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Old June 6, 2011   #4
dice
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: PNW
Posts: 4,743
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Blossom-End Rot (BER) summary (with picture):
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/3000/3117.html

This says foliar calcium sprays are mostly useless. Other people
do that every year. It could be that a foliar spray saturates the leaves
with calcium, so that what is taken up by the roots is more available
to the fruit, reducing BER. It could also be that the simple act of spraying
itself cools the plant, and that may have some effect on BER (less demand
for water from the leaves allows calcium that is absorbed by the roots
to go elsewhere, like to developing fruit).

One thing is sure: the calcium needs to be in the soil or container media
(hence the lime, dolomite lime, or gypsum added), and the soil needs to
be moist for the calcium to be available to the plant. Growers in very hot
climates have sometimes found that more water fixes it (their soil
perhaps drains well and is simply drying out faster than they expected).
Growers in cooler climates sometimes find that more water makes it
worse (no idea why).

Many of us struggle with BER from water issues, even in soils with
plenty of calcium. A dry stretch followed by heavy rain can bring it
on (splitting fruit, too). It is often an unpleasant result of fluctuating
moisture levels. It seems to be more common in plants with roma
type fruits. Sometimes you see it mostly on the first fruits early in
the season on a plant that grows out of it.
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