help from tomato growers

Sounds like something they call blossom rott....can be caused by too much water or poor drainage and also a ph balance problem in the soil....I'm not an expert on it, but I had a problem with that a few years back also.

fusarium wilt
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/3000/3122.html

are your tomatoes hanging?

trim off all the bottom/yellowing branches and then put down a base of grass clippings. This will help reduce fusarium wilt.

The tomatoes turning black on the bottom is called blossom end rot, and is caused by erratic watering. This can be prevented by watering regularly and not letting the plants go long without water. A garden store or feed store would have something to treat the plants. Bone meal is what I use when needed. As soon as a tomato has a spot on the blossom end , pick it and throw it away. Allowing it to continue growing just takes energy from the plant. I don't know about the curled leaves. Some of mine do that and later die w/o producing.

We're talking about 2 seperate problems.

1. As I said, the curled leaves is most likely fusarium wilt

2. but the black spot on the bottom of the fruit is blossom end rot. I 've been told its main causae is calcium deficiency. Bone marrow is a source of calciulm. I use pulverized drywall bacause it's free.

I too grow tomatoes in large containers and have had trouble with blossom end rot in the past. I control it by mulching the soil surface with grass clippings, shredded newspaper, old leaves, etc.... anything to hold soil moisture in. In the hot summer months, I water daily which is not a problem as long as the soil drains well...i.e. drain holes in the containers.

As has been mentioned, I've tryed adding calcium to the soil but it didn't seem to make any differance. Keeping the soil moist seems to be the key in my neck of the woods.

I don't worry about the curly bottom leaves. Not much you're gonna do about once it has started. Some varieties are more resistant to it then others. I like Better Boy and Celebrity for all around production and wilt resistance.

Mark said:

We're talking about 2 seperate problems.

1. As I said, the curled leaves is most likely fusarium wilt

2. but the black spot on the bottom of the fruit is blossom end rot. I 've been told its main causae is calcium deficiency. Bone marrow is a source of calciulm. I use pulverized drywall bacause it's free.

Click to expand...

Interesting!! Learn something new everyday.

Blossom & rot is to much water and the tomato sitting against the soil. Most of the time. I used to grow 200 to 300 acres of tomatoes and when it rained to much this happend every so often. Not much you can do , other than make sure the tomatoes are not touching the soil

Jules