How to Treat Blossom End Rot on Your Tomatoes

Those dark, sunken spots on the ends of your tomatoes don't come from pests or diseases, and most of the time, it happens through no fault of your own.

It’s called blossom end rot (also known as BER) and it frequently affects tomatoes, as well as peppers, eggplant, summer and winter squash (including zucchini), cucumbers, and melons.

The problem is likely to resolve on its own but there are steps you can take to lessen the chances or prevent blossom end rot from happening to your plants.

Take it easy on the nitrogen.

01.

Use a balanced, all-purpose vegetable fertilizer or tomato fertilizer at planting time to ensure your plant gets what it needs, but don’t overdo it.

02.

Tomatoes have long roots that benefit from long, consistent watering to make sure the moisture soaks in deep to where the mass of the roots are.

Water consistently and mulch well.

03.

Try to avoid deep cultivation of the soil near the plant roots after fruit set. If you need to control weeds, hand pull them or scrape the soil lightly with a hoe to remove them.

Avoid disturbing the plant roots.

04.

If you find that season after season, your fruits are continually afflicted with blossom end rot despite your most valiant efforts to water them, it’s time to take a soil test.

Amend the soil with the appropriate amount and type of fertilizer.

Just be sure to remove any rotting fruit as soon as you see it—you want the plant’s energy to go into growing good, healthy tomatoes!

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