For many BER is the result of a teenaged tomato plant. Just pick off the damaged fruits and let the next flush arrive. BER is not being caused by too little calcium in your mix (since you added the lime), but due to the plant's coming of age and/or environmental stresses.

In all likelihood you can do nothing and it will pass soon.

The type of lime in the package can have an influence on whether or not BER shows up. If it was hydrated lime, which is very reactive, it's not from a lack of 'available' Ca. If it was dolomitic lime, it may be that the lime was/is still in the reactive phase and not available. When you make a soil and use a slow acting liming material (dolomite), most of the Ca is reactive and largely unavailable to plants for a considerable length of time. How long depends on how acidic the soil is/was, how much lime you added, how much water is in the soil, and temperatures. It could easily be 2-3 weeks before dolomite completes the reactive phase and the residual fraction becomes more readily available. That's why it's best to make/mix your soils 2-3 weeks before you plant in them - especially when the crop is susceptible to BER.

Also, Ca needs to be continually present in the nutrient stream as blossoms & fruit are forming. Anything that disrupts that stream also disrupts the Ca flow. High humidity, temperature extremes, soggy soil, dry soil, too much Mg in the soil - all can cause BER in tomatoes & melons.

Al

For the experimenters who mix their own tomato fertilizer formulas try to keep +/- twice (up to 4X) times as much Ca as Mg when start flowering; & again that ratio as fruit starts ripening.
As percentages of the total fertilizer solids: the Ca should be kept below 2% & the Mg kept below 0.5%, at both those stages (flowers & ripens).
If you have successfully "limed" the growing medium please see guide lines expertly posted elsewhere on the forum on how to conveniently supply adequate Mg.
When use Epsom (MgSO4) salts the Mg:S ratio of it is 1 : 1.3 (the optimum S levels in the above cases, flower & ripen, will safely fall within acceptable % of S if you just use the Mg measure to calculate how much MgSO4 to add relative to the Ca).

Gringo,

I love your posts, but fear your presentation may lose a lot of folks due to it's very technical nature.

Keep in mind that the audience here tends to be comprised of a relative few who understand the technicalities and a lot of folks who are looking for a simple solution to a problem without gory details and a bunch somewhere between.

I think you have a lot have a lot to offer, but may need to be a little less 'clinical' in your presentation to reach those you would like to.

I would have emailed this to you privately, but you don't have the email option enabled in your profile.

I found that BER is caused by the prism effect of early morning sunlight on water droplets on the end of tomato's. Just get up early to dry off the dew or rain and things will be find.

Sorry Georgeiii, but that's about as far-fetched as anything I've ever heard on these forums. Posts like that are misleading and not helpful.

Al

What justaguy said. It happens, it sucks, not much you can do, but it will pass :)

talpa
now that's just your opinion. Anyone can try it themself. Just spray some water on your tomato's or peppers. Let the water bead on the bottom. It won't happen on all of them but some will get hit just right. It's the same thing you do with a convex lens when you were a kid frying ants. Same effect. Watch for the rainbow sparkle it will tell you which fruits are getting burned just that little bit to let in bacteria. It only takes a second. Two or three days later you'll take notice of the little brown spot forming. And talpa this is an open forum any one can express their opinion. Just like you did yours. Follow it or don't. By the way how are you doing with my seven ways to move water thru a media.

By the time BER has set in, it's too late for lime to take effect. Try Calcium-Nitrate. It's available on E-bay from sunshinehope ($6.99 for a 5lb bag). Mix 1 tablespoon per gallon of water and water the soil well. Also spray it on the leaves as a foliar spray. Good luck.

I get my calcium nitrate from Everybody's Garden Center. A pound of calcium nitrate will last me through an average season. I get several garden chemicals from them.

ZM

Georgii - what you said makes absolutely no scientific sense, and the refraction (rainbow sparkle) 'theory' has been disproven 7 ways from Sunday. ;o) BTW - who went out into the fields and removed all the dew on the unblemished tomatoes that DON'T have BER?

