Tomato - Discolouration
Symptoms
Light case of Blossom End Rot (BER). More severely affected plants show a dark, sunken zone on the blossom end of the ripened fruit. This zone is sharply delimited against the fruit.
The fruits ripen prematurely and are not marketable.
Reasons
Calcium deficiency on the fruit, also called Blossom End Rot (BER).
BER develops in fruits that contain less than 0.08% Ca (healthy fruit contains 0.12-0.25 % Ca) .
Water deficiency and therefore limited Ca support to the fruit may also be a cause of BER.
Tomato - Rot
Symptoms
Affected plants show a dark, sunken zone on the blossom end of the ripened fruit. This zone is sharply delimited against the fruit.
The fruits ripen prematurely and are not marketable.
Reasons
Calcium deficiency on the fruit, also called Blossom End Rot (BER).
BER develops in fruits that contain less than 0.08% Ca (healthy fruit contains 0.12-0.25 % Ca) .
Water deficiency and therefore limited Ca support to the fruit may also be a cause of BER.
Calcium deficiency made worse by
- Acidic soils
- Sandy or light soils (leaching)
- Acid peat soils
- Soils rich in sodium
- Soils rich in aluminium
- Drought conditions
- Fruit high in nitrogen or potassium
- Large fruit
Calcium is important for
- Cell division
- Cell elongation
- Proper working of cell membranes
- Permeability of cell membranes
