{"id":173,"date":"2015-06-01T10:23:22","date_gmt":"2015-06-01T14:23:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/tattnall\/?p=173"},"modified":"2015-06-01T10:26:54","modified_gmt":"2015-06-01T14:26:54","slug":"prevent-blossom-end-rot-in-tomatoes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/tattnall\/2015\/06\/prevent-blossom-end-rot-in-tomatoes\/","title":{"rendered":"Prevent Blossom End Rot in Tomatoes"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Here<\/a>
Here is a tomato beginning to show symptoms of blossom end rot. The “rot” will start on the bottom or “blossom” end of the tomato.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Many folks have tomato plants in their gardens,\u00a0and many of them\u00a0have some\u00a0nice tomatoes that will be ready soon. \u00a0Every year in the summer I get calls about blossom end rot. \u00a0Most folks say their tomatoes look good, with a healthy vine, but some tomatoes are turning black and rotting on the bottom end (opposite the stem).\u00a0 This is blossom end rot, and it is not at all uncommon in tomatoes. It is not caused by an insect or disease, but is a symptom of calcium deficiency in the fruit.\u00a0 It can be caused by low calcium in the soil or other cultural factors, mainly fluctuating soil moisture (either too dry or too wet).\u00a0 These conditions result in a deficiency in calcium available to the maturing fruit.\u00a0 It is almost unavoidable in hot conditions, especially with the 100 degree days we are likely to have in the months ahead.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t worry, though.\u00a0 While blossom end rot is bound to occur, it is treatable and cultural practices can be done to reduce its occurrence.\u00a0 The calcium deficiency that causes blossom end rot is usually a result of climatic or cultural problems.\u00a0 It is related to several factors, including calcium, nitrogen, and soil moisture levels.\u00a0 It can occur even when there is abundant calcium in the soil and tissue tests show high levels of calcium in the plant.<\/p>\n

1.Applying lime or gypsum to the soil several months before planting can help prevent blossom end rot. This will put the needed calcium in the soil.\u00a0 Foliar sprays of calcium won\u2019t correct blossom end rot once it has occurred on the fruit.<\/p>\n

2.Avoid excessive use of nitrogen fertilizers. This can promote blossom end rot by causing excessive vegetative growth on the foliage, which can \u201crob\u201d calcium that would otherwise go to the fruit.<\/p>\n

3.Remove any tomatoes that begin to show symptoms of blossom end rot. This may help the plant to produce subsequent healthy fruit.<\/p>\n

4.Keep the tomato plants watered regularly.\u00a0 Tomato plants need about an inch of water per week to stay healthy.\u00a0\u00a0Watering deeply once or twice a week\u00a0is better than light,\u00a0frequent watering.\u00a0However, if your tomatoes are in pots or buckets, they may not be able to hold that much water and may need it more frequently.\u00a0 Overwatering, though, can be just as bad.\u00a0 Make sure that the plants aren\u2019t water-logged.\u00a0 Extreme fluctuations in soil moisture can cause an increase in blossom end rot.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0Many people have tried foliar calcium sprays such as “Blossom End Rot Stop”.\u00a0These treatments are only short term fixes and often work poorly because of poor absorption and movement to the fruit area where it is needed.\u00a0 They may help some, but don’t rely solely on them to prevent blossom end rot.<\/p>\n

\"Here's<\/a>
Here’s another picture of blossom end rot. You can see the lesion starting on the bottom or “blossom end” of the tomato.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many folks have tomato plants in their gardens,\u00a0and many of them\u00a0have some\u00a0nice tomatoes that will be ready soon. \u00a0Every year in the summer I get calls about blossom end rot. \u00a0Most folks say their tomatoes look good, with a healthy vine, but some tomatoes are turning black and rotting on the bottom end (opposite the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":97,"featured_media":199,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/tattnall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/tattnall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/tattnall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/tattnall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/97"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/tattnall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/tattnall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":201,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/tattnall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173\/revisions\/201"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/tattnall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/tattnall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/tattnall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/tattnall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}