How to get rid of crown rot: proven drugs and folk remedies
The tomato is rightfully considered the king of garden beds. The plant produces tasty, healthy fruits and decorates garden plots. How pleasing to the eye are even, pouring pinkish or bright ripe tomatoes!
But what to do if the tops of the tomatoes, where the ovary was, began to darken? How to save tomatoes from blossom end rot? The answers are in the article.
What is crown rot?
Tomatoes are often susceptible to a disease called blossom end rot. The disease affects plants both in greenhouses and in open ground.
Rot spreads quickly and can destroy an entire crop in a few days.
Fruits with signs of spoilage are not suitable for food or harvesting. Seeds cannot be collected from such tomatoes.
Blossom rot, or “bloom rot”, is a disease of non-infectious nature. A pathological process occurs due to improper care and adverse weather conditions.
Signs of appearance
It is not easy to detect the disease at the initial stage of development. Only upon careful examination can one notice that watery, dark green spots have appeared on the tips of the fruit (where the flower was). Over time, the skin dries out and they acquire a dark brown color, tissue necrosis worsens.
Blossom rot occurs mainly on unripe tomatoes. Further growth of the fruits stops, they turn red earlier than healthy ones and soon fall off.
Fungi and bacteria settle on rotten tissue and penetrate deep into the fruit. The pulp rots and the seeds become infected.
Important! It is because of secondary infection by pathogenic microorganisms that inexperienced gardeners consider blossom end rot to be an infectious disease. But the reasons lie elsewhere.
Reasons for appearance
The physiological basis of blossom end rot is a lack of calcium in tomato tissues.
Calcium is involved in the processing and absorption of nutrients (such as starch and protein), and promotes the absorption of nitrogen.
Calcium ions are part of cell walls. The lack of this element leads to cell deformation and the formation of weak integumentary tissues.
Calcium is inactive in the soil and plant tissues. It is distributed throughout the organs of the bushes exclusively by the flow of transpiration - the physiological evaporation of water.
After being absorbed by the roots, the ions move to the parts that most actively evaporate moisture. In tomatoes these are developed mature leaves. The element is not redistributed throughout the plant and cannot move from large leaves to young ones. Fruits evaporate less or no water at all, so calcium deficiency primarily affects them.
Factors leading to calcium deficiency are varied:
- Insufficient watering during the period of mass formation and pouring of tomatoes provokes stress. Evaporating leaves draw moisture from the ovaries, and with it the necessary microelements.
- Hot weather enhances transpiration and growing tomatoes remain without water and calcium dissolved in it.
- Acidified soil contains few calcium ions in a form accessible to plants.
- In saline soils, the balance of minerals is disturbed. Thus, with an excess of potassium, sodium and magnesium, the absorption of calcium by tomato roots slows down. A lack of boron has a negative effect on the degree of absorption by plant tissues.
- Excess nitrogen in ammonium form, it weakens the ability of ions to penetrate the roots.
Varietal characteristics also influence the development of blossom end rot. Large-fruited or elongated tomatoes, as well as early-ripening varieties, are more often affected by this disease.
Measures to combat the disease
The only way to cure a tomato from blossom end rot is to saturate the plant with calcium.
First of all, you need to remove damaged fruits from the bushes and destroy them outside the site, because dead tissue is an ideal breeding ground for various pests.
To maintain the water-salt balance, set an irrigation regime so that the soil has time to dry out no more than 2-3 cm in depth.
When growing tomatoes indoors, additional ventilation is carried out; the doors of the greenhouses are left open at night.
How to treat tomatoes against blossom end rot in open ground and greenhouses
If there is a lack of calcium in the soil or its inaccessibility due to an imbalance of minerals, emergency foliar feeding with instant calcium fertilizers is used.
Experienced vegetable growers recommend using one of the following remedies:
- "Calcifol 25" — water-soluble powder with a calcium content of 25% in terms of oxide. The element is present in the preparation in the form of acetate, which is easily absorbed by the plant. The fertilizer does not contain nitrates and chlorides, therefore it is non-toxic and does not lead to the growth of green mass. To prepare the solution, take 2-5 g of the drug per 1 liter of water. Spray the leaves 3-5 times from the moment the ovaries appear with an interval of 7-10 days.
