this is the worst year ever for end rot, i grow in RGGS, everything the same as far as soil went, we didn't have rain here for about a month and a half, so i thought ,good! they can get as much water as they need from trough, i usually get blossom rot on the second set of tomatoes every year, then it's over, this year i'm still getting it and season is almost over lol, can't figure this year out, so much for all the stuff i read about it, especally the part about the watering part (too much too little etc.) thought it would be perfect lol, trimmed back all the plants and letting fruit on the plants to rien, and still picked 4 tomatoes today with rot, lol only had 8 plants, i would say about a third of the tomatoes i got were thrown away 2 plants only gave me about 7 tomatoes combined the rest gave me over 150 good tomatoes combined lol---- puzzled in southeast wis. lol---tom

Puzzling indeed!
Did the plants actually get enough water from the trough? How can you tell?
The only time I get BER is from not enough water and especially with certain varieties. Here, I have to water SOTW almost every time I see it or it gets BER. Same with Paul Robeson.
I hope you find a solution. So disappointing to do all the work and have it spoiled this way.

That is very unfortunate. Some varieties are just more prone. There is always one type each year that won't give me tomatoes without BER.

Im curious about the design of your RGGS. Brain storming here.

First, did the plants actually recieve water? That's kinda the "is it plugged in" question.

Second would be, if water was plentiful, were the tomato plants' feet sitting in water? If so, this may have lead to the ends of the roots getting root rot. Then, the plant wouldn't actually recieve water at that point.

Third, was there sufficient nutrients (ie calcium)? If water wasn't fed to the plants from the top adequately, under the assumption it was fine being fed from below, the plant may not have had easy access to the nutrients in the upper and middle parts of the soil.

Things to consider

yes my buckets have holes all around the sides, and the bags were always wet, i did also water more with miricle grow as per all the other years, plus alot of the roots make their way past the mesh cup and are in the water trough.

i also grew paul robesen, and got 35 tomatos from the plant, that one had zero blossom end rot, lol like i said i did everything the same as i have for 4 or 5 years now, same mix etc. lol so i'll see what next year brings me lol

Blossom end rot usually is due to cool weather and the plants then being unable to take up calcium from the soil due to the temperatures. There really is not much that can be done about it. So many people add extra calcium but that won't matter if the plant is unable to use it due to the cool weather. Once the weather warms then usually the condition corrects itself. Some varieties are notorious for having blossom end rot and roma/plums are some of the worst in my experience. One year I did not have one roma fruit that was edible due to blossom end rot. I have not grown them again.

@MissS I have had the same experiences with Roma also, when all others are good. They do seem more suseptible

That's interesting regarding your Roma tomatoes. I've had the reverse experience regarding Roma. Ive been hesitant growing alot of them because I find the taste terrible. However, they always produce more than any other, and even volunteered this year, even when I decided to not include them in my limited garden space. I saved seeds this year because they've changed my mind, simply due to productivity. Maybe they'll make their way into an envelope. Perhaps this version is resistant to BER?

The types I always bet BER on are the round "salad" sized tomatoes, around 4-6oz.

@encore I am in SW Wisconsin too. I think that your problems are weather related. It has been a bad year for tomatoes here. We went from one extreme to the other first cold and then very hot and then back and forth. Cool and you get blossom end rot and then when it's that hot the fruit does not set. Finally in the past couple of weeks we are having some fruit ripening. There is fruit at the bottom of the plants and then a huge gap where nothing set during the heat and now at the top we have some tomatoes again. A tough year here but that is gardening...

yup that was pretty much how it was, 2 plants are no producing at the top and are bigger type tomatoes, lol on the plus side, no white flies or aphids this year! lol could see where aphids hatched but something must of ate them lol, maybe the little praying mantis i found and tossed in the plants, lol lol---tom

Sorry to hear about your experience with the BER. I had a few early ones on some varieties, but that happens most years. I have had bad experiences with specific varieties - the romas I gave up on long ago, and it seems that every plum shaped black/purple variety either split or got BER, and every single fruit on salsa got BER.

San Marzano beats Roma hands down where I live.

I have gotten ber when the clay soil is unimproved and had a low organic matter content. The ber appears when their is either too little or too much moisture. I did a lot of soil improvement the following year, and the ber disappeared. Humates are what make compost and good soil dark in color. One of their many benefits is controlling moisture uptake. I suspect that the humate content of soil has something to do with developing ber.