Blossom End Rot - a major problem of paste/sauce tomatoes in the Willamette Valley and SW Washington
Very few gardeners do not struggle with this problem.
Cliff notes:
Very few gardeners in our region do not struggle with BER on paste/sauce tomatoes. Most gardeners report severe issues on Roma and San Marzano. Often those that are not having this problem are growing other varieties - we gardeners need to branch out to find the more resistant kinds and share that information with each other. And nurseries need to do a better job of seeking out alternate varieties to sell.
The other day I started one of my research projects into what tomato varieties gardeners in our area are having good luck with. I’ve already got my favorites for slicers and cherry tomatoes. But the paste/sauce tomatoes I grow either don’t yield very well (Paisano) or yield really well but are bland (Sunrise Sauce).
My hand started cramping after I kept typing notes about folks experiencing Blossom End Rot (hereinafter referred to as BER) on their paste and some slicing tomatoes.
So I decided to detour - and find out more about BER and just how big of an issue it is here.
What I found was that it is way more common than not for gardeners to experience BER on their paste tomatoes.
If you are unfamiliar with BER, start with this article from OSU. In short, BER is a multi-faceted issue, where developing fruits don’t get the calcium they need. Anything that interferes with calcium uptake can cause the issue.
-Some cultivars are more susceptible than others. Paste types tend to have more issues with BER than slicing and cherry. Adaptive Seeds lists a ton of varieties that are BER resistant. Territorial lists a few. Osborne lists Pozzano.
-OSU reports in one of their publications that there are no highly resistant cultivars. Confusingly, there is a variety that was released way back in 1993 by Jim Baggett called Saucey, which was released as a BER resistant paste variety.
-According to the above link at OSU, BER tends to be more problematic on raised beds, especially corners of raised beds where the soil dries out. Potted plants are problematic too.
-A mulch will help with soil moisture control.
-High nitrogen amounts will cause calcium deficiency, use nitrogen only moderately.
-Compacted soil, where roots cannot grow outwardly in search of calcium, is prone to the problem.
-Provide even moisture levels. Very wet or very dry soils can impact calcium uptake.
-Consider soil testing to see if calcium levels are low in soil.
-Note this dry farmed variety trial discusses wind as an important factor in BER development (windy sites are more likely to dry out).
-If all else fails and you still end up with BER, this OSU article addresses some emergency measures you can take during the current season.
Research: in-ground versus raised bed growing
One aspect caught my eye on this list that rarely gets discussed elsewhere: OSU claims that raised beds and pot growing are more problematic than growing directly in the ground, where the soil tends to dry out and warm up quicker. I personally have had terrible time with high raised beds, so I wanted to find out how much of a contributing factor this has been for other growers.
I polled roughly 20 Facebook groups up and down the valley, and you can access the 90+ accounts of BER in tomatoes here. I asked specifically what other gardeners’ experience has been with BER on paste tomatoes, whether they grow directly in the ground, and what they might have done to solve the problem.
Out of 90 gardeners, only 10 of them have had minimal or no issues at all growing paste tomatoes.
Out of those 10 who have the best of luck, 8 of them report that they do grow theirs directly in the ground. One of them says their result is the opposite: they have BER on tomatoes grown in the ground, but not in their raised beds.
6 gardeners reported that when they had less instances of BER when they changed from pot or raised bed culture to directly in the ground.
However, there are still plenty of occurrences with BER on tomatoes that are grown directly in the ground, with 18 gardeners reporting having seen BER on tomatoes grown directly in the ground.
My conclusion of in-ground versus raised bed planting: growing directly in the ground seems to help - but appears to be only a minimal factor.
Variety Considerations
Of those 10 gardeners who report only minimal problems, they seem to be growing varieties that are *not* prone to the problem (Roma & San Marzano).
Roma: 15 gardeners reported problems on this variety of tomato: some with a lot of problems, others they were able to manage with change in irrigation practices or adding calcium. 2 gardeners report they don’t have issues on this variety.
San Marzano: 19 gardeners reported they have issues ranging from severe to mild with this variety. 3 gardeners report they have no BER issues.
Pomodoro Squisito: was reported by 2 gardeners as problem free, with no reports of failures.
Amish Paste: are grown by a handful of gardeners. Some say they get a little BER with this variety, others report none.
Baylor Paste: was grown by one gardener as BER free, dry-gardened. Adaptive seeds is the supplier for this variety, and indeed it is marketed as a dry-farmed tomato without incidence of BER. This is one I’m going to try in my garden this year.
I personally have grown Sunrise Sauce and Paisano multiple years, with no incidence of BER on either. I do grow directly in the ground, but my property has the bare minimum of full sun so I don’t have as much a drought issue as other gardeners. My watering is by hand on a huge garden, and I would not call it consistent. I’m not happy with the flavor of Sunrise, but the yield is spectacular. Paisano has great flavor, but the yield is poor. No other gardeners reported on these varieties.
Cuore Di Bue: 2 gardeners report that the incidence of BER on this variety is less than others. I personally have grown it as well, did not see BER on this one. By the time it ripened for me the slugs were all over it in the rainy fall. That was only 1 year, I should try it again at some point, and make a point to pick them when they blush and further ripen them indoors.
Midnight Roma was reported by 1 gardener as problem free. No reports otherwise.
Hungarian Heart was reported by 1 gardener as problem free. No reports otherwise.
Astiana and Ox-heart were reported by 1 gardener as nearly problem free compared to Roma & San Marzano.
Other factors:
Watering: 22 gardeners reported that when they changed their watering practices, incidences of BER improved.
Calcium: 21 gardeners reported that when they added some form of calcium: lime, gypsum, tums, eggshells, etc., their problem improved.
Nothing helps: a couple of gardeners have tried changing all their watering and adding calcium and nothing helps improve the problem.
More tomato growing info to follow, especially favorites of cherry & slicers.
What’s your experience been like? Drop me a comment below.
ALL of my San Marzano plants last summer (12-15 plants) had BER, live near Scio. Did not get to make ANY tomato sauce last summer. They were planted in raised beds. Same tomato variety the year before in raised beds produced huge bumper crops and only 2-3% BER. Did absolutely nothing different. Have you considered strange factors such as an increase in overhead chemtrails to be the cause?