Reid Nevins knows tomatoes. The Lowndes County Extension Agent with the Mississippi State University Extension Service is fluent in a vast range of topics in agriculture, natural resources, family and consumer sciences and 4-H youth development. Lately, he’s been keeping an eye on summer’s prolific tomato crop. He offers insight for growers, whether they nurture acres or a 5-gallon container on the patio.

“There are a couple of problems occurring with tomato fruit I have seen recently,” Nevins begins. One is an area of smoky- or tangled-thread looking black areas on the side of the fruit. This could be a symptom of blossom end rot.  
 
“We normally see blossom end rot on the bottom of the fruit around the blossom scar. It can occur anywhere on or even inside the fruit,” he explains. Blossom end rot problems can occur when water is scarce. It also happens when soil remains saturated for long periods.”  
 
Symptoms occur when the growing cells of the tomato fruit don’t receive enough calcium from the roots. This can be caused by both not enough water to keep calcium moving from soil to plant, and by too much water preventing roots from functioning from lack of oxygen. This discolored area could also be a bruise from the fruit bouncing against a stake, a string or other fruit in a strong wind. 
 
The other problem is buckeye rot. This is an area of the tomato fruit that turns brown and watery. It normally has a lighter center and darker outer ring — a symptom of a fungal disease spread by raindrop splash. Large, wind-driven drops in a thunderstorm can cause the soil to splash onto the fruit, particularly when soil is very wet before the rainfall begins. This phytophthora fungus is one of several soil-borne organisms that cause us to stake tomatoes to keep the fruit from contacting the soil.  
 
Whether discoloration is caused by a bruise, blossom end rot or buckeye rot, the tomato (or pepper or squash) should be removed and the unaffected portion used to make fried green tomatoes or chow chow — or the tomato should be tossed into the compost pile. The fruit continues to use sugars and water from the plant, but the dead tissue will never come back to life. 
 

Rx for rot

 
 “Homeowners seeing blossom end rot on tomatoes can take a soil test to determine the pH of the soil,” Nevins says. With the right pH, which is around 7 (7 is neutral on pH scale), the likelihood of blossom end rot will be less common with the right amount of water during drought.  

 
Foliar calcium products work great as well for a quick fix for blossom end rotted tomatoes. Products such as calcium carbonate or calcium nitrate work well applied once a week during periods of heavy tomato load on the plants.  
 

Tomato taste tip 

 

Gardeners who prefer sweet-tasting tomatoes should leave the fruit on the plant as long as possible to accumulate as much sugar as it can. Gardeners who prefer a more acidic-tasting tomato should pick it when it starts to color and allow it to ripen in a cool, dark place. 

 
Many gardeners have an excellent fruit load on their tomatoes now. Make sure plants do not lack water at any time. Each full-sized tomato plant can use up to one and a half gallons per day.  
 
Container growers probably need to water twice a day if the container is less than 5 gallons. 
 

Compost to cannas 
 

Nevins offers observations from elsewhere in the garden. 
 
Do you have a compost pile? If not, now is a good time to start one. Plenty of materials are available including grass clippings and spent vegetable plants from spring gardens. Don’t forget kitchen refuse such as onion skins, potato peels, egg shells and trimmings from the salad. Alternate layers of organic materials with layers of soil. To speed decomposition, turn or stir the compost pile every few weeks, and sprinkle it with water during drought. 
 
“Make sure you know when to harvest your new eggplant variety,” Nevins says. Many of the new cultivars were developed to be harvested at 2 to 4 inches and will become fibrous if allowed to grow much larger. 
 
Golden Triangle pumpkin growers, the time is now. Try to get planting done by July 4 to have Jack O’Lanterns ready for Halloween. 
 
Cannas are a favorite of area gardeners. They seem to thrive without special care.  
 
“But if you prune them, they’ll bloom even more profusely throughout the summer,” the agent recommends. When blossoms fade, use a sharp pair of clippers to remove the old flowering stalk just above the first set of leaves; a new flowering stalk will sprout below the cut. Be careful not to cut off any flowering shoots that may already be coming out below the spent blossoms.