# Tums for Tomatoes



## Topmom

I have read you can us Tums (or any anti-acid table) for calcium to prevent blossom end rot in your tomatoes. 
I have seen the tables crushed, mixed with water and applied with a sprayer or watered with the solution or used by just pushing a table into the soil close to to the root. Has anyone ever tried this, and if so, how did it work?


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## k0xxx

I've never used Tums, but I have used powdered milk. I mix the milk double strength and then apply around the base of the plants. I see no reason why a calcium based antacid wouldn't work, though. Keep in mind that not all Blossom End Rot is caused by low calcium, at least from my reading. There seems to be other causes including planting too early, over watering, drought stress, etc.


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## Wellrounded

Any biological calcium will work. If it has been through an animal (bones, milk, egg shells etc) or will breakdown in a digestive system (tums etc) it will do the job. Worms are great at creating 'biological ' minerals, turning them into something easily used by other plants/animals. Plants can also create biological calcium through the mineral dissolving action of their roots, it just takes longer and uses more energy.


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## JayJay

Topmom said:


> I have read you can us Tums (or any anti-acid table) for calcium to prevent blossom end rot in your tomatoes.
> I have seen the tables crushed, mixed with water and applied with a sprayer or watered with the solution or used by just pushing a table into the soil close to to the root. Has anyone ever tried this, and if so, how did it work?


I used powdered milk for calcium and Epsom salts for magnesium last year and my tomatoes were huge, and pretty.
I also had the soil fungus that spread through our community.(three of us I know got plants from the same nursery close by us).
This year, I moved the raised bed, got new soil. My neighbor didn't--anxious to see if his tomatoes get the fungus again.


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## Topmom

JayJay said:


> I used powdered milk for calcium and Epsom salts for magnesium last year and my tomatoes were huge, and pretty.
> I also had the soil fungus that spread through our community.(three of us I know got plants from the same nursery close by us).
> This year, I moved the raised bed, got new soil. My neighbor didn't--anxious to see if his tomatoes get the fungus again.


What ratio did you mix the powered milk with water or did you just sprinkle it into the dirt?


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## tsrwivey

We rinse & save our eggshells throughout the year, crush them, & sprinkle them around the base of each tomato plant. Not only do they give the plant calcium but they also act as a physical barrier from any soft-bellied critter that might like to munch on the plants. Oh, and they're free! :2thumb:


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## JayJay

Topmom said:


> What ratio did you mix the powered milk with water or did you just sprinkle it into the dirt?


I mixed and used every two weeks (after applying in the soil with roots when planting).

1 cup powdered milk; 1 cup Epsom salts. 50/50 ratio--no water.
Rain; and I have read many use in the soil, some use just sprinkle on top.


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## Topmom

Thanks for all the input. Got two rows of tomatoes set out...going to try one with the powdered milk and Epsom salts and the other with tums crushed, mixed with water. I'll keep you posted on the outcome.


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## crabapple

This is what I found:
Unless you have a soil test indicating calcium deficiency, BER is more often due to erratic watering. First make sure you are watering deeply and not often.
Also, BER tends to go away on its own as the season goes on.

You could try bone meal or limestone dust.


What you have is most likely Blossom End Rot, but the cause is more complcated than simply irregular watering, although that could be one of the causes. 
Blossom End Rot is caused by a Calcium deficiency, most often at fruit set. That Ca deficiency could be the result of low soil CaCo3 levels (soil pH problems), lack of sufficient soil moisture so the plant cannot uptake needed nutrients (the irregular watering thing), a nutrient imbalance in the soil that causes a plant to uptake things it does not need instead of what it needs, a sudden growth spurt that gets the fruit started before the heavy calcium can reach that fruit, just not quite enough moisture available to the plant to move this heavy nutrient up the plant to the developing fruit. 
Preventing BER next year starts now with a good, reliable soil test so you know what your soils pH is and what may need to be done to correct that, if necessary, as well as what nutrients may need help. Along with that good, reliable soil test there are these simple soil tests that can help you know your soil better, 
1)	Structure. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. A good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top.
2)	Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up.

3)	Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart.

4)	Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer you soil will smell.

5)	Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy. 
and know what you need to do to make that soil into the good, healthy soil needed to grow strong and healthy plants.

Other various suggestions consist of powdered milk, crushed egg shells tea, bone meal tea, Tums tablets, etc. but prevention is the key. Some recommend removing affected fruit from to reduce stress in the plant.
Is what's written in the BER blurb and I don't agree with it at all.

There are all kinds of stresses that can induce BER and the two most under control of the home grower are ensuring even delivery of water and not overfertilizing, which is a stress.

Other stresses which can induce it are too hot, too cold, too windy, too wet, too dry, and some varieties, such as paste tomatoes are very susceptible.

Milk and all those other things have been mentioned and tried but they simply are not that effective.

I suppose that FAQ should be updated at some point but we just finished doing the three new ones at the bottom of the FAQ's.

So I really can't encourage you to try milk, nor leaf applications of Ca++ of any kind.

Nor applications of Ca++ in any form to the soil b/c plants that have fruits that have BER have plenty of Ca++ in the tissues, so uptake from soil is OK, it's bad distribution and Ca++ just doesn't get to the distil portion of the first fruits.

The only two reasons to apply Ca++ to the soil are if the soil is devoid of Ca++ or the soil is so acidic that it prevents the uptake of Ca++ and those two situations are exceedingly rare.

Hope that helps.

BER is only seen on first fruits and as plants mature they are better able to withstand various stresses and so BER goes away.



Lime if your soil is acid and gypsum if it's alkaline. Both supply all the calcium you will need. Strictly speaking I guess you could say they are not organic but both are mined from the soil and not chemically altered in any way. If you insist on applying an organic form I suppose oyster shell is the best way. Maybe you can talk your chickens into lending you some. As already noted egg shells also supply calcium but it would take an awful lot of them to make much difference.


I use gypsum tablets in 40 pound bag for $10.00.


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