Tomato Blossom End Rot

It’s August and those of us who garden might be encountering tomato blossom end rot.  Yuk!  What to do?  As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, I like to keep things simple.  So here is what I do to battle this nasty disease.

If this is the case for you, never fear, the plant may still have time to produce some good fruit.  Pick off this bad fruit and toss it.  And then fertilize your plant with a fertilizer that is made for tomatoes.  Why one for tomatoes?  Because it will have just a tad more calcium than a fertilizer made for “all vegetables”.  See this post of mine for what I use.  I keep the fertilizing process very simple in my garden.  First, I’m not a master gardener so keeping it simple works better for me.  And, I have a very busy life with my full time job, caring for my mother and my volunteering gigs so “keeping it simple” is my garden way.  Also I have a fairly small gardening budget so I can’t spent a lot on fertilizer (and some are very expensive).

So why is this blossom end rot occurring?  I believe

Fertilizing: Keep It Simple

It is the beginning of August here in Colorado and we just had a bunch of rain.  Rain is good.  I love rain.  And cucumbers love rain. But tomatoes don’t.  They like having drier soil.  And, with all this rain, the nutrients have leeched out of the soil.  I have 8 tomato plants in my garden.  This morning I found that 1/2 were showing signs of distress.  One had a few fruits with blossom end rot and the other had some leaves that were yellowing on the bottom of the plant.  What to do?  I kept it simple by sprinkling a bit of fertilizer around the base of each tomato plant this morning, then I watered the fertilizer in.  That’s all.  In the past it has helped my ailing tomatoes.

I’m not a master gardener so please,

Yes, I Am A Murderer

Yes, I am a murderer.  And if you want to be one too, then here’s a gardening quick tip to get rid of those stinkers in your garden.

I find it necessary to get rid of a few dirty devils in my garden.  And since I want to be organic sensitive, I use this.  Buy a premixed bottle of this.  Buy a bottle of concentrate.  When your premixed bottle runs out, add more.  Do follow the directions on your bottle.  Mine says to add 3 teaspoons to a 24 oz bottle and fill the rest of it up with water. If you find something chewing on a plant, insecticidal soap has to be used every other day (if not every day) until the problem is over with.  My friend Patricia, who lives on the beautiful Island of Kauai tells me she needs to use it about every day.  If you don’t use organic, those insecticidal products last much longer.  But I’d prefer to stay as organic as possible, so I go for the soap.  You can also make your own soap using household products.  I’ll share that later.

Here’s a picture of what I recently had to use this on.  I killed him.  Yes, I am a murderer.

Be Aware: Not All Lavender Can Be Grown in the Front Range

Only $12.49!!! Soooo tempting. But learn your zone. It won’t come up again here in Colorado

Once in a blue moon I want to get ticked off at gardening centers and big box stores that sell a variety of herbs that won’t come up again next spring. Ok. I’m glad they sell them, but I think they need to do a better job of telling its customers that they are NOT perennials. For example: (more…)