This disease happens sometimes to your tomatoes, and it's very discouraging, especially when you haveput months of work and love into your plants only to see these nasty black dots are exposed right under of your tomatoes.
It's called: blossom end rot, or blossom plight. Not to be confused with "year-end rot/harvest rot." That is a different issue altogether.
What begins as a few harmless-looking dark spots right under your tomatoes, can overnight change into a huge rotting fungus that munches the tomatoes from the inside. And will devour the entire tomato if not taken away. Cut out the affected tomatoes immediately you notice signs of this disease.
Sometimes, this will not happen to just 1 tomato on a plant, but lots of them, sometimes even all plant, and it can happen very rapidly. If you have ever had this happen to you, then you will know how frustrating this is going to be!
Here's the reason it happens:
The experts affirm it's because of poor/abnormal soil moisture. And I have to say, since I've done my own analysis, it shows to be correct.
What does this mean?
When the plant is fully turning into a fruit, it's at a critical stage, when all of a sudden the roots get a hit, unexpected stuff begins to happen to the fruit:
1. If you water your tomatoes too little, or at times when a big amount of the water is gone, it could likely results blossom end rot.
I believe plants are similar babies, they love routine, so I stick to a watering routine, usually every morning it's the first thing I do, plenty of water. I do not believe there's such a thing as "overwatering" a tomato plant, they LOVE water.
2. If you grow plants in pots, be aware, this is critical...
Get HUGE pots. The most seen problem I see with people growing tomato plants in pots is the pot is just way too little.
A small pot will result in soil water vanishing quicker as it heats up during the day, which leads to abnormal soil moisture. You may water the plant in the morning, as the sun hits the pot at noon, most of the water vaporizes and the plant is dehydrated for the rest of the day. Dry soil is a NO-NO!
How big should the pots be? A good rule of thumb is huge enough to fit a basketball in. At least 10 Gallons. And fill it with soil all the way to the top.
Too often gardeners put tomatoes in pots you'd put an orchid in or other flower-sized pots, or they put them in huge pots but only fill them up halfway with soil(which defeats the purpose of the huge pot!) The plants grow short and bit by bit this way. Keep in mind, tomatoes are gigantic plants, and they need a huge amount of soil to grow well.
A final thing about pots...
For the same reason, Do Not Use BLACK Pots For Tomatoes!, the color black captivates the sun and heats up like crazy, the water in your soil will evaporate in the heat... which results in problems like these.
The recommended pots are the clay, but they're not cheap. The next best choice is white or any other color of plastic. Pots are a big topic which I will discuss later.
Above all, the best way to prevent blossom end rot is a system and continuous watering, and being vigilant about soil moisture... when the summer hits, water 2 or even 3 times during the day, especially on dry and hot days.
And remember, give your tomatoes lots of love!
That's it for my tomato tips!
Kacper is an avid tomato gardener and natural living enthusiast. Kacper gets his love for gardening from his late grandfather Stanislaw, who brought up his entire family growing some of the tastiest tomatoes in Northern Poland. Today Kacper lives with his family in British Columbia. To find more information about Kacper
and his tomato growing secrets,
What Causes Black Spots on Tomatoes?
The question of what causes black spots on tomatoes is annoying for many gardeners.
. In fact, the fruit of a growing tomato plant can develop more than one kind of black spot, and there are several possible causes.
The most common cause of these black spots is blossom end rot (BER). In this case, the black spot appears on the bottom of the tomato, where the flower once was.
. The spot usually has a sunken appearance and grows steadily in size.
It results in soft tissue that is often infected with fungal spores and generally causes the loss of the fruit on which it appears. Blossom end rot can be attributed to a lack of calcium uptake by the plant. Since calcium is present in adequate amounts in most soils, it is usually soil dryness that causes the problem because it prevents the plant's roots from absorbing
the calcium that is present. Well-watered soil will usually prevent the development of blossom end rot. In soils that are indeed deficient in calcium, lime should be applied around the plant.
What causes black spots on tomatoes that look more like lines with a zipper-like appearance on the side as well as on the bottom of the fruit? This is catfacing, a result of damage to the plant at the beginning of its development. Cold, cloudy, or wet weather, or poor pollination at a blooming time can lead to catfacing. Irregular soil moisture and temperature, too much nitrogen and excessive pruning are other possible causes.
Any fruit that shows signs of catfacing should be removed from the plant.
Now, let's look at what causes black spots on tomatoes at the stem end. If it looks like blossom end rot but appears at the stem end, it is probably botrytis blight, also known as gray mold.
Once gray mold takes hold, it can spread quickly to all parts of the plant. It cannot be cured once it has taken hold. The best we can do is remove affected plants or parts of plants and then spray the remaining healthy-looking plants with a fungicide (labeled for use on edible plants). It is important then to rotate crops for the next season, as the gray mold fungus can survive the winter and remain in the soil.
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