Tomatoes and Blossom-End Rot: Is Lack of Calcium the Culprit?

 

Photo from:

https://www.canr.msu.edu/resources/blossom_end_rot_tip_sheet#:~:text=Blossom%2Dend%20rot%20is%20caused,the%20tissue%20of%20the%20tomato.&text=Since%20calcium%20is%20only%20moved,affected%20by%20a%20calcium%20deficiency.

I am writing this to correct a mistake I made on this blog years go...and in my garden for decades.  For years, I have read than blossom-end rot on tomatoes is due to a lack of calcium.  You know blossom-end rot (see photo above). The fruit rots from the blossom up and is ruined. Each year, I added crushed eggshells, calcium carbonate, even a calcium-based antacid to my tomato planting holes to prevent it. But, you know what?  Calcium does play a role, but most soils have enough calcium to support tomatoes. It is inconsistent watering that creates problems for the transfer of calcium into the tomato plant.  So all those calcium supplements were useless to stop blossom-end rot, though eggshells certainly don't hurt anything. Make sure your watering is consistent.  And, don't water after a heavy rain. Tomatoes are not good at regulating water flow, and too much water will cause ripening fruit to crack!

I STAND CORRECTED.

Reference:

https://mgnv.org/2018/07/16/garden-myth-busters-eggshells-blossom-end-rot/

Ugh, Anthracnose

 

 

https://sites.udel.edu/planthealth/tag/tomato/

 

Ever get a tomato or leaf that looks like this?  You likely have a leaf-spot disease called anthracnose.  Anthracnose is more likely to occur in temps above 80 degrees, and the fungi transfers to the plant via the leaves when water splashes up from contaminated soil. It typically occurs in the leaves and ripened fruit.  The first sign of infected fruit  is a depressed lesion on he surface, that darkens and begins to mold.  You can safely cut off this area and consume the fruit, unless you have a specific allergy...though sometimes there is too much disease to save the fruit. Do not compost the cut away parts!  You will only increase disease if you do. Throw them away!

 

This disease is easier for a home grower to manage organically than for a commercial grower. First, rotate your crops!  Don't grow members of the solanceae (tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, potatoes) in the same bed year after year, only every 4th or, better yet, 5th year. Second, use a natural mulch on the soil, like pine straw or newspaper to prevent splashback. Third, water at the soil level: drip or soaker hoses are ideal. Fourth, though I may get some flack for this, if you have anthracnose, pick your tomatoes at the breaker stage, when they are just starting to change color from green. I think there is adequate evidence, and I agree from my experience, that breakers ripen with all the wonderful flavor compounds of a fully ripe tomato. Hard, green, immature fruit never will ripen properly (think winter, grocery store tomatoes), but breakers will!  

 

Also, DO NOT REFRIGERATE YOUR TOMATOES!  You will ruin their flavor!

Early Tomatoes

Remember those three tomato plants I set out on March 26th, protected by (the trademarked) "Wall-o-Water" protectors? Well, here is a photo of the plants that were protected, and two "sibling" tomato plants that were started indoors on the same day, but planted on May 8th.  I think you can tell the difference!

 

Tomato update

Remember those tomato plants I set out inside protective Wall-o-Waters a couple weeks ago?  Well, they did just fine in the two hard freezes we experienced!  Down to 25 degrees!

Wall-o-Waters

Oh boy, gardening season has really started! I had a thought as I was walking through the neighborhood today: "After the winter, even the weeds are welcome!" Though I know I'll be singing another tune in just a few short weeks!

Wall-o-Waters (or WW)-see the photo above- were all the rage about five years ago. These season extenders allow you to plant heat-loving vegetables before the average last frost date in your region.  Well, I bought a pack of three, and then never used them. So I have set them up today, March 26, to plant tomatoes in less than a week. You're supposed to set these up at least 3-4 days in advance of planting, to allow them to warm up. You take the empty WW, open them up, put them in position, insert stakes to hold them up, and slowly fill them until all the cells are filled with water. It takes between 1.5 and 2 gallons of water to fill each WW.

