Blossom End Rot on Tomato

[Rahab222]

New tomato problem. I pulled a really large, Big Beef tomato today that was red. However, it had blossom end rot, even though I have been spraying NitraCal on all my tomato and pepper plants to prevent this - it's a foliar, combination spray of Nitrogen and Calcium. I didn't use this last year and didn't have this problem. So what's going on here?

I pulled another large, ripe tomato that looked like a catapillar had eaten into one side and it rotted a deep hole into the tomato.

My question is, how am I getting blossom end rot on a tomato and what can I do about it? I've been fertilizing regularly this year (as I've read/learned more about it) and I'm having a problem I didn't have before when I was more que sera, sera.

 

[w_r_ranch]

You already know that tomato cells need calcium to grow & that calcium acts like glue in cells. Conditions that can slow calcium absorption can include:

• inconsistent watering
• root damage
• cold temperatures/cold soil
• excessive heat
• too much nitrogen in soil (lowers calcium uptake)
• large amount of salts in the soil (lowers the availability of calcium)
• markedly acidic or alkaline soil (pH imbalance prevents calcium absorption

As I mentioned before, only use fertilizers that are low in nitrogen & high in phosphorous.

As far as preventing fruit damage caused by caterpillars, you need to spray or dust with a product containing 'Bt' (Bacillus thuringiensis). It is available from many different manufacturers & will can be found at any gardening center.