Stop Blossom End Rot Fast

I thought our garden soil was healthy. The tomato plants all started well in the greenhouse, and it was time to plant them outside. It was going to be a summer with a bumper crop of tomatoes. I was looking forward to canning jars of marinara and crushed tomatoes. Then, the problem began.

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I thought at first we had a pest issue. At first, my tomato plants were flowering beautifully. But the fruit was forming with rot on the ends. It was so annoying to see all these tomato plants display signs of blossom end rot after all my hard work starting the shoots and planting them in quality organic compost.

I used homemade compost. We started compost bins with a DIY pallet compost bin idea. I had been watering my dirt with duck pool water that contained algae growth. Great nutrients were flooding my garden beds. The soil was set- so I thought.

Despite all my efforts, my tomatoes were showing signs of blossom end rot. Something in our soil needed supplementation. Blossom end rot can be a sign of the soil lacking calcium according to my research.

When I diagnosed the issue as blossom end rot, I researched natural ways to combat it right away. We do not put any synthetic or harmful pesticides on our garden plants. The goal is to be organic and biodynamic. I needed a natural calcium supplement for the garden.

We have chickens, so I have oyster shell in bulk. We give it to the chickens in a little dog bowl so they can eat it as they need. It helps the shells of their eggs stay solid and strong.

Calcium, added to the soil, was what the internet suggested as a natural approach to curing the blossom end rot problem. I took a clean yogurt container and scooped out the crushed oyster shell. I sprinkled about 1-2 tablespoons around the outer root area of each tomato plant. Then, I watered the plants to help begin the dissolving process. This helped the oyster shell begin to dissolve and drain down into the soil.

Within 48 hours, all of the blossom end rot stopped. No new fruit showed any signs of it! I sprinkled the oyster shell around each garden bed as a preventative measure. I wanted to be sure all of my garden beds had the calcium the plants needed.

Blossom end rot is a sign that the garden soil is low on calcium, so I added the most natural option as a calcium supplement that I had on hand. If you already keep chickens on your property, oyster shell calcium supplement is probably in your arsenal. You can use it on the garden too.

There is always a natural solution to pests and garden problems, I have found. Even when tomato hornworms showed up later in the spring, we never had to spray anything on our plants to get rid of them. Diatomaceous Earth helped keep pests down and the oyster shell worked great as a calcium supplement to fortify the soil.

Have you encountered blossom end rot? What supplement did you use to help get your garden soil back in balance?

Read more about how we installed our garden beds, and a great tip for starting a garden in your backyard if you do not have acres of land to work with.

Create your own compost at home using a DIY pallet compost bin.