Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Blasted blossom end rot!
So, I guess this goes to show that we are still learning every step along the way of this adventure we call farming. Just about every pepper we have has a nice little spot on the bottom. some are sunscald, but most are blossom end rot. I'll let you do the research on that one so you can see why we're retarded. The peppers are still edible, but not the kind of thing you take to market. So, no peppers at market tomorrow. Sorry. There will be plenty of cucumbers and more blackberries, which were a hit last week. We will have some sweet corn and our first watermelon ready to go as well. So, come on out and enjoy!
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Bummer about the peppers. Is it that you have to have calcium in the soil? I had some tomatoes once that did that and that's what the plant people told me anyway.
Your absolutely right. It is due to calcium deficiency and is often heightened by irregular watering (flood, dry, flood, dry). I guess most hard water has enough calcium to prevent it. It is most common in tomatoes and peppers, although melons and squash are somewhat at risk too. Anyway, we had a good time at the market. Thanks to all who came out. Hopefully we'll have some peppers next week. As always, if we don't have it, Jeff will, so come out anyway.
So are you adding calcium to your crops now?
Yes, using natural pelletized lime. It has way more calcium than bonemeal. The problem is that we have very alkaline soils and the lime raises the pH even more, so now I have to research what is the best organic to stabilize the pH and bring it down to about 6.7. I did a few other soil tests yesterday and found out that oir soil is extremely lacking in nitrogen, so that is the next project. However, the rain does bring a lot of atmospheric nitrogen into the ground, so I'll retest after the ground starts to dry out.
So, I need to double check to make sure it is approved for use, but I started reading an old fertilizer book that dad had and it said that adding soil sulfur to your soil will actually help to release the natural calcium that is already there and make it more readily available.
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