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San Antonio, Texas

I think I have BER, put a Captan paste on the blossom end and I am keeping it dry as I possibly can. It is slowing leaking what looks like water, should I give up the ghost on this one {361.5 est}?

I think I know the answer, just want to confirm it amongst my peers. Any thoughts and recommendations for next season on how not to have this happen? Heard Ca spray on the fruit works...anything else?

Thanks!
Texas Boga

7/28/2008 4:08:14 PM

derry n.h u.s.a.

Use a paint brush and dry captan and hit the blossem ends and stems and stumps or crowns(base of the plant)on a regular bases every 5 or six days or when it rains hard and gets washed off i reaply.Hope this helps.John

7/28/2008 5:40:35 PM

ExtremeVegetables.com

If it is Blossom End Rot I don't think there is anything your gonna do to be able to stop it on this fruit. You do need to determine if that is what it is, to avoid it happening to future fruit. BER is normally associated with low calcium levels. If you haven't had a soil test done in the spring, you need to so you can detemine if you need to ammend for this next season.
If you do have low calcium levels you can stop it from happening in other fruit this year by adding Calcium usually in the form of Chelated Ca.

7/28/2008 7:27:06 PM

San Antonio, Texas

It is definately BER, a small watery bruise on the blossom end.

I looked at my calcium levels from my soil test and it says that I have "excessive" calcium in my soil {180 ppm}. My pH was 8.3 so it was moderately alkaline, I am wondering if a higher pH will prevent calcium absorbtion.

Thanks and will look into the Chelated Ca for next year.
TexBoga

7/28/2008 8:47:27 PM

Windsor, Ontario, Canada

180 ppm is excessive??? They were not making recommendations for AGs I guess, lol. Tell them it should be around 3000-4000 ppm.

As for the rot, sorry to hear. That is no good.

7/29/2008 12:06:06 AM

San Antonio, Texas

JRO - Thanks for the reply, not many, if any know about AG's down here in South Texas. One of my neighbors thinks I am growing "pod people" and the other neighbor and their kids think it is just "way cool"!!

I guess I will bump up the calcium for next year and see what happens, wanted this one to go until Halloween for my little one, oh well... I think I would of had a big one!!

7/29/2008 8:25:53 AM

Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Even more important are the ratios between Ca/Mg and Ca/K which when out of whack can lock nutrients up so they cant be uptaken by the plant.

I would get a soil test done in the fall and spring so you can tell what to add for winter, and further what changes it made so you know what to add for the season.

7/29/2008 11:28:52 AM

Colorado Springs, CO

Blossom end rot is not solely attributed to calcium (deficiency) yet we know that Ca can be a significant factor. Do soil tests on periodic basis especially when adding numerous amendments over time. I save all used eggshells in our kitchen, give them a quick water rinse and toss them into a large empty plastic pretzel container. When full I go in with garden gloves on and crush them all into little pieces. These become my preferred Ca amendment into my compost bin, my vermicompost bins and around and within my backfill soil when I plant my tomatoes, peppers, squashes etc. Slow release, cannot really use too much, and they continue to breakdown in your soil.

8/1/2008 11:59:48 PM