Smart discusses tomato disease with BDN
The Bangor Daily News talked with Alicyn Smart, assistant professor and plant pathologist at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, about blossom end rot. This marker of calcium deficiency is common during hot, dry growing seasons. According to Smart, a lot of Maine gardeners may be losing tomatoes and peppers to blossom end rot this year. She recommended careful and thorough watering of vegetables as the best way to control the disease because it encourages the development of a healthy root system to facilitate calcium uptake.