Tomatoes get soft spots primarily due to blossom-end rot (at the bottom), anthracnose (sunken spots on ripe fruit), or sunscald (leathery patches). The specific culprit usually depends on where the spot is located and the current weather conditions.
Once tomatoes become too soft, slimy, or start showing white, black, or green patches, fungi have already taken over. And fungi don't slow down, they spread fast, especially in the heat and humidity of open markets. What looks like a harmless “cheap tomato” could do more harm than we expect.
Overwatered tomatoes suffer from root suffocation, leading to stunted growth, yellowing lower foliage, and drooping stems despite damp soil. Left uncorrected, the root system rots and dies, causing fruits to crack and the entire plant to wilt.
Add calcium to tomato soil by mixing in fast-acting supplements like Bone Meal, Gypsum, or finely crushed eggshells before planting. If your tomatoes are already growing, provide an immediate calcium boost by burying plain, crushed antacid tablets near the roots or watering with a calcium-rich fertilizer.
Yes, a diluted hydrogen peroxide spray can help treat and control tomato blight, specifically early blight and various leaf spots, by killing fungal spores through oxidation. It works best as a preventative or early-outbreak treatment to prevent spreading, often mixed at a ratio of 8–12 tablespoons of 3% hydrogen peroxide per gallon of water.
Hydrogen peroxide is better for non-porous surfaces, while vinegar works well on porous materials. Choose based on the type of surface you're treating for effective mold removal.
Baking soda can help manage and prevent tomato blight, but it does not technically cure or "kill" existing blight. It works by creating an alkaline environment on the leaf surface that inhibits fungal spores from taking hold and spreading.
Yes, crushed eggshells will add calcium to your soil. Eggshells are made of almost pure calcium carbonate. However, because this mineral breaks down very slowly, the shells must be finely pulverized to be effective.
Watch your plants and if you see BErot on fruit, time to give it calcium, wilting, not enough water or in need of fertilizer feeding, all depends on how the plant grows in the specific area in your soil.
It depends on how they are planted.
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When the soil and/or roots have sufficiently dried out, fertilize the water-damaged tomatoes with a balanced NPK fertilizer such as 10-10-10. Leaves can be treated with foliar spray but avoid treating foliage with severe wilt. Depending on the amount of damage, the plant should recover in one to two weeks.
While tomatoes are highly nutritious, you should avoid eating them if you have certain medical conditions (like acid reflux or kidney issues), if you are allergic, or if the fruit has gone bad.
Soft rot develops in the inner stem, which becomes brown and slimy, then disintegrates and becomes hollow. The damage may extend several centimeters above and below the site of infection. The affected plants wilt and die. The infected fruit develops a thin outer skin and becomes filled with a slimy mass.
Here are our favorite ways to salvage bruised tomatoes:
Never plant fennel, brassicas (like cabbage, broccoli, and kale), potatoes, or corn near tomatoes. These plants can stunt tomato growth, compete aggressively for nutrients, or spread devastating diseases and pests.
Coffee grounds provide tomato plants with slow-release nitrogen for leafy growth, trace minerals like potassium and magnesium, and beneficial organic matter. They also help improve soil drainage and can slightly deter pests like slugs and snails.
The Amish Paste tomato is considered by some to be slightly more flavoursome than the San Marzano. While it does produce well in small city gardens it is not as sturdy as the San Marzano.
Eggshells consist of 90 per cent calcium. Any plant that loves calcium will thank you if you crumble the eggshells and then spread them over the soil as fertiliser. These include peonies, chrysanthemums, tomatoes, onions, redcurrants, chives, chard and elderberries.
To add calcium to soil fast, apply highly soluble, plant-available supplements like calcium nitrate or gypsum. For immediate, targeted relief (such as fixing blossom-end rot in tomatoes), use a foliar spray by dissolving a crushed calcium tablet or feeding the soil with calcium-rich powdered milk.
Do NOT Compost
The best homemade tomato fertilizer is a nutrient-rich, liquid compost tea. It delivers a gentle, balanced boost of essential macronutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium). To make it, steep a shovelful of aged manure or compost in a 5-gallon bucket of water for 24 hours, strain the liquid, and water your plants.
I fertilize with a natural fertilizer once a week and then on Fridays I sprinkle baking soda on the top of the soil surrounding the plant (making sure not to get any on the plant itself). Although it seems silly, this simple garden trick really works.
To grow bigger tomatoes, maximize the fruit's size by pruning excess branches, restricting the plant to just one or two main stems, and plucking off early blossoms. This diverts the plant's energy into sizing up the remaining tomatoes rather than spreading resources across too many fruits.