[D.J. Wolf]

Ok, I've had a problem here in Illinois primarily with my squash type plants that I never had in Montana when I was living there. Even with my zucchini, which I've had pretty good luck with in spite of everything, I tend to get a lot of fruit that start to grow, look good, and then suddenly rot on the blossom end before being anywhere near big enough to pick. It was pretty bad last year, none of my squash or melon type plants produced near what I thought they should have. This affected pumpkins, yellow summer squash, crook necks, zucchini, cucumbers, even watermelon.

As I was working on laying out the garden yesterday, I got to thinking about it. It actually kept me up last night with thoughts running though my head. Could it be the chlorine in the city water that would cause this? Soil here is better than what it was in Montana, and I fertilize the same way, so I don't think it's that. Last year was a rough year for anything, with 2 late freezes in May, then dry dry dry all summer.

So two questions for the experts here I guess. 1...Can chlorine in the water cause blossom end rot in squash/melons? And 2...if it can, what is people recommendation for removing chlorine from city water when used for irrigation through a soaker or weepy hose setup?