Market Farming

["Bill Shoemaker" <wshoemak AT inil.com>]

I'm not sure why that would be true unless it's, as you say, stress
influencing the movement of water in the plant, limiting calcium transport
to the fruit. Most people who trellis around here also prune their tomatoes.
If not done carefully, this can also introduce stress, which might lead to
BER symptoms. In my experience, drip irrigation is the best tool for
managing BER. Since I adopted it as a standard practice for tomatoes, I
rarely see BER anymore.

Bill Shoemaker
Sr Research Specialist, Food Crops
Univ of Illinois - St Charles Hort Research Center

>I keep coming across comments that trellising tomatoes also increases the
>threat of blossom end rot (I never noticed this in my own tomatoes). I
>understand blossom end rot is the result of a lack of calcium or low ratios
>of calcium to potassium and nitrogen.  I also know that trellising stresses
>tomatoes slightly.  Would stress, trellising, inhibit moisture uptake by
the
>plant, thereby decreasing calcium availability to plant tissues, thereby
>increasing blossom end rot??  I'm having a hard time making the connection
>between trellis stress and blossom end rot.