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Is this BER or bacterial soft rot?

saiias

saiias

Today I discovered that one of my bellpepers has rotton at the bottom. This is not touching ground. Can you please identify if this is BER or bacterial or any other?

Thanks in advance.
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+1 on BER. Seems to be more common with bell peppers from my experience. If you can get some calcium to the plant via soil drench or foliar spray that should help.
 
Edmick said:
+1 on BER. Seems to be more common with bell peppers from my experience. If you can get some calcium to the plant via soil drench or foliar spray that should help.
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Surw. Will work on that right away. Thankfully my ghosts are doing good.

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saiias said:
Surw. Will work on that right away. Thankfully my ghosts are doing good.

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Don't use eggshells or any of those other "at home remedies" either. All the studies I've read say they take too long to break down and have little, if any benefit. Use a liquid calcium product.
 
solid7 said:
Are those planted in the ground?  Has there been a substantial amount of rain, or drought?
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These are planted in self watering containers and I make sure that the reservoir is kept at full.
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The problem with applying things, is that it may not be necessary.  BER can occur even when there is sufficient calcium present, but uptake is temporarily disrupted.  Even if you spray, and it goes away, it was probably going away, anyway.
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It's your call to spend the $, but when I have BER, I usually do nothing, and it self-corrects.  I find that it's always right after heavy rains that it shows up.
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Juanitos just posted a study this week that says that the BER correction window usually occurs sometime after diagnosis and subsequent treatment - leading the grower to believe that the calcium application was the remedy.   That's been my case, but it was the first time that I'd ever really seen it in print.
 
saiias said:
Ed, will this work?

https://m.lowes.com/pd/Bonide-Rot-Stop-32-oz-Tomato-and-Vegetable-Spray/50119563?cm_mmc=SCE_PLA-_-LawnGarden-_-PlantFood-_-50119563:Bonide&CAWELAID=&kpid=50119563&CAGPSPN=pla&store_code=2368&k_clickID=4ff583cb-144f-43bf-9133-fcb7cac27a32&gclid=CjwKCAjwmufZBRBJEiwAPJ3LpqG_8w-YqL7Nc9eh3i_aaCDRm2EbKVuXxOS0Keu9KLIWLfA441TkHBoC_WEQAvD_BwE

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Probably.. I wanna say I've seen another member use that product but I can't remember. For the money though, I prefer a concentrate that I mix myself. Lasts way longer than any of the premixed stuff. I use Botanicare Cal-Mag Plus.
 
Your planter does shed some new light on this...
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I have grown a lot in those, and I will STRONGLY advise you to not apply liquid nutrients directly to the reservoir.  My own finding has been that calcium, in particular, tends to aggregate at the bottom...  where it becomes useless.
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SIPs are really ideally suited to dry ferts.  If you're going to treat with calcium, the best way is to soak it right into the substrate, from the top - not the bottom.
 
What solid7 said could also be true. Most municipal water should have enough calcium in it. Unless you're growing in coco coir or hydro with RO water, you technically should not need it.
 
solid7 said:
Your planter does shed some new light on this...
.
I have grown a lot in those, and I will STRONGLY advise you to not apply liquid nutrients directly to the reservoir.  My own finding has been that calcium, in particular, tends to aggregate at the bottom...  where it becomes useless.
.
SIPs are really ideally suited to dry ferts.  If you're going to treat with calcium, the best way is to soak it right into the substrate, from the top - not the bottom.
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Thanks a lot for 'solid' advice. I have been feeding nutrients from the top for these planters and I will do the same with calcium.

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Also, I have see a youtube video about using antacids for calcium supplement ( powdered and mixed in water ) as they contain calcium carbonate. I am not sure if it would really work  :shocked:  :eh:  :cool:
 
Edmick said:
What solid7 said could also be true. Most municipal water should have enough calcium in it. Unless you're growing in coco coir or hydro with RO water, you technically should not need it.
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 I am using regular potting mix and not coco coir. Also I am using regular muncipal water.
 
saiias said:
Also, I have see a youtube video about using antacids for calcium supplement ( powdered and mixed in water ) as they contain calcium carbonate. I am not sure if it would really work  :shocked:  :eh:  :cool:
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I think the general concensus is that they don't.  Calcium carbonate is not a readily available form of calcium.
 
If you want to go the cheap route with calcium, you really want to use eggshells and vinegar, to make calcium acetate.  VERY few forms of calcium are readily available.  Calcium acetate is one of those readily available forms.  Takes a couple days to make it properly, but super cost effective.
 
You might be able to get usable calcium out of the antacids, too, if you were to use an acid to neutralize them.  But I don't know for sure that would work, I'm no chemist. 
 
saiias said:
 I am using regular potting mix and not coco coir. Also I am using regular muncipal water.
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I was having (what appeared to be) calcium issues a little earlier from what I assumed to be low night time temperatures causing reduced calcium uptake. Whether or not that was really the cause, will remain a mystery, but I did a foliar feeding of calcium and it seemed to do the trick. Keep in mind though that foliar feeding is really just taking out the middle man (aka the root system) and isn't really solving the underlying issue. It's really just buying you some time til you can figure out what the real root of the problem is and correct it appropriately.
 
solid7 said:
 
I think the general concensus is that they don't.  Calcium carbonate is not a readily available form of calcium.
 
If you want to go the cheap route with calcium, you really want to use eggshells and vinegar, to make calcium acetate.  VERY few forms of calcium are readily available.  Calcium acetate is one of those readily available forms.  Takes a couple days to make it properly, but super cost effective.
 
You might be able to get usable calcium out of the antacids, too, if you were to use an acid to neutralize them.  But I don't know for sure that would work, I'm no chemist. 
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Thank you.
 
I am planning to get this. Will post how it worked. 
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Miracle-Gro-Shake-N-Feed-Tomato-Fruits-and-Vegetables-Plus-Calcium-4-lb-Vegetable-Food/3473495
 
Edmick said:
I was having (what appeared to be) calcium issues a little earlier from what I assumed to be low night time temperatures causing reduced calcium uptake. Whether or not that was really the cause, will remain a mystery,
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Low temps will definitely do it, every time...  Sometimes the early bird DOES NOT get the worm.
 
solid7 said:
 
Low temps will definitely do it, every time...  Sometimes the early bird DOES NOT get the worm.
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Was just some odd weather around that time. Beautiful days with highs in the 80s and night temps plummeted down into the 40s.
 
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