April showers bring May flowers, but the unpredictable and inconsistent rainfall can cause issues in the vegetable garden. One issue you might come across as tomatoes set fruit is blossom-end rot, a common nutrient related deficiency.
Blossom-end rot is caused by a lack of calcium in tomato plants. When calcium levels are too low, the bottom side of tomato fruits (the blossom end) will start to discolor and shrivel. As the tissue breaks down, the tomato begins to rot. This single, large black spot is the tell-tale sign of blossom- end rot. Cucumbers, squash, eggplant and peppers can also suffer from blossom-end rot.
This deficiency appears when the plants cannot draw calcium from the soil. Although many feel the solution to correcting blossom-end rot is to add calcium to the soil.
It may be tempting to add fertilizer in order to give your plants extra nutrients. Unfortunately, this won’t resolve it because the issue is with the plants ability to acquire calcium from the soil, which stems from erratic watering and drought conditions.
It’s always exciting to watch and wait for the first tomatoes of the year. It’s quite disappointing to discover fruits with blossomend rot. It may be ugly and discouraging, but luckily it is treatable. This tends to happen early in the season, so you will want to correct the issue so that you can enjoy fully ripened tomatoes the rest of the season.
The key to preventing additional blossom-end rot starts with improving your watering habits. Tomato plants like quite a bit of water and when they set fruit they become even thirstier. They are kind of picky plants because they want lots of water, but not too much and they definitely do not want to be waterlogged or soggy.
The trick to keeping them happy is to water them deeply but infrequently. This means that instead of giving them a little bit of water every day--it’s better to give them a good long soak every few days.
Tomatoes develop deep and extensive root systems so shallow daily watering isn’t enough for the deep roots. So instead of spritzing them every day for five minutes, set up a sprinkler or a soaker hose to run for 20-30 minutes a few times a week. If it’s extra hot, you’ll need more. If it’s rainy, you’ll need to adjust and perhaps skip a day from your watering routine. Consider adding a timer between your hose and the hose bib. You’ll know how long you have watered your bed and not have to worry about remembering to shut off the water.
If your tomatoes are in pots, keep an eye on them when it warms up and give them adequate water.
Water pots until the water runs through. Pots tend to dry out quickly during the hottest days of summer.
If you are outside visiting your plants every day, you’ll be able to spot any issues quickly including blossom-end rot.
Some plants like to dry out between watering, but tomatoes like their soil to be evenly moist. Moisture helps your tomatoes take up calcium. Inconsistently moist soil impedes the flow of nutrients, including calcium. You can try adding a supplement specifically for blossom-end rot, but it only works if you have a true calcium deficiency.
The good news is you absolutely can eat tomatoes with blossom end rot.
Just slice the ugly part off and safely enjoy the rest of the tomato.
With 25 years of backyard gardening experience, Julie is a plant and nature enthusiast. She lives in Taylor and hosts the “Plow & Hose Organic Gardening in Central Texas” podcast and radio show that airs on KBSR, Black Sparrow Radio every Saturday and Sunday at 9 a.m.
