Hi brindamour,

Speckled Roman is a paste type tomato and pastes are more susceptible to BER (Blossom End Rot).

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And there';s some darn good articles there as well, but I wouldn't pay any attention to the variety list b'c it's way out of date.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

Betsy

Here is a link that might be useful: FAQ page on Blossom End Rot

Betsy, thank you so much for your response. I feel rather foolish for not realizing they have BER, but at least now I also have hope that I won't lose my entire crop. I'm still very much a novice gardener when compared to others, but this is one problem I haven't encountered before. Thanks again.

You are most welcome! We were all a novice at one time or the other and most of us don't mind answering questions.

(There are some that will tell you that you should have searched for an answer first, but sometimes if you have no idea what the issue is, you don't have any idea of what to search for.)

Have a great day!

Betsy

Hi! Your blossom end-rot can be controlled by feeding your tomatoes some epsom salt when you plant them as well as about 1 tbs spread around each plant every few weeks. It's available in drug stores and doesn't cost too much. It helps the plant to absorb calcium. I hope this info is not redundant but I saw no mention of epsom salt.

Just wanted to chime in that my Speckled Romans are the my only tomatoes that have BER so this really helps explains why! I did not know paste types were more susceptible.

@brindamour

I've been treating mine with a Calcium Chloride foliar spray from Gardens Alive and it helped pretty quickly. It suggests applying once a week for 3 weeks during periods of lots of rain. I noticed considerable improvement after just one application despite continued rain.

My speckled romans have been quite interesting and fun to grow. They sure are troupers - producing quite a bit even when they look sorry.

Good luck!

I almost always get BER on my Romas early in the season, but it usually clears up on its own as the growing season goes on.

I've heard that you can use the tomatoes with BER, just cut the black part off. Anyone know if this is true?

Caryl

Caryl,

I don't think that BER affects the flavor of the rest of the tomato, so you can just cut it off. I've done it in the past. But usually I dispose of them because I have so many tomatoes that it just isn't worth the effort.

YMMV.

Betsy