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Question by Ms Verity: What has happened to my tomato plants?
I now live in New Zealand and have made my first attempt at growing tomato plants here. They looked really good (plum tomatoes) but now the fruits are forming the bottom of the tomatoes are going black with ripening. I cut a few open and they are black all the way through. Do they have some kind of tomato disease? How can I prevent this next time?
Thank you
Best answer:
Answer by Texperson
Could be a disease or overwatering.
I’m on the other side of earth over here, but tomatoes don’t like to be overly wet and when we water them, we try not to wet the tomatoes or foliage, just the root area.
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
THAT SNITCH NEEDS HIS JAW BROKEN…
Better safe than sorry, I guess, but still a very poor mistake to make.
They most certainly do. It’s a common tomato disease called blossom end rot. It usually hits tomatoes that have experienced uneven irrigation – i.e.: Too much watering followed by too little or too little watering followed by a lot. Sometimes you just can’t help it if your season has been very rainy. But, in the future, try to establish a regular schedule for watering and stay with it throughout the season.
To correct that problem, you have to provide some agricultural lime to the soil and keep the moisture in the soil at an even level. For a good estimate of how much lime to put in the soil, you should get your soil tested. Dry spells and irregular watering of your plants will contribute to this problem.
Your tomatoes are suffering from blossom end rot. This usually happens only on the first tomato set or two as they ripen. If the soil is too cold when the plants were put out, the plants cannot develop a root system fast enough, and without a good root system they cannot utilize calcium. Lack of calcium causes blossom end rot.
Fortunately, blossom end rot is usually a temporary problem. By the time the next sets of tomatoes begin developing, the soil has warmed up sufficiently and the plant is able to utilize calcium. Your tomatoes should be okay just a bit later in the season.
Remove the affected fruits and discard them. Then your tomato plants can concentrate their energy on growing and ripening more tomatoes.