Blossom End Rot
Every so often your parents are right. They show you up, prove you wrong and leave you remembering the good old days when you really needed their guidance. Like, remember that undercut you really wanted in 1992, and dad put his foot down and said no? Well, thanks dad, I owe you one.
This week, mom proved once again that your parents can still be right.
After picking a few ripe tomatoes for a bococcini salad the other night, I came back in the house and cried bloody murder over my blighted-ass tomatoes. I showed her the damage.
“That’s not blight,” she said.
Long pause.
“What?”
“No, that’s not blight. That’s blossom end rot.”
Blossom end rot, as it turns out, is another little problem you’ll run into with your tomatoes this time of year. It looks like a gross black spot on the bottom of your tomato (not the top). This black spot continues to grow on the fruit as the plant develops and becomes thick and leathery in texture.
Blossom end rot is usually caused by infrequent watering. The true cause of the problem is calcium deficiency, but it shows up on your tomatoes because of infrequent watering (the plant can’t take up enough calcium from the soil without proper water). Who knew that milk does a tomato and a body good?
To prevent this problem, you simply need to water regularly. Don’t do anything silly like add extra calcium to your soil or anything, but watch for excess nitrogen in the soil. Too much nitrogen can sometimes cause it too.
If you get it, it’s no big deal really. Just chop off the affected part and eat the rest. If it makes you sad to see blossom end rot on your tomatoes, just remember that perfection is for pansies and you’re a little more rock n’ roll than that.
For a delicious way to use up your abused tomatoes, check out my version of Martha’s tomato tart recipe.
In the past, I’ve had blight troubles at the same time as blossom end rot so I never distinguished between the two problems. Remember: blight is at the stem and the result of wet plants, blossom end rot is at the bottom and the result of uneven watering.
Thanks mom. You learn something new everyday.
Check out my post on tomato blight for more info.
1 Comment to Blossom End Rot
Ohmygod, I forgot about undercuts! I had one, and I wish someone had stopped me.
Yep, you can only blame yourself for end rot. Better than blight, though.
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