Since no one else has chimed in I will even tho it is probably too late if you have already planted them.

A couple of things to keep in mind: 1) adding stuff to a hole unless it is a really BIG hole does little good since the roots don't stay in the hole. Additives may be of benefit right after transplanting but once the plant is established it has out grown the 'hole'.

2) with a soil pH that far out of whack it really doesn't make much difference what you add or don't add in the way of nutrients because they won't be available to the plants. The acidic pH binds them up in the soil

So improving your soil pH is the primary focus not the possibility that the soil may or may not be Ca++ deficient. It probably isn't.

3) And lastly as previously discussed in your post on the Vegetable gardening forum, BER is NOT a result of insufficient Ca. Tests show plenty of Ca even in BER fruit. The issue is one of even distribution of the Ca throughout the fruit while it is developing on a young plant. And that is a soil moisture issue.

BER happens sometimes no matter what you do. Even in ideal soil. There is no "cure", no quickie fix, no hole additive that can prevent it. So things like bone meal and egg shells, milk, and TUMS, etc. do nothing but make the gardener feel better. The plant could care less.

BER is usually found in the first fruit of the spring when the weather is inconsistent and the plant is young. As the weather stabilizes and the plant's circulatory system matures, IF the gardener is providing a consistent level of soil moisture, the BER disappears all on its own.

Given your soil test results you'll have more serious potential problems to deal with than BER. With that pH ALL the nutrients, minerals, and micro-nutrients are going to be difficult to supply to the plants until the soil pH is corrected. Lime will need to be your friend and frequent applications throughout the growing season may be the only solution.

JMO

Dave

Thanks Dave. I know this isn't good soil, but it is what it is, and it's going to take a while to improve.

We didn't get the tomatoes planted yesterday (another night below 50, and I left them out all day, they got a bit burnt since high winds/hail threw my hardening schedule off). Took all day to dig 3 trenches (and DH started a 4th), I only partially filled 1 since I decided to screen the original soil (5 gal bucket at a time) before throwing it back in.

So far the mix is 2 parts original sandy loam (one spot more clay than other end so I mixed and put it on opposite end than it came from), 1 part UCG, 2 parts shredded leaves/leaf mold from woods, 2 parts new screened (untested) topsoil. Stirred in as added each layer but not thoroughly so only some leaves are on top, most of the UCG and sand are still on the bottom. No lime - DH says he thinks it's better just to lime around each plant? I still have room for more soil mix in trench, figured it might be easier to fill (or almost fill) after the plants are in place, probably Monday since today will be filling the rest of the trenches.

I know there's no quickie fix, and I hope this mix (and constant monitoring) will help control the moisture. As I said, we've had no problem in the past, but haven't grown in this soil before, and haven't grown paste tomatoes before so I was concerned.

Do you have any suggestions for anything else to add to the mix, and/or mid-season (or monthly?) fertilizing? You mention "frequent" liming - how often and how much would you recommend?

Thanks,

Shelly