Tomatoville® Gardening Forums


Notices

Information and discussion regarding garden diseases, insects and other unwelcome critters.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old June 30, 2010   #1
Marsha
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Campbellsville
Posts: 3
Default Tomatoes Are Black Inside

Our tomatoes are in cages and there are no weeds we treated the plants with a fungicide. The tomatoes look great on the outside but look inside.

What is this, can it be stopped or is our crop lost?
Attached Images
File Type: jpg IMAG0217[1].jpg (358.5 KB, 147 views)

Last edited by Marsha; June 30, 2010 at 08:53 PM. Reason: to post another picture with the post
Marsha is offline   Reply With Quote
Old June 30, 2010   #2
Marsha
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Campbellsville
Posts: 3
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Marsha View Post
Our tomatoes are in cages and there are no weeds we treated the plants with a fungicide. The tomatoes look great on the outside but look inside.

What is this, can it be stopped or is our crop lost?
This is what the tomatoes look like inside.
Marsha is offline   Reply With Quote
Old June 30, 2010   #3
carolyn137
Moderator Emeritus
 
carolyn137's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a
Posts: 21,169
Default

http://aob.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/95/4/571

Without seeing a picture my suggestion is internal BER. Most folks know external BER at the blossom end but not that many folks know that it can also occur internally.

In the link above scroll down until you see on the left the panel of four pictures with one showing internal BER.

I've spent over 30 min trying to find other good pictures with no luck. I wish I could transfer the picture of internal BER to here, the one that's in my Seminis Tomato monograph, but I can't.

Just know that when you cut open the fruit that the black can be just around the edges or can involve a small black area in the center or a much larger black area covering most of the internal part of the fruit.

The same information you know about BER , which is a physiological condition not a disease, and what causes it can also be applied to internal BER.

Edited to add that there are some other causes of black areas on fruits that are caused by infectious agents such as Black Mold and Rhizoctonia but the lesions for those can be seen externally whereas with internal BER the exterior looks fine until you cut the fruit open.
__________________
Carolyn
carolyn137 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old June 30, 2010   #4
dustdevil
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: WI, USA Zone4
Posts: 1,887
Default

I see a lot of tomato leaf curl in the first photo...probably too much water. You also may need more calcium in the soil around your tomatoes. Heavy clay soil tends to hold a lot of water...water sparingly when the tomato plants start to droop. And of course, your toms might be paying the price due to excessive rain.

Last edited by dustdevil; June 30, 2010 at 10:11 PM.
dustdevil is offline   Reply With Quote
Old June 30, 2010   #5
feldon30
Tomatovillian™
 
feldon30's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Rock Hill, SC
Posts: 5,346
Default

It's hard to tell from that picture, but it looks like hard pan clay and just a few sheets of newspaper for mulch. Irregular watering and inability of the tomato plant to take up and regulate water is a sure cause of BER.
__________________
[SIZE="3"]I've relaunched my gardening website -- [B]TheUnconventionalTomato.com[/B][/SIZE] *

[I][SIZE="1"]*I'm not allowed to post weblinks so you'll have to copy-paste it manually.[/SIZE][/I]
feldon30 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 1, 2010   #6
Paul R
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Avilla IN
Posts: 300
Default



Here are the pics Carolyn refereed to.

Paul R
Paul R is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 1, 2010   #7
carolyn137
Moderator Emeritus
 
carolyn137's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a
Posts: 21,169
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul R View Post


Here are the pics Carolyn refereed to.

Paul R
Thanks Paul, I'm not clever enough to do that.

A is the one with internal BER and as I said above sometimes much larger internal areas of black can be seen.

B and C are external BER and you can see that b/c the integrity of the blossom end fruit wall is gone as opposed to the complete fruit/wall at the blossom end with A.
__________________
Carolyn
carolyn137 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 1, 2010   #8
Paul R
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Avilla IN
Posts: 300
Default

Your welcome Carolyn.
Paul R is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 1, 2010   #9
Marsha
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Campbellsville
Posts: 3
Default

Thanks to all of you for the excellent diagnosis of our tomatos disease. I guess at this point there is nothing that can be done to save them. Would you put calcium in the soil now or is it too late?
Thanks again!
Marsha is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 1, 2010   #10
BlackestKrim
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Austin, Texas
Posts: 147
Default

Tomatoes often "grow out" of blossom-end rot; my cousin's plants had this problem on their first fruits but now they are producing just fine . I would suggest more mulching and more regular/even watering. I have limited experience with BER compared to most on Tomatoville, so there may be more to do than that.
BlackestKrim is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 1, 2010   #11
Mischka
Tomatoville® Administrator
 
Mischka's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: The Bay State
Posts: 3,206
Default

I don't think you'll lose your entire crop from BER, perhaps the first few ripe fruits, even if you're growing all determinate varieties.

I've attached a bulletin from OSU that describes the condition in detail and has some good advice for prevention, as well as treatment.
Attached Files
File Type: pdf BER.pdf (611.1 KB, 29 views)
__________________
Mischka


One last word of farewell, Dear Master and Mistress.


Whenever you visit my grave,

say to yourselves with regret

but also with happiness in your hearts

at the remembrance of my long happy life with you:


"Here lies one who loved us and whom we loved."


No matter how deep my sleep I shall hear you,

and not all the power of death

can keep my spirit

from wagging a grateful tail.
Mischka is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 2, 2010   #12
feldon30
Tomatovillian™
 
feldon30's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Rock Hill, SC
Posts: 5,346
Default

And the "d" picture is when your tomatoes are radioactive and glowing blue and yellow. Just kidding!

I hope things clear up for you.
__________________
[SIZE="3"]I've relaunched my gardening website -- [B]TheUnconventionalTomato.com[/B][/SIZE] *

[I][SIZE="1"]*I'm not allowed to post weblinks so you'll have to copy-paste it manually.[/SIZE][/I]
feldon30 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 7, 2010   #13
hasshoes
Tomatovillian™
 
hasshoes's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: MT
Posts: 438
Default

Could also be bacterial pith necrosis, but it's rare so that's not likely.
__________________
Sara
hasshoes is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 8, 2010   #14
hasshoes
Tomatovillian™
 
hasshoes's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: MT
Posts: 438
Default

Tomato plants can fight through bacterial pith necrosis especially during warm, sunny weather, however you can still end up with NASTY tasting tomatoes, some with black inside, others without. Been there, done that. . . hope that isn't your problem. Totally heartbreaking! You can google it to find a picture. Good luck.
__________________
Sara
hasshoes is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 8, 2010   #15
carolyn137
Moderator Emeritus
 
carolyn137's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a
Posts: 21,169
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by hasshoes View Post
Tomato plants can fight through bacterial pith necrosis especially during warm, sunny weather, however you can still end up with NASTY tasting tomatoes, some with black inside, others without. Been there, done that. . . hope that isn't your problem. Totally heartbreaking! You can google it to find a picture. Good luck.
Heather, when you posted above about pith necrosis I was surprised b'c while I've never had that disease I know about it and it affects primarily the pith inside the stems, as I know you know.

So I checked my tomato pathology book and a couple of sites online and yes, it can also cause black areas on primarily green fruits on the exterior, but no mention was made of internal black.

What have I missed here?

And as you also said, with which I agree, that it's a rare disease, which is so very true.
__________________
Carolyn
carolyn137 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 06:24 AM.


★ Tomatoville® is a registered trademark of Commerce Holdings, LLC ★ All Content ©2022 Commerce Holdings, LLC ★