Blossom rot on tomatoes: treatment in open ground, what to do, how to fight, photo

Treatment of blossom end rot on tomatoes in open ground is carried out in several ways. Before treating the bushes, you need to study the causes of the disease.

What kind of disease is this

Blossom rot is a disease that affects tomatoes in open ground in damp and cool weather. It is not of fungal, viral or infectious origin and is caused solely by physiological reasons. The development of the disease is provoked by an imbalance of calcium in the soil and tissues of tomato bushes. The disease affects only ripening tomatoes; the leaves and stems of the plant remain healthy.

Blossom blossom damages both tomatoes and other crops. Cucumbers, zucchini, and eggplants suffer from the disease.Neighboring crops cannot become infected from each other, but their fruits usually rot at the same time, since the plants react equally to the imbalance of nutrients in the open ground.

Blossom rot affects tomatoes most often in the early stages of fruit formation.

Causes of blossom end rot on tomatoes

The main reason for the development of blossom end rot on tomatoes is the low calcium content in the stems and leaves of the plant. At the same time, the volumes of microelements in open ground are most often quite sufficient. The absorption of nutrients is hindered by:

sudden changes in temperature in open ground;
high salt content in the soil;
irregular watering - the absorption of calcium by plants slows down when waterlogged after severe drought;
too low or excessive soil acidity;
deficiency of manganese, phosphorus and boron in open ground;
excess magnesium and potassium - these substances displace calcium from tissues;
Excessive feeding of tomatoes with nitrogen fertilizers.

Top rot most often affects bushes with damaged roots. For this reason, when growing crops in open ground, loosening and weeding must be done very carefully. Tools should not touch the roots of the plant when processing.

Attention! The development of blossom end rot on tomatoes is provoked by watering with cold water.

Signs of infection

Tomato blossom end rot can be recognized by its characteristic symptoms. The disease develops as follows:

watery brown spots appear on the tops of ripening fruits;
the marks gradually grow and become black in color;
the surface of the spots becomes wrinkled and leathery;
tomatoes begin to rot and die.

Sometimes blossom end rot of tomato fruits develops without noticeable symptoms. At a certain point, ripening tomatoes simply stop growing, quickly turn red, and then fall off on their own. The skin of the fruit may remain intact, but if you cut it with a knife, it will become clear that the tomatoes have rotted from the inside.

How dangerous is the disease?

Although dry rot of tomatoes can manifest itself with fairly mild symptoms, the disease is very dangerous. The disease can almost completely destroy the crop. You should not eat diseased fruits even after treatment, as this can lead to serious poisoning.

If tomatoes have suffered from blossom end rot in open ground, it will also be impossible to collect seeds from them for subsequent planting. The affected plant material simply will not sprout, and if seedlings do appear, they will die very quickly.

Tomatoes affected by blossom end rot cannot be used for harvesting - heat treatment does not eliminate the disease

How to get rid of blossom end rot on tomatoes

There are quite a few methods for combating blossom end rot of tomatoes. During treatment, the affected bushes are sprayed with strengthening and antiseptic agents, and the care of the crop in the open ground is also improved.

Agrotechnical methods

High-quality agricultural technology can prevent blossom end rot of tomatoes in the spring. It is recommended to pay special attention to two activities.

Soil preparation

The risk of developing blossom end rot is reduced when pre-planting soil treatment is carried out. Do it as follows:

Properly dig up the area intended for tomatoes.
Add chalk, fluff lime or dolomite flour to the soil.
Immediately before planting tomatoes in open ground, add wood ash or eggshells to the holes.

This treatment increases the calcium content in the soil and improves its absorption by plants.

Seed preparation

To avoid having to treat blossom end rot for tomatoes, it is also recommended to treat the seeds before planting. The diagram looks like this:

A small amount of potassium permanganate is diluted in 100 ml of water.
Stir the solution until a homogeneous pinkish liquid is obtained.
Soak the seeds for half an hour.
Drain the water, wash and dry the planting material.

The treatment increases the immunity of tomatoes, eliminates possible microorganisms and fungi on the surface of the seeds.

Folk remedies for blossom end rot on tomatoes

You can fight blossom end rot of tomatoes in the early stages using home remedies. If the bushes are seriously damaged, the treatment will not have a strong effect, but at the first symptoms it will have a good effect.

Wood ash

Wood ash helps save tomatoes from blossom end rot. Typically, an infusion is used for treatment, which is prepared as follows:

Pour 100 g of wood ash into an enamel or plastic bucket.
Pour 10 liters of boiling water over the raw materials.
Infuse for several hours under the lid.
Filter the sediment through cheesecloth.

The prepared solution is poured into a spray bottle and used to treat affected bushes. You can use the product twice a week until the condition of tomatoes in open ground improves.

Wood ash for the treatment of blossom end rot can be applied to moist soil at the roots of tomatoes in dry form.

Oak bark

Treating with oak bark gives a good effect in cases of mild blossom end rot. A simple decoction is prepared using the raw materials:

Grind 5 g of bark.
Pour in 1 liter of water.
Bring to a boil and heat for about 15 minutes.
Cool and filter.
Add liquid until the bucket is full.

The resulting solution is used to spray tomatoes. Treatments during treatment in open ground are carried out in cloudy, but warm and dry weather.

