Blossom end rot. See FAQ at http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/tomato/

Here is a link that might be useful: FAQ

"Unfortuantley one of my tomatoe plants has taken a turn. My leaves are spotting and as you can see the fruit itself has dark spots on the bottom."

I think more pictures are in order, especially the foliage. I've never seen BER look quite like that, which looks like a splotch. Normally BER is concentric centered on the end of the fruit.

Yeah, I'm far from an expert, but BER in my experience involves the actual spot where the blossom had been, and it grows out from there with that waterlogged look. I've only seen it a few times though...

It is usually the actual blossom end, but I've seen plenty that look like the OP's photo, including in my garden. It's all BER.

Thanks so much guys. I really appreciate you taking the time to respond. Here is additional pics for informational purposes.

Thanks so much guys. I really appreciate you taking the time to respond. Here is additional pics for informational purposes.

{{gwi:1324230}}

I agree with Ed. I had that on my one Better Boy last year on the first few tomatoes that set. On a few it started not right on the blossom but grew to encompass it. It went away really quick.

So it is treatable? I'm going to research it asap.

Our favorite tomato expert Carolyn137 wrote an excellent response to a question about Blossom End Rot (BER) and I am quoting it here:

With BER there is NO problem with absorption of Ca++ though the roots. The problem is maldistribution within the plant that can be induced by a number of stresses which include uneven delivery of water, too much N, growing in too rich soil, too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry you name it.

As the plants mature they can better handle the streses that can induce BER so usually it goes away.

The two exceptions are first, if the soil has NO Ca++ as confirmed with a soil test, and that's a rare condition, and second, if the soil is too acidic in which Case Ca++ is bound in the soil.

Again, adding lime, egg shells and on and on can not and will not prevent BER b'c absorption of Ca++ thru the roots is OK.

Paste tomatoes are especially susceptible to BER and I think someone in a post above mentioned that.

If you go to the top of this first page and click on the FAQ link and scroll down you'll also find an article about BER in case some of you have never looked at the FAQ's And there's some darn good articles there as well, but I wouldn't pay any attention to the variety list b'c it's way out of date.

The old information about BER being caused solely by lack of soil Ca++ has been shown to be wrong with research that's been done in the last 20 years or so, but it's going to take another generation before the real story gets into books, websites, magazines, etc. Most of the better websites already have the correct information.

BER affects not only tomatoes, but peppers, squash, cabbage, cauliflower, etc., and it's a huge multimillion dollar problem for the industry, which is WHY all that reasearch was done. For instance, when tissues were taken from a plant that has BER fruits and was assayed for Ca++, the normal level of Ca++ was found, it just wasn't getting to the blossom end of fruits. And there's also a condition called internal BER where the fruits look fine, no evidence of BER externally, but when you cut open the fruit the inside is black

Hope that helps

Now, that applies to all tomatoes, especially those grown in the ground. But you have yours in a container (How big?) which might mean they don't have enough calcium in the growing medium, but since the BER is on one fruit only, I don't think that is the problem. More than likely it is a moisture regulation problem, especially as the weather warms up.

The other issue you may be experiencing is the lack of mutrients in your growing medium since everytime you water they are washed out of the pot. Are you feeding your plants on a regular basis? Most container growers feed a diluted water soluble fertilizer every week to ten days to make up for the nutrients that are lost.

The leaf spots look like they could have been sun or wind burn. Not sure about the stems, perhaps abrasions?

Betsy

This post was edited by bets on Wed, May 29, 13 at 12:16

Thanks so much,

The container is 10 gallons and the plant is outgrowing it I feel. I do use a water MG water soluble, I know MG is a bad word on here sometimes or initials in this case. But, like I said I am new and learning. The plants seems to be doing ok, but much more foliage than fruit.

It is not, probably a BER. The rot is further away. Also the stem looks like being chewed by something too. Could it be a caterpillar? I have never seen a thing like that on tomatoes. But I have seen rats doing it to cukes and melons.

We dont have rat issues, thank god I hate them. We do have coons though. Just seems like they would do more damage. They are pretty big. Not sure.