These don't look so bad, but I tossed a whole bunch of grody ones into the compost heap earlier this week.
Blossom End Rot is the result of a calcium deficiency. It can be related to low calcium in the soil, but is strongly associated with moisture levels in the soil. Soil that is too wet or too dry prevents the uptake of calcium.
This year, even with the well amended soil, we're definitely having issues with dryness in the garden.
Ha ha, that is a huge understatement... We're on pace to becoming the hottest and driest summer on record. So our tomato plants have gotten way too dry more than a few times. But now that I know the cause, I will be more diligent with the watering. ;-)
Oh, that happened to some of the fruit on one of my tomato plants last summer... I thought it was just a weird trait of an unusual variety of tomato - woops!!! I'll look out for it this summer and keep the water up to them! Thanks for the tip :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat a pain - I cant get my tomatos to a remotely edible size or colour so Im very jelous of yours, Blossom rot or not! - Kara xx
ReplyDeleteTomatoes should be in full sun. Mulching with egg shells and coffee grounds is supposed to be helpful.
ReplyDeleteEven with the drought conditions, ours plants are doing will with the alpaca manure mixed in the soil.
I also had a bumper crop years ago when the dog had access to pee on them every day.
Hi Kathryn, I'm enjoying your earlier posts! We use to have the same problem in our tomatoes and learnt the same as you said. Here the ground is very hard and dry. Adding lots of calc helps very much. x Teje
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