blossom end rot

[shoalducker]

last year we managed to can 25 jars of tomatoe! not bad from all seed. but we still had a problem with blossom end rot. i read up on it and seems it a calicum defficency. soil test proved so. so to correct this i would rather add calcium, not use quick fix it products....ex. bonide blosom end rot, miracle grow tomatoe. would adding calcitc lime do the trick? i would much rather have my soil right!

[andy10917]

Post the soil test in the Soils Forum. If you already did, BUMP the thread

[shoalducker]

i didnt post my box beds. mostly peat, organic soil mix, and top soil. i will look for the old results but i was planing on testing again in april. i have been adding compost etc...all winter, and i am starting all from seed again, i think i have time to test again. so i will post the new set of results as soon as i get them. thanks andy!

[Ohio2112]

I had blossom end rot on 2 of 6 tomato plants I had growing in those upside down hanging containers last year. They all had store bought soil-less planting mixes. I used spray calcium to get rid of the rot. None of the plants I had growing in the ground had any rot. This year I'm growing everything in the ground. The plants in the hangers didn't get nearly as big as the ones in the ground, plus they had to be watered every day or else they would burn up. (I don't have an automatic watering system so I had to find a backup waterer even when we went on weekend camping trips.) The ground-planted ones could easily go a couple days or more between waterings.

Thanks for reminding me about a soil test. I've never done one for the garden yet. I've added a ton of compost and peat to it over the past few years, so I'm curious to see how different it is now from the rest of the yard.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[xapabwa]

Along with calcium deficiency, I thought that inconsistent watering and excessive heat also contributed to blossom end rot. With the excessive heat last year, I had a difficult time keeping everything watered and did have some blossom end rot. Seemed to go away once I got a handle on the watering schedule.