The condition you describe is called ‘Blossom End Rot’ and is caused by a calcium deficiency. This deficiency is, in turn, caused by the stress of not enough water often enough.

Here is the ‘fix’:
1. Step up the watering. Always water thoroughly enough that the entire root ball is well soaked and some extra water runs out the drain holes at the bottom. It is very important that tomatoes stay in evenly moist soil. This might be two or three gallons each day if you have large pots. It is almost impossible to over-water tomatoes; they should never wilt or show curling leaves.

2. Spray the plant leaves with a liquid calcium solution such as ‘Rot-Stop’ made by Bonide. Follow label instructions. This will get enough calcium into the plant to minimize future damage in the short term.

3. Add about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of Bone Meal to the soil surface and scratch it in. This will get some calcium into the soil, but will take 3 to 4 weeks to be fully available to the plant.

4. Because you will be flushing some nutrients out of the pot with the extra water, step up your fertilizer program. Feed ‘weakly, weekly’ with a liquid soluble fertilizer that has less Nitrogen than Phosphorous and Potash. Linders ‘Prothrive 10-54-10′ or ‘Fish & Seaweed Emulsion 2-3-1′ or something similar will be effective. Mix this at 1/4th the recommended dose and use it once each week.

You did not say how big your pots are, but as a rule, the bigger the pot the easier it is to keep the tomatoes sufficiently moist. Fifteen inch pots are a good minimum size. Next year add the calcium when you first plant the tomatoes in the pots and follow the above schedule for water and fertilizer as soon as the plants have attained a bit of size. All the above-mentioned products are available at Linder’s.

Happy gardening!
Linders

With most herbs you do not want to let them flower and go to seed. When allowed to flower and go to seed the plant is putting so much energy into producing the flowers and seeds that often the flavor of the herb is weakened.

By removing the flowers as they appear you will extend the life of your plant. Often, a single herb plant can be harvested several times a year if the flowers are pinched off.

A container water garden for your patio or deck is a good option for starting out in water gardening or if you have a space constraint. You can create a water garden in most any type of container. Pick a decorative container you like. You will need to seal the hole in the bottom of the container. A small pump available at Linders, water plants, and some assistance from our pond experts and you will be ready to start your water gardening!