Foliar Feeding and Blossom End Rot in Tomatoes
There are a number of benefits to feeding plants through the leaves, but perhaps the biggest advantage is being able to separate the nutrients that compete with each other.
For example, tomato food contains a lot of potassium (potash) also known as “K” in “NPK”.
Potassium is used to promote flower and fruit growth and is the main mineral element in getting your toms to full size and ripen.
Blossom End Rot, a major problem that produces leathery patches on the underside of tomatoes, is caused by calcium deficiency. Calcium is a nutrient that helps build the fleshy wall of the tomato.
The problem is, when both nutrients, Potassium and Calcium are fed in generous amounts to roots, there is competition between the two minerals that will affect the absorption of calcium and may result in BER.
The Solution
Feed the potassium to the roots, in the tomato food, and calcium to the leaves as a foliar feed.
This way a tomato plant can absorb both nutrients without one blocking the other and Blossom End Rot is no longer a problem!
I used to suffer heavily with BER but since using calcium as a foliar spray, BER is a thing of the past.
There are two products that do the job well. They are Chempak Calcium and Vitalink Foliar and we’ll look at them in more detail next week.
Jack
These Texas Tomato Cages look very nice! Consider the amount of money spent on tomatoes at my grocery store and I’d still save money buying these. If I have the money in the coming weeks, I’m for sure going to order some of these! Thanks for sharing your knowledge once again!! Love your videos!
allan
i bought this vitalink foliar to give it a try and can definately notice the difference on plants iv used it on i kept a couple of gardeners delights and never used it on them and used it on other gardeners delight and the one’s with have started flowering dont know if it is a coincedence but well please
Nick
Thanks for your comment Allan, it’s good to hear from someone with experience of the product.
Regards,
Nick