You're certainly correct in that this is an open forum, but when you post unsupportable conjecture, you'll likely get called on it - not because it's fun to do it, but just so someone doesn't think you know what you're talking about and take your advice. I really don't want everyone I know up at 5 AM wiping the "foggy foggy dew" off their tomatoes if I can help it, especially newbies - know what I mean? ;o) Have a nice day.

Al

now that's just your opinion. Anyone can try it themself. Just spray some water on your tomato's or peppers. Let the water bead on the bottom. It won't happen on all of them but some will get hit just right.

Well let's see here. You made an unsupportable assertion.

As evidence you want us all to take a spray bottle and get up too early in the AM and mist our developing fruits until droplets form. And not just any droplet will do, it has to be 'hit just right'.

And for all our efforts we will supposedly get blossom end rot on our tomatos?

Dude, why are you stuck on stupid?

Please, post something from the world of even semi science that agrees with your assertion. Heck, you can even link to a pot growing web site by some stoned dude agreeing with you if you can find anyone who actually agrees with you.

Wow , this thread is getting warm like S Florida!

JAG, I agree totally with your following comment:
"Keep in mind that the audience here tends to be comprised of a relative few who understand the technicalities and a lot of folks who are looking for a simple solution to a problem without gory details and a bunch somewhere between."

I am afraid if I had started reading these long long post on wicking, fertilizing, etc before growing some very sucessful veggies this summer; never would have taken this fun hobby up. It is OK for you trained scientifically ( I am a retired aero engineer but no nothing of the fields spoken here), but think you should try to couch it where the majority of us can get the picture. Not really trying to dumb it down and am glad folks step out and voice their opinion on "off the wall post"

bernie

Haaa My, my we are opinionated aren't we. If a newbie (as you put it) has a problem getting up early what kind of gardener can they be. As for the rest of your comments it's just fluff. My gardens are beautiful and getting larger all the time. I send pictures of my "off the wall gardening" all the time. It works and that's really what gardening all about. Why do you think I post here, just to give you two hissie fits, please. You two are just as much part of the experiment as the actual garden. Justaguy I started a (P)ee garden just for you that more than 200 plants strong and going like gang busters. It's even got tropical plants and SWC's. Just to cover all the bases. I should thank you for giving me this year's project. It's the longest post I've ever written. Still writing it. As for you talpa don't bother writing that book it will be out moded and out of date before you finish. And bernie this is what makes gardening fun.

If a newbie (as you put it) has a problem getting up early what kind of gardener can they be.

The kind with young kids and a job and who feels they have better ways to use their time than go mist their tomatos so they can have some chance of inducing blossom end rot. Duh. Justaguy I started a (P)ee garden just for you that more than 200 plants strong and going like gang busters.

Why? Are you some kind of weird stalker? Did I ask you to start a 'pee garden'? I have nothing against using urine as fertilizer, but telling me you started a pee garden just for me kind of creeps me out, dude. I should thank you for giving me this year's project.

Why? I didn't ask you to do this nor did I ever post about urine as fertilizer. Wherever you got the inspiration, it's all you, man. As for you talpa don't bother writing that book it will be out moded and out of date before you finish.

Only if the science changes.

Poke a tums tablet into the soil. I've stopped the black spots from calcium deficiencies just by simply taking the old roll of tums from the bottom of my purse and putting it to use. Gave the regular garden lime time to get going.

Not a lot of science there. It just works.

Help! My container grown tomatoes stand on the east end of our deck. In the morning, cup of coffee in hand, I enjoy sitting where I can watch the rising sun reflecting prism colors through the dew drop covered tomatoes. Once a week, before sunrise, I heavily spray all the 'maters with aspirin water. So far, in my 60+ years of growing tomatoes (in both the north and south) I have never had to deal with blossom end rot. What am I doing wrong?