Black Spots On Tomatoes Explained..

This affection happens sometimes to your tomatoes, and it's really frustrating, especially when you've placed lots of hard work and love into your plants only to see these ugly black dots arise 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's a different problem all together.

What starts as a few harmless looking dark spots underneath of your tomatoes, can overnight change into a big rotting fungus that munches the tomatoes from the inside. And will consume the entire tomato if not taken away. Take away the affected tomatoes once you see sign of this disease.

Often, this will not affect to just one tomato on a plant, but lots of them, sometimes even the 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 is why it happens:

The gardening masters declare it is because of low quality/ abnormal soil moisture. And I have to say, since I've done my own experimenting, it looks to be true.

What does this mean?

When the plant is finally turning into a fruit, it is at a critical phase, when the roots get a hit, weird stuff begins to happen to the fruit:

1. If you water your tomatoes not enough, or at times when a big amount of the water evaporates, it could mostly cause blossom end rot.

I believe plants are similiar toddler, they like system, so I stay to a watering system, usually every morning it's the first thing I get done, lots of of water. I do not believe there's such a thing as "over watering" a tomato plant, they LOVE water.

2. If you grow plants in pots, keep a close eye, this is critical…

Get BIG pots. The most seen problem I notice with people growing tomato plants in pots is the pot is just way too little.

A small pot will results in soil water vanishing faster as it heats up during the day, which leads to irregular soil moisture. You might want to water the plant first thing in the morning, as the sun hits the pot at noon, most of the water vaporizes and the plant is thirsty for the rest of the day. Dry soil is a NO-NO!

How big should your pots be? A good rule of thumb is huge enough to fit a basketball in. At least Ten Gallons. And fill it with soil all the way to the top.

Too often tomato growers 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 half way with soil(which eliminates the purpose of the big pot!) The plants grow short and bit by bit this way. Keep in mind, tomatoes are huge plants, and they need big amount soil to grow well.


A final thing about pots…


For the same reason, Don't Use BLACK Pots For Tomatoes!, the dark colour captivates sun and heats up like crazy, the water in your soil will evaporate in the heat… which leads to problems like these.

The best pots are clay, but they are not cheap. The other best choice is white or any other color of plastic. Pots are a big topic which I'll write about in the future.

Above all, the best way to prevent blossom end rot is system and continuous watering, and being vigilant about soil moisture… once the summer hits, water twice or even three times a day, especially on dry and hot days.

And keep in mind, give your tomatoes lots of care!

This is it for my tomato tip,

To find out more tomato tips, please go to http://www.JoyfulTomato.com