Tomatoes look OK from above but rotting underneath?

[joe the gardner]

Second thread

I am new to gardening this year, so coming up against a lot.

Have tomatoes in growbags at rear of garden and some in pots at front.

They have all been well watered daily and fed once a week.

Toms in pots are still green: Toms in growbags at first glance look like they are ripening. but underneath they are rotting like the photo below.

Any ideas. Is this the dreaded blight I have been hearing about.

P.S. forgot to get pics of foliage which isn't looking to healthy, which I naively put down to the heat we've been having.

This one looks OK from above

...but underneath it looks like this

[Creemteez]

Hi Joe. It looks like blossom end rot to me. This is usually caused by irregular watering, though if you have been watering them daily that's hardly irregular. Have you varied the amounts of water? I have had a few like this to, but the majority are fine. It doesn't look like blight. When that strikes, the whole fruit goes a nasty manky shade and the leaves are generally affected first.
The good news is, If you cut the black bit off, the rest of the tomato should be ok to use!

[muddyfeet]

It isn't just because you might give them different amounts of water each time, but the weather makes a difference too. If it is very sunny then they need more water and if cloudy all day then they don't need so much. It isn't an exact science by any means!

[joe the gardner]

Hello Creemteez's Thanks for reply. Regular watering yes, but you've hit the nail on the head with the amount. That hasn't been consistent. Due to my inexperience, I have at times planted plants or placed growbags too close together. It did become a problem from time to time actually getting access to the little hole in the grobag to get the water in.

Reading around, it seems that toms, peppers and chillis should be grown in pots and growbags?? Is there any reason for this? I imagine plants would be easier to manage if they are straight into the ground? I was preparing a bed for toms, chillis and peppers, but it wasn't ready in time, that's why they all ended up in pots and bags.

[joe the gardner]

Thanks for reply. It was sweltering in our garden at times this year and the plants really did look tired on these hot days - my remedy to get water to them pronto, and lots of it. I am guessing it is possible I could have been overwatering at times like this?

[Potstubsdustbins]

Hi Joe,

Deffo B E R, This is caused by a lack of calcium usually caused by erratic watering which stops the plant taking up the required amount of calcium from the growing medium. In rare case's it can be a lack of calcium in the medium its self but this is unlikely in new growbags.

Many new gardeners like yourself go down the growbag route but in actual fact growbags are really difficult to get the watering right.

Many on the Vine use the Morrison's black flower buckets which are very cheap and much easier to keep correctly watered.

Potty

[leonmc0708]

Yeah as said Blossom end rot - easily done when your busy and use a grow bag.

Like has been said also try them flower pots with some holes in - and consitent watering.

[roitelet]

They are much better in the ground or grown in the ring culture method.

[Aberdeenplotter]

Hi Joe,

Deffo B E R, This is caused by a lack of calcium usually caused by erratic watering which stops the plant taking up the required amount of calcium from the growing medium. In rare case's it can be a lack of calcium in the medium its self but this is unlikely in new growbags.

Many new gardeners like yourself go down the growbag route but in actual fact growbags are really difficult to get the watering right.

Many on the Vine use the Morrison's black flower buckets which are very cheap and much easier to keep correctly watered.

Potty

Spot on Potty. Calcium deficiency can be rectified by watering with calcium nitrate, the only soluble form of calcium but not after the problem manifests itself

[MrsCordial]

I was going to avoid toms altogether this year as I have eaten heroic amounts of green tomato chutney in recent years, but in the end I gave in and have nine plants (several varieties). They're all in the ground and have done amazingly well this year, much to my surprise. I've used grow bags before, but I'd say for me from now on they'll definitely be going in the ground. I used sumps to water them, filling them a couple of times a week, and more often when it was blisteringly hot a few weeks ago. I've got good crops across all the plants and excellent on some, and they're ripening beautifully now. A growbag will never darken my door again!