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View Full Version : A quick tip for tomato growers


Betonov
07-05-14, 09:37 AM
Here's a quick and lighthearted thread.

Some of you may (or your spouse does) own a garden and grow tomatoes.
Some of you may have encountered something called a blossom end rot.

Where the fruit starts to rot from the tip even before it ripens.
http://urbanext.illinois.edu/vegproblems/images/Blossomendrotpepper3.jpg
http://www.rightplants4me.co.uk/sites/rightplants4me.co.uk/files/files/Blossom%20end%20rot%20-%20tomato.jpg


Had the same problem 4 and 3 years ago, when I started gardening.
I can safely say that one third to one half of the yield got hit.

So I started browsing the interwebz and found many theories, from disease to fungus. But the prominent was calcium deficiency. Either not enough calcium in soil or not enough water to dissolve the calcium for the roots.

And that was it.
Last year I started adding to the watering solution a calcium supplement pill, the kind you buy in a grocery and dissolve in a glass of water.
http://www.moja-lekarna.com/images/PRODUCT/large/Kruger-%C5%A1ume%C4%8De-tablete-s-kalcijem.jpg

Not one case of blossom end rot.
Half a pill per 20litres of water, every Sunday did the trick.
Never used pesticides or fungicides so that rules out diseases or fungus.

Remember, only with proper information can we prevent famine from blossom end rot

Oberon
07-05-14, 10:22 AM
http://www.welkmusicalfamily.com/Grover.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grover#mediaviewer/File:Grover.JPG

Wolferz
07-05-14, 11:26 AM
^:haha:

I was thinking of starting a tomato grove this year...
But, I'm lazy.:D

NeonSamurai
07-05-14, 12:21 PM
Fixed, no more grovers :D

Wolferz
07-05-14, 12:34 PM
Fixed, no more grovers :D

Awww! Typos are fun. But not anymore. Farm out.:O:

It is a really good tip though.:up:

Jimbuna
07-06-14, 05:41 AM
This stuff seems to work for the wife Anze:

http://www.wilko.com/plant-food+fertilisers/wilko-tomato-feed-2l/invt/0289597

Betonov
07-06-14, 05:50 AM
This stuff seems to work for the wife Anze:

http://www.wilko.com/plant-food+fertilisers/wilko-tomato-feed-2l/invt/0289597

I also use a liquid fertilizer (mix in the watering solution along with the calcium tablets). But it doesn't have calcium in the mix, so I supplement it myself.

And I also mixed crushed egg shells with the horse manure when I tilled in the autumn.

Jimbuna
07-06-14, 05:53 AM
I also use a liquid fertilizer (mix in the watering solution along with the calcium tablets). But it doesn't have calcium in the mix, so I supplement it myself.

And I also mixed crushed egg shells with the horse manure when I tilled in the autumn.

You should speak to my neighbour (his property backs onto the rear of mine)...gardening is almost a religion to him.