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22nd July 2013 at 9:52 am #21702kate robinsonParticipant
Some of my tomatoes in the greenhouse are rotting from the base of the fruit – is this too little or too much water or something else??
22nd July 2013 at 10:35 am #24214charlesModeratorI have it too Kate, really annoying as most of the fruit look fine from on top.
The classic advice is "Caused by irregular watering". But I am watering the same and have barely seen it for years and so i suspect, in this unusually hot spell, that it is from "irregular heat and light levels", which means weather, beyond our control.
However two things I have noticed are that some varities are more susceptibe, especially Black Russian, and that it is worse in my greenhouse than the tunnel (more heat and light in the latter).
Do you have it on any variety in particular?
22nd July 2013 at 1:41 pm #24215kate robinsonParticipantSOOO annoying. At the moment it is only happening in the greenhouse the polytunnel toms are slightly further behind. The Fiornetino and San Marzano are worst hit. The Tigerella seem to be fine as are the Lidi which have so many flowers I have raised the lower branches on crates to keep them off the ground. I am watering each night in the greenhouse and every 2 or 3 days in polytunnel.
22nd July 2013 at 4:10 pm #24216charlesModeratorInteresting that your greenhouse plants are more affected, so i think that excess heat stress is perhaps one cause. But also the main time of BER happening is at mid-maturity when plants already have some fruit and need lots of nutrients esp calcium to make the second and third truss, so your tunnel toms may not be there yet?
It seems that main cause is lack of calcium from soil too dry OR too wet. Adding calcium to soil or spraying on leaves is reckoned to be ineffective. I wonder if I may have been overwatering in that Homeacres soil appears to drain less readily than Lower Farm soil. I should have twigged that, but to be sure I am buying a soil moisture meter from eBay for £15, will let you know how it works!
22nd July 2013 at 4:40 pm #24217kate robinsonParticipantOk – thanks for that Charles. Nice to know it’s not just me…. will wait to hear your results!
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