Yes to what dave said (how ya been dave?!).. BER is a "hot button" topic.. do a quick search in the search bar on top for a plethora of information on the subject. Egg shells will do you no good for calcium until they're broken down by the soil life - and that can take a wholllle lot of time! I personally put them in my nutri-bullet and grind'em into a powder, then I throw the powder in my compost; this will help to increase their surface area and speed up decomposition.

I've found san marzano's and cassady's folly (to name a couple) to be more prone to BER - as you'll find with some other plum varieties - although after the first dozen or so tomatoes the plants will usually overcome the issue.

Setting up a drip irrigation system and keeping your soil moisture more consistent will be of assistance to you.. Good luck! =)

My error, should have looked up BER before asking. Dave thanks for the link, lots of info and opinions. So I guess that the egg shells and lime were not the best idea after all. Michael good idea for my saved egg shells will grind them up and throw them on my compost pile as well.

You should try some garden gypsum. This pretty much prevented bottom end rot for all my tomatoes and you don't need to use much per plant.

For growing hydroponically, I used a formula that was lacking in calcium so all my hydroponic tomatoes got BER, so I bought some calcium nitrate to fix the problem.

Read Dave's (digdirt2) post, again.

5 points explained well.

Amen.

Seysonn

Seysonn what 5 points are you referring to? Max you have introduced yet another preventive. So many pros and cons but if they work that is all that matters. Thanks for the feedback on your success.

Robinova,

The five points I am reffering too are in Dave's Post :

1- BER cannot be 9fully 0 prevented ...
2- Egg shells serve no purpose ...... (least in short term)
3- Lime "might" help if your soil pH is skewed to begin with but only if the weather allows.
4- Some varieties are more prone. Avoid them.
5- Containers are much more prone than in ground plants. Use bigger containers.

Seysonn

Thanks Seyson. Won't forget to do the search for any additional questions.

There is a bit of misinformation on this topic according to some newer research reported by Dr. Rick Snyder. Calcium uptake by tomato roots is primarily achieved by new root hairs and because of that there are a number of stressful conditions that lead the plant to be in calcium shortfall. So although the disorder may not be fully prevented there is a lot one can do to minimize stresses to their tomato plants. The notation that potted plants have higher incidence of the disorder is one clear supporting concept.

One should look a bit beyond water, weather and soil calcium much as we don't just check our car's oil, water and tires when it starts to run rough.

Thanks Barrie2m. Went to Dr. Snyder's website and he does indeed state that BER could be a lack of calcium. So many different opinions. I believe that I will add some lime after-all, not a lot but just enough to see if in fact it does make a difference. Good info on his website.

Man I hate beating this dead horse yet again as it has been done in such infinite detail here so often over and over again.

But for the benefit of future readers please note that Dr. Snyder's specialty is greenhouse growing which is a totally different environment with its own set of issues. That isn't saying he is wrong, he isn't. But it doesn't mean it has broad-band applicability either.

And the statement made about lack of calcium is a lack in the fruit, not in the soil. That it is a circulation issue (the fuel pump or fuel injectors to use Barrie's metaphor). So what dictates circulation and fuel injection in a tomato plant?

Lastly, if growing in containers and using a quality soil-less potting mix then it already contains lime. What it often doesn't contain is enough soil volume to keep the plants engine running smoothly and evenly without idling roughly.

So add more lime or egg shells or clam shells or TUMs or aspirin or milk or whatever of the many claimed "cures/preventatives" you wish as long as you understand that if you are fortunate enough to not have any BER it isn't because of what you added.

It is a result of a whole series of conditional coincidences that include, weather, soil pH, controlled and consistent moisture levels, too early fruit set on a young plant, poor or inadequate root development relative to the top growth, the variety grown, the form and amount of the nutrients available or in excess, and (if in containers) that you used a large enough container for the plant's health. Skew any of them and you will have BER in early season fruit.

