Small, dark woody/corky center in Opalkas?
 

Can anyone tell me what this is? I've combed through many references (and Google, and this forum) and can't seem to find any description that fits.

I'm in the Pacific Northwest. Very sandy soil with fish compost added + some granular all-purpose veggie food. Drip watering system, twice a day because of the sandy soil.

Plant LOOKS fine. (It's Opalka, for those who -- like me -- don't look back up at the title of the post :roll: )

Six ripe fruit so far, 2 with BER, 3 perfect-looking externally but with this dark almost woody bit in the center. (One I haven't cut open yet.) Fruits taste okay after removing this dark part.

Is this the internal form of BER that I've seen mentioned? The almost woody texture of the dark bit doesn't match what I think of as "rot," but that's just about the only described problem that even begins to match this.

Much obliged if someone here can shed some light on this little mystery!

This is also Blossom end rot but in the interior of the fruit. It happens sometimes. It has been abnormally hotband dry in the pnw this summer and that makes for difficulty achieving even moisture.
KarenO

Thank you, Karen!

You are very welcome, I hope later fruits are unaffected

Right now I can't find any really good pictures of internal blossom rot but what you show doesn't look like it to me.You cut open the fruit lengthwise and what you see is usually a large black area inside.

I've grown Opalka a lot since I was the person who was first given the seeds.

[url]http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Opalka[/url]

And of all the similar types of what some call paste tomatoes,which are usually very prone to external BER, seldom have I seen that on Opalka OR I don't think I've ever seen internal either.

But these are observations made in my zone 5 area in upstate NY.

And again, I've grown it a lot for SSE listings and also initially for seed offers I've made here and there.

But if you look at the info for internal BER

[url]http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/NewsArticles/Tom_ComDis.htm[/url]

If you do see it it is usually seen only on early fruits and then goes away since with early growth of tomato plants the upper part,the foliage,is not in balance with the root system. Which can lead to not efficient uptake of Ca++ from the soil or most other growing mediums that folks use.

I just went back to check and found that you were growing in sandy soil and that's hard to do.Maybe in the future you can think of adding some organic matter to that sandy soil, I think that might help.

Hope that helps,

Carolyn

[url]https://youtu.be/0YBQUZZ-zfM[/url]

I still believe it is internal BER. Mild, not worst case scenario as is typically Pictured. There are a great many other paste tomatoes for you to try since this one has not performed well in your particular garden.
Best wishes

KarenO

BER, agreed. Large internal BER lesions start out small.