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Blosson end rot on my tomatoes?
Hover_fly125
Posts: 13
in Fruit & veg
Just noticed that some of the fruit on my tomatoes have gone brown and soggy from the tip of the tomato upwards. The leaves are in good condition. I hastily picked them all off because i thought it might be an infection. Looked it up and think it might be blosson end rot. What do i need to do to prevent it? Thanks. 
0
Posts
BER (because I cba to type the whole thing lol) is caused by irregular watering out too much water.
Cut off the affected ones and let the rest do their thing, but not watering too much or too often.
Thats my experience. I'm sure there'll be someone along shortly who can be more specific
pansyface is right, plum varieties are more prone to BER than others. No one knows why. I've had them in the ground alongside other varieties, identical growing conditions and watering, the plums can be riddled with BER while the other varieties are clean. Very frustrating if you like growing plums.
That aside, BER is caused by plant stress, the stress interfering with the plant's internal mechanisms that deliver calcium to the fruit. Years ago it was believed to be insufficient calcium in the soil but science eventually put that to rest. Yet you still see and hear the myth perpetuated.
Plant stress can be caused by any number of things, irregular watering only one of them. Sometimes it's impossible to identify the cause. I have a beefsteak variety in the ground, one of 16 plants growing side-by-side in identical conditions. The plant has tossed up half a dozen fruit with BER, the other 15 plants none. I've grown the variety before without a hint of BER. Go figure.