Blossom-End Rot

As someone who has spent a lot of time writing about Rhizoctonia Root Rot or Phytophora Root Rot (both soybean diseases for those of you going "huh?"), you would think I would be thrilled to talk about my new discovery: Blossom-End Rot . WRONG. It's in MY garden!

Blossom-End Rot is happening all over my tomato plants and from what I can read on the internet, there is nothing I can do about it! Blossom-End Rot is associated with calcium absorption into the plant and is caused by many things.

Here is what my friends at THE Ohio State University Extension have to say about it:

This may result from low calcium levels or high amounts of competitive cations in the soil, drought stress, or excessive soil moisture fluctuations which reduce uptake and movement of calcium into the plant, or rapid, vegetative growth due to excessive nitrogen fertilization.

Summary: I had too much water followed by no water, my plants are screwed.

This picture was taken from tOSU's website and displays what is happening. I keep forgetting to take pictures when I am out in the garden.



While this problem will not spread from one fruit to another, it can cause quite the problems throughout the garden. Again, tOSU says

This nonparasitic disorder can be very damaging, with losses of 50% or more in some years.

So far, I have tossed as many tomatoes this year as I have picked. I am hoping that it is just on the early ones and we can continue on to a successful growing season. Unfortunately, a lot of the plants are already struggling due to the various dead parts caused by the flooding.

Blossom-End Rot also appears on peppers and eggplant. My eggplants are troopers and I am seeing no signs of this disorder on them. However, the peppers are getting taken pretty fast, so their likelihood of survival is very low.

Let's hope some rain and balance of calcium can get these plants out of their stressed disposition! To read more about blossom-end rot from tOSU go to this link: http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/3000/3117.html. And, please remember to use "the" before every mention of Ohio State. Thanks.