As you pick your firsttomatoesof the season on a beautiful summer morn , you panic when you discover a gruesome opprobrious spot on some of the fruit , opposite the shank . This is prognosticate Blossom - End Rot , so named because the black place on the tomato occurs on the end of the fruit which incorporate the efflorescence blossom . This disease can also appear inpeppersand watermelon .

During a ironical period or drought , irrigate your Lycopersicon esculentum plants with a hose , watering can , soaker hose or drip mold irrigation . This should keep them alive and somewhat productive , but there ’s no fill-in for a soaking mean solar day - long rainfall . When that soaker finally comes , everything in your garden perks up and greens up , yield and vegetables start to ripen and move a little tightlipped to edible . That ’s because the root in conclusion have enough piddle to transport nutrients through the stem of the plant to where the yield and vegetable are forming .

What causes Blossom-End Rot in Tomatoes?

Blossom - End Rot is due to insufficient atomic number 20 supplied to the tomato , pepper , or Citrullus vulgaris fruit as it ’s take shape . This may be make by a atomic number 20 deficiency in your soil , but more likely it will come out after a flow of drought – the roots give out to obtain sufficient pee , decreasing the power of the plant to transport Ca up to the educate fruits , and the fruit become rotted on their basal oddment .

In many cases , heyday - End Rot is confined to the first few yield to ripen and is more of a cosmetic issue than a disease liketomato blightwhich requires drastic natural process . Fungicides and pesticides will be of no use in fighting Blossom - End Rot , as it ’s not a fungus that spreads from yield to fruit or yield to plant . However , as the fruit is in a faded and vulnerable state , lower-ranking infections frompests and diseasemay pass . It ’s wise to immediately ruin any fruits which show signs of the disease .

Other causes of Blossom-End Rot

Another commonly command reason for Blossom - remnant Rot is culture too stuffy to the plant life . This may put down helping of the roots , limiting the industrial plant ’s power to take up water and mineral .

tomato plant planted in moth-eaten , heavy soils or plant out too too soon in springiness often have poorly developed etymon systems . Since they are ineffective to supply tolerable amount of piddle and food to the plant life during times of stress , blossom end rot may result . This is a right reason to top off the first few flower bud which come out aftertransplanting , as it will encourage deeper etymon incursion and therefore a best supplying of nutrients , especially during a drought .

Soils that carry excessive amounts of soluble salts ( for instance from overuse of celluloid fertilizers ) may predispose tomato and peppers to Blossom - End Rot , because the availableness of atomic number 20 to the plant decreases rapidly as total salts in the soil addition .

How to avoid Blossom-End Rot

More information onBlossom - final stage rotis available from the Cornell University Vegetable MD online .