Posted on 06/19/2015 12:32:09 PM PDT by greeneyes
My first attempt at growing tomatoes. I have two Better Bush tomatoes. Each has it’s own barrel container. I am getting blossom end rot and have been having to remove green tomatoes rotted out on the bottom. How do I combat this?
This is a problem with lack of calcium in the soil or at a problem with calcium uptake. You can get soil additives from most garden supply stores or sections of big stores like Walmart.
They also make a spray that you can spray directly on the tomatoes from the same places - they go by different names, but often have a picture of a tomato and something about blossom end rot.
When I plant tomatoes I usually add a tums and a handful of crushed eggshells and a banana peel in the bottom of the container on top of a thin layer of soil.
Last year Hubby had issues with his container tomatoes, as he didn’t do this and the soil he used wasn’t very good either. I suggested he add some Epsom salts, and bone meal, following the package directions as to the amounts.
He did that, and it was enough to get them through the rest of the season without additional problems. Hope this helps.
Thanks for responding. I don’t always get a chance to check for questions, and sometimes leave out things due to forgetfulness, so I appreciate all you do to help with explanations.
It all sounds so ideal and promising!
We got rain every day for weeks and weeks. Around 6 or more inches the first two weeks in June. It misted all day yesterday morning, but today we have sunshine and no rain so far.
Hope to have another dry day so the soil can maybe be worked. Wicked volunteers of everything sprouting up all over, including maters and weeds!
I always think it’s so great to get those first tomatoes and peppers to add to a salad. Salad just isn’t much without those. LOL
We have had plenty of rain .... I have watered one time other than the first week I put in the tomatoes. We had a shower two days ago with more T-storms in the forecast, plus a cool, wet weekend ahead. My raised beds are in a field and the grass around them is getting pretty tall (mower is broken AGAIN as of last week, dagnabbit), plus I put down Milorganite to keep the deer away & now the grass that is growing is REALLY growing & green!
This morning, I was up at 6 & at the garden by 6:20. The darn crows eat my tomatoes when they are still green so I have draped netting over the bed, but with tomatoes growing through it, that was a temporary situation. Yesterday I bought 6 4’ metal posts & I got lucky .... found a 50’ roll of 4’ all-purpose netting in the shed about a week ago. It took me two and a half hours to set posts & work out a way to get the netting up. I set it 18” away from the bed which hopefully does not give the crows enough room to fly in/land, but gives me enough room to weed/harvest. I can take the whole fence down except off of one anchor post to help mow/trim the grass. I think it’s a pretty clever arrangement ... used 4’ bamboo stakes woven through the netting to give me a solid edge to use as gates. Anyway, it took me ‘til after 9:00 to get it all up, stake up the tomato cages that are falling down in the other raised bed & weed it, then pick up all my trash (zip tie ends, wrapping off the netting, trimmed netting, etc.). I was so hot and dirty, the shower was the first stop when I hit the house and I am not going out again the rest of the day.
On a happy note, the crows usually visit the garden very early ..... by 6:30, they came by and were very upset to find me out there. They sat in the trees around the field and fussed me out for a good 30 minutes and I could hear them in the area for at least an hour. My SIL came by to see what I was up to when she saw me in the field and commented on the crows being so vocal so she even noticed how P.O.’d they were. I have some nice tomatoes on the vine so now I’m looking forward to them having the opportunity to ripen!
Very good effort for the day, I’d say. I’ll be taking a tour later when it cools down a bit. We are expecting rain tonight and tomorrow again. Yikes.
Thank you! Will get right on this.
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