Blossom End Rot

The Ballad Of Blossom End Rot ...

blossom end rot affecting ripe tomatoes in the greenhouse

Oh! Mister Porter, what shall I do?
My tomatoes have got blossom end rot
And I don’t know what to do
Get me Alan Titchmarsh as quickly as you can,
Oh! Mister Porter, what a silly girl I am!

Yes, like many gardeners, I’ve become the victim of my own success with growing tomatoes. I think, because tomato plants are simply so..o..o easy to grow it’s at this time of year that many of us are now suffering from an absolute glut of tomatoes!

tomatoes ripenign in the greenhouse at the allotment

When you see the first flush of red on the plants it’s quite exciting and we eagerly await the chance to pick the first ripe tomatoes ... But now, with so many plum tomatoes, tigerella tomatoes, beef tomatoes, cherry tomatoes … blah, blah, blah ... it becomes quite a trial to think what to do with them all!!

The other unfortunate thing that can occur ... and from which we’re suffering from at the allotment ... is blossom end rot! And, I’ve got to say, I blame this on the fact that there is simply not enough to time to keep all the plants watered every single day.

beautiful red, ripe tomato ready to pick from the greenhouse

Blossom End Rot occurs when the plants lack calcium. Plants suffer from lack of calcium when they are either being given insufficient water for their needs or ... and I believe this is likely to be the case for me ... intermittent watering. As the soil, compost or grow bag, dries out, the roots of the thirsty plants aren’t able to soak up the nutrients they need to produce healthy crops ...

At this point, I can point out to you, that the tomato plants we tested growing in grow pots have not been suffering ... I think because it’s easier to give them a lot of water at once (it doesn’t overflow out of the grow bag) and it’s also easy to feed them at the same time ...

tomato blossom end rot affecting our plum tomatoes growing at the allotment in the poly tunnel

The only good thing about blossom end rot is that it isn’t a disease that spreads from plant to plant ... and with so many ripe tomatoes to choose from, having to through a few to throw away isn’t so bad.

So what I’m plotting now is a more efficient way of watering them next year. Being at the allotment, where I’ve no mains water, does restrict my choices somewhat in regards to automatic watering systems.

My choices seem to be to either:
set up a watering system running from water butts (not a bad idea as it just means I can top up the butts with water rather than water each plant),
try using more grow pots rather than growing directly into grow bags (or using plant pots with their bases cut off ... which is cheaper then using grow pots but just not as efficient!)

or get a man in to do all the watering ... volunteers apply now!
Any other suggestions of how to keep my tomato plants well watered next year would be gratefully received ...