In the past few weeks, we have received several reports about blossom end rot on tomatoes and peppers as the crops start to set fruit. Blossom end rot is a physiological disorder (not an infectious disease) that commonly occurs on tomatoes and peppers. Initial symptoms of the physiological disorder include dark green or brown water-soaked leisure occurring on the bottom of the fruit (Figure 1). The lesion then expands into sunken, leathery brown or black spots (Figure 2 and 3). In severe cases, the lesion can expand to half size of the fruit. The symptoms on tomatoes can be observed on fruit from fruit set to fruit the size of golf balls. Fruit on the same cluster tend to show symptoms simultaneously. On peppers, the symptoms are more likely appear during fruit expansion. The affected fruit often change color prematurely. Under moist conditions, opportunistic molds might develop on the affected tissues[Read More…]
