Blossom end rot

by Dandelion 11th July 2015, 8:29 pm

I have twelve heritage tomatoes in large pots in my greenhouse - different varieties, but in the same compost. They are watered and fed alike, but the fruit on the Sioux plant have developed blossom end rot. The leaves are perfectly healthy (so it's not blight), but all the fruit on the lowest truss have developed brown patches spreading out from where the flower was. I've pulled them all off, but I'm interested to know whether certain varieties are more prone to this.

by Ploshkin 11th July 2015, 10:02 pm

I think perhaps they are. I had one variety last year that had blossom end rot on a lot of the fruit, all the others were just fine.

by Chilli-head 12th July 2015, 9:29 am

This is an annoying problem that I have to some extent most years. Oddly enough I spotted the first sign of it yesterday.

The official story, as far as I know, is that it is caused by calcium deficiency; but usually not because there isn't enough available in the soil, but because the uptake is affected by erratic watering. So they say. I have pampered mine as much as possible, but still have it. I've added bonemeal to the compost mix to make sure there is enough supply, and they have been watered at least daily. Not quite sure what else can be done.

It certainly does not affect all varieties equally. Plum types are the most susceptible - I gave up trying Horn of the Andes because it was so badly affected.

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