Re: All my edible's are dying

Anything_exotic said:
>
>
>
>Evening Ladies and Gent's
>This year I have dicided to get myself a greenhouse and grow some
>tomatoe's etc...
>
>Everything is working great untill the plants started fruiting, I got
>some nice tomatoes comming thru. I have started to know little black
>speckles forming on the bottom of my tomatoes, and then they are
>turning bad and mushy, Can anyone suggest something for me to try?
>
Could be blossom end rot, which is a problem of low calcium availability 
in the fruit.

(/quote from http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/3000/3117.html)

Blossom-end rot is induced when demand for calcium exceeds supply. This 
may result from low calcium levels or high amounts of competitive cations 
in the soil, drought stress, or excessive soil moisture fluctuations which

reduce uptake and movement of calcium into the plant, or rapid, vegetative

growth due to excessive nitrogen fertilization.

Management

   1. Maintain the soil pH around 6.5. Liming will supply calcium and will

increase the ratio of calcium ions to other competitive ions in the soil.

   2. Use nitrate nitrogen as the fertilizer nitrogen source. Ammoniacal 
nitrogen may increase blossom-end rot as excess ammonium ions reduce 
calcium uptake. Avoid over-fertilization as side dressings during early 
fruiting, especially with ammoniacal forms of nitrogen.

   3. Avoid drought stress and wide fluctuations in soil moisture by using

mulches and/or irrigation. Plants generally need about one inch of 
moisture per week from rain or irrigation for proper growth and 
development.

   4. Foliar applications of calcium, which are often advocated, are of
little 
value because of poor absorption and movement to fruit where it is 
needed.

(end quote)

>Also my Pumpin's,marrow's and butternut squash had nice big flowers,
>then the big flower heads are dying and snapping completly off the
>stalks, 

The first thing I would suspect is a lack of pollination.  Do bees have
access to the greenhouse?  If not, then you will have to hand pollinate
the squash.  

They could also be suffering something like blossom end rot, or otherwise
aborting fruit due to nutrient or temperature stress.  How hot does it
get in the greenhouse during the day?

(Hope I have caught all the typos, as I have injured some fingers on
my left hand, and I touch type...)

-- 
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)
   
After enlightenment, the laundry.