Tomatoes rotting on bottom while on vine
Hey tomato growers, I need some advice. I've had 3 tomatoes start to ripen but before they do, they develop a black circular rot pattern on the bottom. From what I could find, it seems that it is called "bottom rot" and due to a calcium deficiency.
Is this due to too much watering?
Too much fertilizer?
I have about 30 tomatoes (all still firm green) on my plants. What can I do to fix this before they rot also?
Thanks for your help in advance.
emaxxman 
you can try any number of fungicidal soaps - i like the ecosmart one. you can find them at home depot etc.. make sure you spray the whole plant. you have to reapply every 5-7 days and after heavy rain. if this doesn't help you can pick the tomatoes when green and let them ripen in a brown paper bag in a cool dry area. good luck man. i hate to see a tomato go to waste!
realitycheck google it but I don;t think there is anything you can do. It is a pretty common symptom bit I have been lucky for awhile so I forget. Might want to try to pick early and chuck the bad ones.
Check about where you should plant next year, should you move them.
I spread the tom's just in cast this happens. I actually have a bird problem this year, little peckers pecking them...:>)
mistergoogle We have had a few with the rot also
http://www.veggiegardener.com/preventing-blossom-end-rot-in-tomatoes/
jennifer1 @realitycheck - I hope it's not a fungus. Is it safe to eat after the fungus takes hold? I guess it is. I've been using all organic soil and fertilizer for my herbs and veggies. Trying to avoid the chemicals on food products.
@mistergoogle - these plants are in pots. One is actually in a Topsy Turvy (just had to try it.) I've been wanting to create a raised garden bed but too many higher priority projects get in the way.
@jennifer1 - Thanks for the link. That's pretty informative.
I hope I can get this resolved. The plants have grown very well up until now. I see there are more buds blooming so I should have close to 50 or 60 tomatoes just from these few. It's my first year growing them.
emaxx, we had the same problem. One of our plants in is a Topsy Turvy, the other is in a big strawberry pot. We've had one tomato from each that got that rot on the bottom. The rest have turned out okay.
Tracy good link jennifer1. looks like an internal (lack of calcium) problem as opposed to external (fungus). fwiw emaxxman, there are several fungicidal soaps that are naturally derived and approved for organic gardening. hopefully you won't have any need for them.
Last year, I had 2 or 3 rotting like that. The rest were fine. This year, 2 tomatoes growing side by side; one grew normally, the other's entire bottom half turned completely brown and rotted. I removed it. The only problem I have is that it seems to take forever for them to ripen.
PAMMine are taking forever to ripen too. I cut the 3 rotted ones off and chucked them. I also cut 6 of the largest ones (fist sized) and put them in a brown paper bag. I'll see how they ripen. I pick up some bone meal and organic fungicide on Saturday (will be out of town tomorrow). I'll see if I can salvage the rest.
I picked 2 that I thought were red, but they were green yet on the other side. I used to put them in brown bags,or set them on a window sill, but now I just let them ripen on the counter top.
IMO... you live right around the corner from Donaldsons farm.. who better to ask then the local farmer..ask for Greg or any one of the girls there.. they are very helpful and will let you know about the soil and ph...you said you only have planters so it shouldnt be hard to figure out the problem..
scoop Haven’t seen them rot like that yet.. So far I had from 3 planted in ground (In middle June after kids got off school, we bought from Home Dept), 2 baseball sized tomato and 2 lemon sized ones. I’m not sure if it’s good or bad but we’re happy seeing them grow.. We see cucumbers that are few inches long now. We tried onions to but I have no idea when to grab them.. LOL
Razz Tomatoes coming like no tommorow, got some damage from earlier storms so down 30% or so. I crowd mine and this year stake em but they are eight feet and bottom leaves browned early. Didn't happen last year, but did not stake as well.
Did plums and oh boy, if they come they look extra large. But a lot of the others are smaller.
Had some bird issues, never had that before.
Think I have gay beans. Lots of bush, no bean. Sure, I know what you are going to say about bush, but they are pole beans, so either way, must be gay. Herbs went gangbuster but drying did not work. No one from HL helped me....:>(
Peppers, eggplants all good but need to start pepper seedlings earlier; they take soooo long.
Cucs went out of control, made 32 cups refrigerator pickles so far. Ummmm goood, no canning, no brine. Takes minutes to prep. Love em.
Squash good, but forgot the zucinni this year. Oooops, oldtimers disease.
Still waiting on parsnips, broc, and brussells --- think they are teasing me.
Next year we figure out the rabbits, they are eating through the plastic fence so I just slowed em down. Solar electric stops the deer cold but makes it hard to put metal rabbit fence in, was hoping plastic would do it.
Good luck with the tomatoes, you should be able to google it but I thought it was really just one of those things that you have to pick around. And like I said, what I can't remember, but think might be true is that you need to move em next year. But should be findable on the web.
My plants are in EarthBoxes and large pots. The first few ones in the EarthBox always develop the rot, but then the rest are fine. The regular pots with the Miracle Grow soil are fine. Good luck.
Anon. "Think I have gay beans. Lots of bush, no bean." ... That's hilarous!
The green ones that I picked 2 days ago are ripening very nicely. I can't wait to see how they taste. These are more the large sandwich variety but I may make some fresh tomato sauce with them regardless.
I got the plants from Donaldson's and my son's fundraiser in school. I spoke to Greg early on and he did give me some great advice. I plan on stopping by there today to get some bonemeal. We get our herbs from them every year and they are almost effortless.
Growing the herbs was ez; it's the drying that doesn't seem to be working
Gay beans nothing, one year we put the cantalope too close to the zucinni and we either had zucalope or cantalini, not sure which.
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