my tomatoes are $#@@^&

[Tom_in_Mo.]

I don't know whats going on this year but my tomatoes are rottening before they are ripe. Do any of you folks know what is causing this. It can't be not enough rocks for I know that I have plenty of them. I am wondering if it is from the heat. They start rottening in the bottom of the tomatoe in the center. I get usually 2 good ones in the evening and throw away about 20. HELP!!

[DanG]

Sounds like "Blossom End Rot".  It is a disease of some sort, but I don't know if it is fungal or bacterial, etc.  I think there is a spray for it, but I can't remember what it is called.  Your local garden center should be able to help.  Besides all the knowledge here on this forum, there is also  www.gardenweb.com  .  They have a huge forum on tomatoes with lots of good info.

[Gilman]

Do you have any photos of the bad ones?  It might help identify the problem.

Don't ask me though I knows nuthin about fruit.

[Fla._Deadheader]

 DanG beat me to it ????    That used to fry my butt too.  >:( >:(

[beenthere]

DanG has the answer, from what I have learned.  I thought it was caused by too much watering.

This site indicates low calcium?

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/3000/3117.html

[Tom]

I have attributed mine to too much nitrogen

It seems that I get less Blossom end Rot the more I move my tomato patch around.  I think I am using too much nitrogen fertilizer and new ground can absorb it before the plant takes it up.   I have heard that the white core at the top of a tomato is caused by too much nitrogen too.  Nitrogen is good for Greens so my moving stuff around gives them all a chance to be abused.  ;D

[SwampDonkey]

It could be late blight also. They affect the night shade family like tomatoes, potatoes, and egg plant.

Link to 3D view of Late blight infected tomato

[Tom_in_Mo.]

I would take pictures but am afraid they might rotten too. :D

thanks DanG, I will look into that. I was raised in a garden it seems when I was a kid. We never had very many to go bad.

I put cow manure on the garden early this spring. Moved my tomatoes to a different part of the garden this year from last year, which I usually do.

[Tobacco Plug]

Blossom end rot is indeed caused by a lack of calcium (lime) in the soil.  Your garden supply should have some spray you can use to alleviate this problem this year.  For next year, get a soil test done by your local extension service.  This is usually a free service.  The report will tell you how much lime you need to add.  Go ahead and take this sample now rather than wait until they get backed up with everyone else's soil tests.  Good luck. :P

[SwampDonkey]

Blight has to have a live over wintering host to survive, if that is what you have.

[SwampDonkey]

Our soils are full of lime and the ground water is too. I could never figure out why we had to add it. Maybe it's too deep below to rooting depth?  :-\

[farmerdoug]

Actually blossom end rot is a psychologically  disorder.  It is caused by calcium, magnesium and water problems.  Not enough calcium can do it but to much magnesium will displace the calcium in the plant also.  A common cause is altering dry and then wet conditions. 
Watering regularly helps a lot.  Spraying the plants with calcium cloride/water mix helps for the immediate time being.

[UNCLEBUCK]

Hey farmerdoug how do you keep all the weeds out of your truck gardens ? Do you burn on the Round-up 2 weeks before planting in the spring like Corley does ? Thanks

[Woodcarver]

We work a little bone meal into the soil when we set out tomatoes out.  Seldom have much problem with blossom end rot.

Lime will, of course, supply the calcium, but it might raise the PH more than the tomatoes would like. Tomatoes like the soil to be a little on the acid side. Another reason to get a soil test.

[GF]

UncleBuck,
   I tried something new this year where I plant onions, every year the crabgrass just grows wild in there.  Last fall I used RoundUp to kill everything possible, then around Feb or March I sprayed the ground with Pendulum a pre-emergent spray.

  It did the trick this year I did not weed the onions once I tilled only once around them and got onions the size of baseballs.  Next year I am going to do the entire garden.  Only thing is you will have to buy plants because if you plant seeds they will not germinate.

  I would recommend trying this on a small area of your garden prior to the entire thing.  Where I have my 60 tomato plant I put down landscape fabric and mulched the top with wood chips.  It worked great the first year, this year (second) year I planted in fabric again, crabgrass started to show up in that area, this area was also a area I did not treat with the pre-emergent.   

  Early spring next year the entire garden is going to get a pre-emergent sprayed on it.   Pulling crabgrass and weeds is one thing I cannot stand to do.
 

[UNCLEBUCK]

Hey I like the sound of that GF . I cant stand tilling and pullin weeds no more . Thanks for the tip and hope you get a good tomato harvest !

[Paschale]

I've got a few cracks on my maters...I've been gone for a month, so I've had my garden on a water timer.  If I remember correctly, don't those cracks often result from too much water?  Perhaps from times when it rained heavily while I was gone, on top of the regular watering they were receiving?

[Patty]

Hey great to see you back, Paschale!  8)



The cracks in the tomatoes are in fact caused from too much water ( like a big rain) all at one. The skins can't expand quicly enough to contain the water. Or at least that is what I've been told.

[mometal77]

Is it just the fruit of the plant itself?  Just curious with mine i go to walmart as much as i hate that and buy superthrive cheaper there and just cover mine.  One bottle will do about 50 gallons.
bob

[GF]

Unclebuck,
    I have 60 tomato plants, tha past couple of weeks of have been picking between 7 and 10 gallons of tomatoes every 3 days.  Put up 18 pints of salsa last night, and 12 pints last week.

[SwampDonkey]

  WOW, someone likes salsa ALOT!

[Fla._Deadheader]

  Si, Salsa es Muy Bueno, Senor.  ;D ;D