Today's lesson is going to be on Blossom End Rot (BER), a disorder that can affect peppers, eggplant, and, sadly, tomatoes. BER is mainly caused by a shortage of calcium in the soil during a fruit-growing period, and irregular watering. BER is characterized by big brown or black flat, mushy spots on the bottom of the tomato.
The deformity is NOT contagious. It cannot spread from fruit to fruit or plant to plant. You can cut the deformity off of the fruit and eat the rest, though BER makes the fruit susceptible to other infections.
Only two of my tomatoes have BER- they were the first two to grow, before I mulched the garden. Oops. Now you know and can learn from my mistakes.
Grow, baby, grow!
Christine