Unfortunately, I think my tomato seedlings are just too small to begin to harden off to plant into the WW's.  I do have extra tomato seedlings, as is typical for me (I start more than I need, in the event of seed failure), so I might just put a few into the WW's to see if they survive. If not, then I will be looking for hardened off, mature tomato seedlings a bit earlier than they are typically available in my area.  I am a bit skeptical as to whether these will really advance the season or not.

I will keep you posted!

Roasted Tomatoes

I am roasting my last batch of tomatoes for the 2015 garden season. I find this is the easiest way to deal with a large batch of tomatoes, also eggplant, peppers, onions, and garlic, which can be mixed in together. I put them in a 350° oven, with a little bit of salt and olive oil.  I let them roast for 45 minutes to an hour, until the skins slip off easily. Then I take them out, cool them off, and remove all the skins. The tomatoes are now ready to use in sauce, and if you have mixed them with eggplant, peppers, onions, and garlic, you can purée them all into a wonderful roasted spaghetti sauce!

Happy eating!

Wednesday Lagniappe: Post- Halloween Surprise?

Photo used with permission of Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens, http://www.lewisginter.org/  Brian Vick, photographer.

This is a photo of the large, and dreaded, tomato hornworm, which sucks the lifeblood out of your tomatoes and eats their leaves.  But wait, it is even more ghoulish yet!  See the white things attached to the caterpillar?  Those are the eggs of a parasitic wasp that will hatch, burrow into the hornworm and...read no more if you are squeamish... devour it from the inside out!  A post-Halloween surprise indeed!  If you see such a hornworm in your garden, leave it alone, so those fiendishly helpful wasps can grow into many many more wasps!
Happy (?) gardening!

upside down plants?

(Photo Erich Schlegel for the NY Times)

The New York Times has an article on growing tomatoes upside down. I tried it last year, but did have much luck, but may try it again this year. Go to:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/20/garden/20tomato.html?emc=eta1

Happy gardening!

Planting Tomatoes

How I plant tomatoes

Ingredients:

Tomato plants

Organic tomato fertilizer (I like tomatoes Alive! from Gardens Alive!)

Calcium supplement pills, 600 mg broken in half

Toilet paper tubes

Stakes or cages.

Good soil, with compost tilled in, in which tomatoes have not been planted for at least 3 years, 4 is better.

Place your tomato plants, leaving about 3 feet between each plant. Dig a hole. Drop in a half of a calcium supplement into the bottom of the hole (this helps prevent blossom end rot by giving slow release calcium to the plant). Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of organic fertilizer. Now, pinch off the bottom leaves of the tomato plant, leaving 2 to 4 leaves on the plant for photosynthesis. Plant the tomato into the hole deeply, to about the level of the first set of leaves. This allows the tomato plant to root among the stem. A good root system is crucial to good tomato development, and the plants that root deeply will require less water through the growing season. This is also called trench planting.

Cut the toilet paper tube in half lengthwise, again across the middle. This will leave you with two circular tubes. Fashion them to fit into a circular ring around the base of the tomato plant (see photo above), pressing lightly into the soil. You have just made a cut worm collar (cut worms love to wrap around newly planted seedlings and cut them off about 1 inch about the ground. The collar prevents this).

Stake or cage the plants right away, before they have a chance to root (staking later can damage the new roots). Water in well. Tie the plans to the stake of cage with soft strips of old t-shirts, flannel shirts or even old stockings as they grow. Feed a few times per season with diluted liquid fish emulsion (yes, it smells bad and yes the smell will go away) and a few foliar (leaf spray) feedings of diluted liquid kelp. Mulch with cured grass (grass THAT HAS NOT BEEN RECENTLY SPRAYED WITH YARD CHEMICALS and was mowed a few days before and left to dry), compost, pine needles or leaf mold.

The process is similar for peppers, though I add 1 T. Epsom salts to that planting hole and do not stake them.

This is how I spent my morning. 20 plants in, 5 more to find room for! Tomorrow I plant eggplants, cukes, beans and some herbs.

Happy Gardening!