Chemical preparations for blossom end rot of tomatoes

Tomatoes can be treated for blossom end rot in case of severe damage using chemical means. Such drugs have a more powerful and faster effect on bushes during treatment than homemade solutions.

Calcium chloride

An inexpensive drug, available for purchase at a pharmacy, quickly eliminates calcium deficiency in open ground and in the tissues of tomato bushes. The treatment is done like this:

Pour 6 liters of water into one ampoule of calcium chloride.
Mix the resulting preparation thoroughly.

The solution is used for foliar treatment of tomatoes in open ground.

Spraying with calcium chloride as part of treatment should be done twice a week until the symptoms of the disease disappear.

Calcium nitrate

If tomatoes are rotting from below, they can be treated with calcium nitrate or calcium nitrate. The drug for treatment is prepared according to the following scheme:

Pour 15 g of powder into a bucket.
Pour in 10 liters of lukewarm water.
Stir thoroughly until the precipitate is completely dissolved.

The finished product is used for root treatment of tomatoes in open ground.

Attention! To make the calcium supplement better absorbed, the tomatoes can be watered with diluted boric acid beforehand.

During the treatment process, about 2 liters of calcium nitrate solution are consumed for each tomato bush.

Biological products

If tomatoes are moderately affected by blossom end rot, biological agents can be used for treatment.They have a fairly mild effect on plants.

Fitosporin

Treatment with blossom end rot of tomatoes with Fitosporin is carried out to strengthen the immunity of the bushes and increase resistance. The treatment solution is prepared as follows:

Pour 15 g of the drug into 1 liter of water.
Stir until completely homogeneous.

The finished product is used for watering tomatoes at the root. During treatment, 200 ml of biological preparation is used per bush.

You can use Fitosporin to soak tomato seeds - the procedure strengthens the endurance of seedlings

Brexil Sa

A preparation based on calcium and boron chelate stimulates biological processes and comprehensively improves the health of tomato bushes. To treat blossom end rot in open ground, make the following remedy:

Stir 20 g of the drug in a bucket of water.
Bring the product to a homogeneous state.
Leave for about an hour.

The treatment agent is sprayed onto the leaves at the stage of ovary formation and twice more before the fruit ripens. The drug provides preventive protection against blossom end rot in open ground, and also helps to avoid re-infection.

During treatment, Brexil Ca improves calcium absorption by tomatoes and strengthens peduncles

Prevention of blossom end rot on tomatoes

Treating blossom end rot on tomatoes can be quite difficult. It is recommended to focus on disease prevention. When growing tomatoes you need:

provide the bushes with competent moderate watering, do not waterlog the soil and prevent it from drying out;
maintain acidity in open ground at 6.5-7 pH;
use only lukewarm, settled water for watering tomatoes;
control the volume of nitrogen fertilizing and give preference to calcium and phosphorus when applying fertilizers;
plant tomatoes in open ground in a timely manner;
carry out weeding and loosening with extreme caution and to a shallow depth;
mulch the soil with sawdust, compost or straw to slow down the evaporation of moisture;
timely treatment of fungal diseases;
fight pests attacking tomato bushes;
treat tomato seeds before planting against infections.

When growing tomatoes in open ground, it is recommended to shade the bushes with a white cloth in hot weather. Excess sun harms the crop and reduces its vigor.

It is also necessary to follow agricultural techniques when planting tomatoes. At 1 m² no more than three bushes are usually placed in open ground. If tomatoes grow too densely, it is necessary to trim the side shoots or simply remove the least developed plants from the soil.

Attention! Before fighting blossom end rot on tomatoes, you need to remove all affected fruits from the bushes. They will no longer be able to recover even with good treatment.

Tomato varieties resistant to blossom end rot

For cultivation in open ground, it is recommended to select tomato varieties that are not susceptible to blossom end rot. The following varieties are popular among summer residents:

Bolshevik F Variety for cultivation in open ground ripens in 110 days. It bears flat-round red fruits with dense pulp. It is drought-resistant and can withstand short-term waterlogging of the soil.
Bolshevik tomatoes weigh up to 200 g
Pharaoh F An early ripening variety produces a harvest 115 days after germination.It produces round tomatoes with a flattened top, the weight of the fruit is about 150 g. The pulp is dense and juicy, sweetish with a slight sourness.
Tomato Pharaoh produces up to 12 kg of fruit per 1 m2
Benito F Determinate low tomato grows 70 cm in open ground. Ripens 113 days after the emergence of seedlings, bears 7-9 tomatoes on each cluster. The fruits are elongated, plum-shaped, up to 70 g in weight, with dense, sweetish pulp. From one plant you can harvest up to 8 kg of crop.
The Benito tomato variety tolerates temperature changes and high humidity well.

When growing disease-resistant varieties, in any case, you need to fertilize tomatoes against blossom end rot and follow agricultural practices. If not cared for, even hardy varieties can suffer from calcium deficiency.

Conclusion

Treatment of blossom end rot on tomatoes in open ground can be associated with certain difficulties. Even timely processing does not allow saving tomatoes already affected by the disease. It is best to prevent the disease prophylactically and prevent the appearance of characteristic symptoms.

Tomato blossom end rot in open ground: treatment, photos, control measures