Blossom End Rot

Blossom End Rot

 

Blossom end rot is a common problem in tomato gardens. It appears as a round, brown, sunken area on the end of the tomato fruit opposite the stem. As fruit ripens the area turns dry and leathery. This is often caused by a lack of calcium.

Rot Stop from Bonide

The best thing to do if you notice this problem in your vegetable garden is to remove all of the bad fruit, use a spray like Rot Stop® to help correct the calcium deficiency and water more evenly throughout the rest of the season.

 

 

tomatoes

What should I do differently next year?

  1. Start by testing the pH of your soil. We test soil ph for free here at Hicks. Bring a bone dry sample of soil to the Garden Information Desk. We’ll test it for you while you wait.
  2. Mulch around your vegetables. This helps to keep the soil evenly moist.
  3. Fertilizers with high nitrogen levels impede the uptake of calcium. Stick with a low-nitrogen fertilizer. We love Tomato-tone from Espoma which also, by the way, has added calcium!

Stop a Hicks Nurseries to pick up Rot Stop®, mulch and all of your other gardening needs.

Additional Information:
Summer Watering Tips
How to Plant