Something Wrong With My Tomatos

Debra Peters
by Debra Peters
Can anyone tell me what the problem is with these tomatos? The small one is a roma, the other is a heatmaster - two different varieties. Other fruit on the same plants are fine. What caused this and how do I avoid it in the future? Thanks!!
  22 answers
  • Tracey Tracey on Jun 06, 2013
    this looks like Blossom End Rot-classic tomato problem. Causes are usually due to inconsistent watering and causes it to have a calcium deficinecy in the plant as it grows. use a search engine online for lots of helpful tips and ideas for the future!
  • Linda Battreall Linda Battreall on Jun 06, 2013
    My thought was blossom end rot, also.
  • Rosemary N Rosemary N on Jun 06, 2013
    Blossom end rot. You need to take a tsp or so of epsom salts and dissolve it in a gallon of water. Water with that solution. Your plants need magnesium. Also a few crushed egg shells scratched into the soil wouldn't be a bad idea either, for the calcium.
  • Jean Eickhoff Jean Eickhoff on Jun 06, 2013
    Definitely blossom end rot. Local nurseries will have a product to spray if the "home remedies" don't work for you.
  • D Burton D Burton on Jun 06, 2013
    Use Corn starch on all of your tomato plants to resist disease and pests.
  • Brendan Poynter Brendan Poynter on Jun 06, 2013
    Hi Debra, Everyone here is right. It is Blossom End Rot. I had this problem with my Roma tomatoes. You need to look at your tomato plants as they begin to sprout their fruit, I would suggest this daily considering the budding of the little yellow flowers. If you see that the flower has not completely fallen away from the baby fruit, you will want to remove it by hand then. Epsom salt solution will help the plant become more bountiful with tomatoes and a lot greener and leafier.
  • Barb King Barb King on Jun 06, 2013
    Yes it is blossom end rot, caused by a lack of calcuim in the soil, to much or to little water at certain times, they need to stay evenly moist. I plant roughly 40-50 tomatoes plants and add crushed egg shells to hole when planting, also some recommend Tums.
  • Judy Judy on Jun 06, 2013
    Blossom end rot....caused by lack of calcium in the soil. I save my egg shells. let them dry out & run them through my food processor. At planting time I work it into the soil of the whole tomato bed or you can put 3 or 4 crushed eggshells into the planting hole for each tomato or you can just go buy bonemeal.
  • Janice Rutherford Cannon Janice Rutherford Cannon on Jun 06, 2013
    For Blossom end rot, you can also crush 2 Tums and water your plant
  • Jackie Gandy Jackie Gandy on Jun 06, 2013
    when you plant your tomato plants add a cupful of lime to the soil that you back fill with.
    • Jack Khoury Jack Khoury on Jul 05, 2014
      @Jackie Gandy Lime is good but can change the Ph quite a bit. If you use gypsum instead you will get the calcium without changing the Ph.
  • Michelle W Michelle W on Jun 06, 2013
    Ditto on the Blossom end rot. Inconsistent watering can also contribute to problems. We always go by the advise of "only water when the plants are wilted in the AM". Tomato plants will look wilted during the heat of the day but usually recover in the evening. If however, you see them already wilted in the AM, before the sun hits, then they need water. Once we really paid attention to the wilting, we had better tomatoes. One year we hardly had to water at all and we are in So California.
  • Gigles Bonno Gigles Bonno on Jun 07, 2013
    also, when you empty your milk jugs, put some water in them, about 1/4 full, swish around, and water your tomatoes with the "milky water" .
  • JeDonne M JeDonne M on Jun 07, 2013
    It doesn't have to be Tums brand, just calcium. I had the same problem, gave each plant a calcium tablet and voila!
  • Jossi Jossi on Jun 07, 2013
    ZOMBIE INVASION !!!!! Or, End rot. YOU decide. :)
  • Judy Judy on Jun 08, 2013
    Do NOT add lime to the soil as Jackie Gandy suggests unless you have a VERY high acid soil to begin with! Lime is for adjusting the Ph of the soil & should not be added unless a Ph test indicates that it's needed. Your tomatoes need calcium & ground up Tums or calcium pills might work well. I've never tried them but it does make sense.
  • WilderIsland Products WilderIsland Products on Jun 08, 2013
    I put 4 tums in a gallon of water, dissolved it and watered my tomato plants last year, and problem was gone in two weeks
  • Vicki Vicki on Jun 08, 2013
    cool abt tums adding to the water. that is new to me!
  • Debra Peters Debra Peters on Jun 08, 2013
    Thanks to everyone for the info about blossom end rot. I have bone meal in my shed, so I guess I will start there.... but, why would it only affect one fruit on each of these two plants, while all other fruit is just fine?
  • Brendan Poynter Brendan Poynter on Jun 09, 2013
    Hi Debra, as I said in my earlier posting "the flower has not completely fallen away from the baby fruit" Sometimes the buds on the tomato fruit just do not fall or pop off when they reach a certain size. It never affects the whole bunch of tomatoes, just the one fruit that doesn't get the flower off in time for it to completely wilt or rot. Which is where the manual deflowering (you) come in.
  • Debra Peters Debra Peters on Jun 09, 2013
    Brendan - Thanks for reposting! I must have missed it when i was reading the other posts. (We've been gone camping for 3 days, so I've been playing catch up) What you've said makes sense to me - especially since I've only had two tomatoes affected out of many more. We have eight tomato plants and only these two have been affected - so I guess I've had pretty good luck so far! Thanks, again, to everyone for all your help!
  • Brendan Poynter Brendan Poynter on Jun 11, 2013
    Got to love them tomatoes! What to look for!!