How To Get Rid Of Blossom-End Rot

You have problems with blossom-end rot on your garden plants and want to get proper and yet simple relief for your plants?

Stick with me since I will show you various easy methods on how to get rid of blossom-end rot in the following chapters.

Blossom-End Rot Overview

Short description	Blossom-end rot is caused by a shortage of calcium. As the name already tells, the end of the fruits will start to rot if your plants display this physiological disorder.
Scientific name	Calcium deficiency.
Lifespan	As long as your plants will suffer from a calcium shortage.
What plants are vulnerable?	Tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, melons, squash, zucchini.
Symptoms	The end of your crops will start to rot and will start to smell pretty poorly.
Distribution	Worldwide.
Potential damage	If not treated properly, blossom-end rot can destroy your whole yield since your fruits will no longer be suitable for consumption.
Control options	Chemical & Biological.
Treatment difficulty	Intermediate.

How to prevent & control Blossom-End Rot

Remove crops that are infested with blossom-end rot

The first thing you should do when you see blossom-end rot on your crops is to remove infested crops from your plants.

Those crops would no longer be suitable for consumption anyway.

Hence, it is a good idea to get rid of them so that your plants can use their power to maintain and produce additional healthy fruits.

Avoid excessive watering behavior

Since blossom-end rot can be caused by high levels of moisture in the soil, you should make sure not to water your plants too much since you would just increase the likelihood that your crops will suffer from blossom-end rot.

Thus, make sure to let the soil dry up from time to time so that the roots of your plants will not start to rot.

Moreover, also make sure that water can run off properly and waterlogging will not become an issue as well.

Assure a constant level of moisture in the soil

It is also pretty important to maintain a constant level of moisture in the soil which is neither too much nor too little to provide an optimal environment for your plants to grow well.

Not only will your plants grow much better, but also the risk for blossom-end rot will be much lower if you assure a constant level of moisture until you finally harvest your plants.

Add mulch to the soil

If you don’t know how to achieve an optimal level of moisture in the soil, one simple but yet effective measure is just to add some mulch to the soil since it will balance and maintain moisture and will therefore be a good companion when it comes to keeping away blossom-end rot from your plants.

Add some calcium-rich fertilizer to the soil to get rid of blossom-end rot

Since blossom-end rot is often caused by a shortage of calcium, it is also crucial that you add some calcium-rich fertilizer to the soil.

However, at the same time, make sure that you use organic fertilizer since it is just much better for our environment compared to chemical alternatives.

Eggshells can help to get rid of blossom-end rot as well

If you don’t want to buy fertilizer from the garden center or from an internet vendor, you can also just rely on eggshells that are rich in calcium as well.

However, please note that you will not see positive effects immediately since eggshells need a few months to decay.

Hence, if you need immediate relief for your plants, you should rather rely on fertilizer from the store.

Make sure that the soil is not too rich in nitrogen

While soil that is rich in calcium and phosphor can reduce the risk of blossom-end rot and you should therefore add some fertilizer to the soil, you should still make sure that this fertilizer is not too rich in nitrogen since nitrogen is known to promote the development of blossom-end rot.

Thus, make sure to use fertilizer that is rich in calcium but that is rather low in nitrogen to prevent blossom-end rot as best as possible.

Use well-drained soil to prevent blossom end rot

It is also important that you use well-drained soil so that excess water will be able to run off properly and that the roots of your plants will not start to rot and can still assure decent nutrient supply for your plants which will in turn lower the risk of blossom-end rot.

Keep your garden tidy

Another simple but yet effective measure to reduce the risk of blossom-end rot on your plants is to keep your garden tidy.

Only if you keep your garden tidy, rainwater will be able to run off properly and you can maintain a constant level of moisture in the soil which in turn prevents blossom end rot to develop.

Make sure that it is warm enough outside to improve nutrient uptake

Another cause for blossom-end rot is that it might just be too cold outdoors.

In fact, if it is too cold, plants cannot use nutrients as efficiently compared to a state when it is warmer.

Since blossom end rot is caused by a lack of calcium, you should therefore make sure to grow your plants in warm enough climates to reduce the risk of blossom end rot.

Make sure that the soil is neither too acidic nor too alkaline

Also the acidity level of the soil plays a major role in the development of blossom-end rot.

Hence, to control blossom-end rot, make sure that the soil pH is between 6 and 7 and that you also loosen the soil so that excess water will be able to run off properly.

Protect the roots of your plants as best as possible

Since healthy roots are crucial to assure proper nutrient supply for your plants, you should also make sure not to hurt the roots of your plants.

Otherwise, nutrient shortage and blossom-end rot will become more likely.

Grow plants & varieties that are resistant to blossom-end rot

Last but not least, you can also grow plant species and varieties that are less vulnerable to blossom end rot.

For example, if you want to grow tomatoes, make sure to grow celebrity or big beef tomatoes since they are well known to be more resistant to blossom-end rot than most other varieties.

What’s left to say?

Now that you got several simple ways to get rid of blossom-end rot, you may also want to learn more about gardening in general.

In such a case, you should also have a look at my grower’s guides and my companion plant charts.

About the Author

My name is Andreas and I’m really passionate about our environment and also about growing plants. In fact, I have grown several different plants over many years. I love to see my plants grow and also always try new things to improve my overall conditions at home.

In my blog posts, I want to share my experiences with you so that you can become successful in growing various different plants and improving your home as well, even though you might still be a beginner right now.