- "Brexil Sa" - fertilizer with boron additive, calcium content - 15%, boron - 0.5%. Boron increases the mobility of calcium and promotes mutual digestibility.The elements are bound into organic complexes that are biologically compatible with tomato tissues. Treatments are carried out with a 0.2% solution every 10-15 days after abundant watering.
- "Calcium nitrate" (calcium nitrate). Nitrate nitrogen in the drug helps calcium penetrate into cells. The addition of boric acid enhances the effect of the substance. To obtain the working fluid, take 20 g of calcium nitrate and 10 g of boric acid per 10 liters of water. Treatment of leaves is carried out once every two weeks.
How to get rid of it using traditional methods
Ash solution is a recognized folk remedy for blossom end rot. Wood ash is rich in calcium, phosphorus and other useful elements.
The solution is prepared as follows: the ash from burning wood or plant residues is sifted, two glasses of powder are poured with a liter of boiling water, and left for about 30 minutes until the mixture has cooled. The resulting infusion is mixed with 10 liters of irrigation water.
Pour 1 liter of product under the root of each tomato.
You can also carry out foliar feeding by first adding 50-60 g of grated laundry soap per 10 liters of ash solution.
Disease Prevention
The disease can be prevented by providing tomato bushes with the required amount of available calcium.
Regular abundant watering during mass setting and filling of fruits will help with this. Don't forget about loosening. Loosened soil retains moisture better and promotes the movement of microelements. Mulching beds is no less effective.
Preventative application of calcium fertilizers is fraught with difficulties. It is difficult to predict how much of these fertilizers the same area will need per season. The absorption of calcium depends on the amount of precipitation, crop load, and the addition of organic matter.
Important! Excess calcium is no less harmful than too little. If there is an excess, iron turns into a form inaccessible to plants, the absorption of nitrogen, potassium, and boron deteriorates; alkalization of the soil occurs, which most crops cannot tolerate.
The optimal solution would be foliar feeding with water-soluble forms of calcium. At the end of flowering, after the formation of ovaries, 3-4 treatments are carried out with intervals of 7-10 days. If blossom end rot was observed in the previous season, the number of sprayings is increased to 5-6 per season.
How to spray tomatoes is described in the previous section.
Pre-sowing seed preparation
Treating tomato seeds before planting is not directly related to the prevention of blossom end rot.
However, if the seed is in doubt or purchased from an unreliable place, disinfection is mandatory. Seeds collected from fruits spoiled by the “top” are most likely infected with pathogenic microorganisms.
For etching, use a slightly pink (a few crystals per glass of water) solution of potassium permanganate. The seeds are placed in a gauze bundle and lowered into a glass for 15-20 minutes. The seeds are then removed and dried.
A solution of copper sulfate is used as a disinfectant. 2 g of the drug is diluted in one liter of warm water. The seeds should lie in this solution for 24 hours, after which they are removed and dried.
Tomato varieties resistant to blossom end rot
Breeding has made it possible to create tomatoes that are immune to blossom end rot.
Hybrids are particularly resistant. It is worth paying attention to:
- Bolshevik F1 – early ripening determinate hybrid. The fruits are round, flattened, red, weighing up to 200 g. The taste is excellent.
- Benito F1 - high-yielding mid-season hybrid of standard type. The fruits are medium-sized and plum-shaped. The color is deep red.
- Pharaoh F1 — indeterminate mid-season tomato, tolerates lack of moisture well. The fruits are medium-sized, weighing up to 150 g, and are characterized by keeping quality.
Growing hybrids and varieties that are resistant to diseases will make care easier and will delight you with a rich harvest.
Read also:
Calcium nitrate against blossom end rot.
Why gray rot appears on cucumbers and how to deal with it.
How to deal with blossom end rot of tomatoes in a greenhouse.
Conclusion
Crop losses due to blossom end rot can be catastrophic. The reason for the death of the top of the fruit is a lack of calcium. Factors leading to a deficiency of this element can be poor watering, hot weather, and unbalanced mineral composition of the soil.
The disease first appears as small, watery, dark green spots on the tips of the fruit, which eventually turn into dark brown necrotic areas. Damaged tomatoes are attacked by pathogenic bacteria and fungi. They become unsuitable for food and preparations.
Foliar feeding with calcium fertilizers, timely watering, and choosing disease-resistant varieties will help you grow an excellent tomato crop.