Mark Anderson wrote:

I'm growing 6 tomatoes in containers of different varieties. Yesterday I
noticed that on one plant, one of the set tomatoes has blossom end rot.
After all the work I put into these tomatoes to get them planted I was
pretty depressed about this. Between this and the severe drought we're
having in Chicago that requires me to water everything every day it
almost makes me want to just give up gardening. Anyway, would it be
prudent if I just pick the fruit that has blossom end rot so the plant
doesn't waste any more energy growing that one?

Well it wouldn't hurt the plant. Fruits are meant for picking. Even
green ones. If I remember right there is nothing wrong with the
tomato. Problem is the sunken area often develops other disease or
bugs.

BER can be stress related... too much fruit, infrequent watering, too
dry to too wet, plus lack of available calcium. The water stress can
cause existing calcium to not be taken up--hence causing a calcium
deficiency that has nothing to do with lack of calcium in soil.
Supposedly it can happen with first fruits then disappear--which may
be your case.

From my past reading, basically the water is transpiring through the
leaves so fast that water soluble calcium exits/collects in the leaves
and poor concentrations get delivered to the fruit. This can happen
because of excessive heat and excessive moisture. If heat could be a
conditions, you could hang something directly over the plant to avoid
high noon sun. I think someone here recommended in past years laying a
square of trellis on top of the tomato cage to provide some filtering
of the hottest sun. Any shade should help. Another advantage to cage
vs. stake.


Sounds like yours is water stress. Containers are tough, I've never
used less than 12" sq for tomatoes, and my in-ground just explode in
size over container ones. try positioning the container so the
container isn't hit by the sun-even if you just sheild it with wood.
this will keep the root zone cooler. Pots simply shed moisture faster.
Clay is the worst in my mind for hot days. Normally roots 6 inches
deep would be cool, but in a pot they are warm cause the sides of the
container are heating up. use mulch for the top of the dirt. It really
does keep moisture. The mulch absorbs the day's heat and the dirt is
allowed to retain it's moisture at a more normal rate.


A BER foliar spray (or my reommendation would be liquid seaweed) may
help in short term. foliar spray try to introduce nutrients into the
plant through absorbtion in the leaves/fruit. A quicker fix then
getting them into the ground and letting the plant unlock and soak
them up.


I've never bothered to test my soil but as insurance for BER I add
crushed egg shells into dirt around the hole I plant tomatoes. I don't
know if they release their calcium during the growing season , but if
not I figure they will help to replenish what is being taken for
future years. I microwave the shells then toss them in a metal can.
Shake it to break them up. Easy enough to recycle, no smell that way.
I did that with peppers and eggplants too this year. Same family, but
I don't know if they have any greater calcium need. I did not have
luck with eggplant last year--2 of three are doing well this year.


For water stress--since I am forgetful and overwhelmed at times-- I
added peat/sphagnum moss, perlite/vermicullite and TerraSorb/Soil
Moist deep into my vegetable beds. Even to 20 " down. All of these
improve water retention. I think water management is really important
aspect of soil preparation. The only plants that have every shown
water stress is my pots. Smaller the pot, the more often I see them
stressed. I also used hydramats(superabsorbent sheets) at the bottom
of pots. Those worked. POts without them wilted reliably. It soaks up
and retains a lot of moisture that would often drip out of the
container.





Watering is tricky. Hard to know if water is stagnant in the ground or
draining freely. If you've got good drainage in the ground you can
soak the plant and leave be for several days, even in heat. The top
inch will dry up till it is that blow-away gray dust but below that it
will retain moisture. That's why it is important to root plants deep.
Shallow roots dry quicker. I plant tomato transplant into the ground
so there first set of leaves are underground.



DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email)
Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY, 1 mile off L.I.Sound
3rd year gardener
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