Dave

I have added lime to the tomato plants and do not know results yet...how often do I do this? They are in 5 gallon containers as my actual soil last year game them blight. Only a few very small tomatoes had BER, and have hoped to have caught this in advance. Just do not know what to do "next"

What to do next is to make sure you keep the moisture even. Don't let them go through a wet-dry cycle.

Christi what you do next is just wait. Meanwhile you try to find some way to keep the soil moisture content in your buckets very consistent - no extremes. That is quite difficult to do in a 5 gallon container so that will be the cause of any BER your fruit may have. Hopefully as your plants mature they will be able to adjust to the small containers and produce some good fruit.

<as my actual soil last year game them blight>

All forms of "blight" are caused by airborne spores that travel on the wind and are in the air around us so there is likely nothing wrong with your soil.

Dave

I love these threads. Even when it is carefully explained that adding calcium to the soil may not help, people continue to ignore the information and to ask how often to add it and what to use. It is so amusing to watch.

I grow tomatoes and other veggies hydroponically (and aquaponically) as well as in the ground. There are a number of plants that are susceptible to calcium deficiencies in a hydroponic environment, Tomatoes, Peppers and Lettuce are three very popular plants that all have issues. It is common to supplement Calcium to avoid deficiencies or correct them when the signs appear.

While I agree that adding chemically stable calcium compounds like chalk, egg shell or tums is not going to do much if anything, Calcium Nitrate is a common hydroponic nutrient and does do an effective job of treating deficiencies in a hydroponic system and I would expect it to be helpful in soil as well.

We shall see, tons of green tomatoes that look perfect...just a few of the smaller ones have the BER - Thanks for your help!!

I have added mulch to the top of the pots, when the plants begin to wilt from the 95 degree heat, do I just feel around the soil down to 3" and see if there is any moisure there? I am confused about how much to water in this extreme VA heat...Thank you Dave!

As has been explained in this thread and elsewhere TENS OF TIME, the cause of BER in containers is :
--- INCONSISTENT moisture level, fluctuating between too wet and too dry.
Often, smaller the container the higher the probability of BER , BECAUSE OF the grower's inability to control the moisture level.
However, certain soil less potting mixes can be helpful with balanced moisture retention and drainage.

Sey

<I have added mulch to the top of the pots, when the plants begin to wilt
from the 95 degree heat, do I just feel around the soil down to 3" and
see if there is any moisure there? I am confused about how much to
water in this extreme VA heat...Thank you Dave!>

Not sure what to tell you because plants shouldn't be wilting - in the usual sense of the word - in 95 degree heat. Plants in containers shouldn't be "wilting" for any reason unless they are in way too small a container and are root bound.

If they are in a good size container and still wilting then they are way past due for watering and there is your inconsistent soil moisture issue that causes the BER problems (no matter how much lime you may add). Consistent soil moisture at all times is the goal, not the extremes of sopping wet now and wiltingly dry later.

Leaves don't quickly go from stiff and perky with good turgor and good bounce-back to touch to wilting. They do it in many stages that takes time. First the leaves get a bit soft to the feel, then they begin to lose their shine, then the tip begins to turn down a bit and they are slow to bounce back to touch, then the edges slowly begin to curl up or down and they get a little softer, then the stems begin to lose some of their stiffness and slowly develop a softer feel with more give to them when lightly squeezed, and only then do they begin to actually wilt and droop. The idea is to catch them no later than the tip droop and provide the water, not wait until they are actually wilting. OK?

Dave

Do you mean "tons of times"? You are mean and obviously have your own BER! I am new to this and do not have time to go back years and years of comments....

Christi just for future reference, the search bar here will pull all the posts on any topic together for you if you want to read them. You don't have to go back through the whole forum. So for ex. if you wanted to read about BER you just go to the search bar at the top of the page, type BER in it and a menu drops down, click on in Growing Tomatoes forum, and it pulls them all up for you and you can read any of them you wish. It is a handy tool to become familiar with when you have time.

Dave