
of other minerals, and have stopped with the calcium and epson
salt.
While I know some people fertilize their tomatoes, I haven't done so
since the first year I tried growing tomatoes in a container on my patio
years and years ago. I didn't get a single fruit that year, but I had
some impressive foliage. Now that I have a house and a real garden, I
make sure that my vegetable garden gets a big helping of shredded leaves
each fall, and I've had a bumper crop each year without fertilizer. I
did have one plant one year that had BER, but it was because of some
irrigation problems in that corner that were fixed for the next year.
Good organically amended soil, and deep, infrequent watering has been
good to me. If something goes wrong, treat that specific problem. Don't
fiddle if you don't have to, and don't over-water.
--
Warren H.
==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
Blatant Plug: Books for the Pacific Northwest gardener:
http://www.holzemville.com/mall/nwgardener/index.html