How can I avoid bottom rot on my tomatoes?
How can I avoid having Bottom Rot on my tomatoes! I poured some bleach into the soil last year before planting. This did seem to get rid of most of it, but by the end of the season I noticed several were starting to look like they had bottom rot!
Related Discussions
GNATS - How to get rid of them?
Somehow my house and garden got tiny gnats that killed my fuchsia plant and fly everywhere. I have tried ALL the Web recommendations - soap and oil dishes, sand in th... See more
Marigolds growing! Should I pinch the buds?
My marigold plants are growing. I heard that pinching the buds until Autumn will allow them to grow without killing the plant. Is this true?
Growing garlic
Growing our first garlic, should we wait until the leaves are drying out before we pick it? Husband picked first one today along with our first potatoes.
How to keep mice out of your garden?
Hi everyone, I have mice in my garden destroying my vegetables and I have also noticed them in the barn and shed. Please can someone tell me how to prevent them from ... See more
What's the best flower/plant to grow in Texas?
I know that opinions vary, but what's your opinion?!I have great luck w Rosemary plants. Green all year long.
What can I put on my Collard greens to avoid the bugs eating my green
How can I avoid earwigs in my potted lettuce?
I have tried planting various lettuce in pots on my deck but they become infiltrated with earwigs? Is there something I can do to keep them from eating my lettuce?
A water-soaked spot at the blossom end of tomato fruits is the classic symptom of blossom-end rot. This relatively common garden problem is not a disease, but rather a physiological disorder caused by a calcium imbalance within the plant. It can occur in pepper, squash, cucumber, and melon fruits as well as tomatoes. You should also be careful in using bleach. While chlorine is a naturally occurring and necessary part of soil, significant amounts of it can cause a condition known as chlorine toxicity. Additionally, undiluted chlorine bleach has a pH of 11, which means it raises the pH of soil significantly.
My father years ago put grass clippings from the lawn around the bottom of the plants like mulch, still works today.
This is caused by lack of Calcium in soil....Bleaching your soil kills beneficial micronutrients needed for healthy soil & plants.chlorine causes degradation to cell membranes, proteins and nucleic acids. What does this mean? Basically, free chlorine breaks apart chemical bonds necessary for normal functioning, which leads to cellular death. tissue death (spotting) can occur depending on the sensitivity of the plant. worse thing you could do in garden especially around something you'll be eating. Why don't the plants get enough calcium to the fruit? This can be due to a number of factors, including:
add Gypsum good source for calcium; growers find that the calcium content of gypsum makes it the perfect fertilizer to apply to fields and rows where crops such as tomatoes will grow. Thecalcium added to the soil helps offset diseases like blossom end rot, known to affect certain tomato varieties suffering calcium deficiency. or egg shells ground in blender works too
Thank you so so much!!!! I will purchase some Gypsum before planting this year. Just glad I used very little bleach last year...must be an old wives tale from my aunt RIP...I had lots of tomatoes last year but by late in the season some were getting black on the bottoms! I also will grind up some egg shells before planting! Thank you again!!