add some dolamite or lime to soil.or you could mix some with your water. be sure not to water too much.

1 Blossom end rot is classic calcium deficiency. If you are frugal there is no need for lime if you eat eggs. Simply wash out the shells with water bake them a few minutes to dry them and powder them with a cheap coffee grinder. Add to soil. In Florida this is even better since you support chitin eating organisms which will turn on any nematode eggs.

A small amount of wood ash will provide even more diverse minerals(do not use charcoal ash).Go easy since in the old days people made lye with wood ash and rain water so it does raise the PH but is not an issue in small amounts. One could add pine needles if they wish. I typically add wood ash to my compost but since I add pine needles and coffee grounds I suspect PH is a complete non issue for compost even in slightly bigger amounts.

Is there something that i can add to the soil to help? I was told that a spray on the foilage would do no good? I love Roma type plum tomatoes, but I have since read that they are very suseptible to BER. Any advice?
thanks

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I don't think there's anything you can do this year, and that includes adding anything with Ca++ in it or using a foliar spray or using the product called Stop Rot.

For next year I'd get a good soil test done, not a home kit, and see what the results are.

It used to be thought that BER was caused by a lack of Ca++ but much reserach in the past 20 years or so have shown that seldom is it a Ca++ problem per se.

The problem is maldistribution of Ca++ within the plant, meaning that Ca++ uptake is OK, but there are many stresses that can induce BER even with adequate Ca++ present and being taken up by the roots.

Please read the article on BER in the FAQ section at the top of this first page. And you can Google BER and find pretty much the same story in terms of Ca++.

PLants that had fruits that had BER were analyzed for the Ca++ content in the stems and other tissues and it was found that the Ca++ level was fine.

Some of the major stresses that can lead to BER are lack of even delivery of water, too much fertilizer, too hot, too windy, etc.

BER is a major problem for the veggie/fruit industry be' it affects not only tomatoes but peppers, cauliflower, cabbage, squash, etc., and that's why there's been so much research done of late.

If preventing BER by just adding Ca++ could prevent the problem, there wouldn't be a problem, but there still is a major problem.

Paste tomatoes are especially susceptible to BER.

And finally, there are two situations where Ca++ should be added and both are quite rare. One is where the soil is devoid of Ca++ and the other is where soils are very acidic and that can be cured by adding products to alter the pH.

Carolyn