Things were going well. We returned home from our 4th of July extravaganza to find this (tomato):
and this (banana pepper):
I was very excited.
The banana peppers grow fast and we have eaten two already without falling ill so major score!
Tomatoes are one of my favorite foods so I have been waiting for them to ripen only to discover that all have started rotting on the bottom:
Sad face.
So a quick google search has led me to discover that our plants have blossom end rot which is a common ailment for tomatoes. It can be caused by a number of things like irregular watering (definitely do that), bad drainage (yep), and a low calcium in the soil.
Now, when I planted my tomatoes, I failed to notice the soil I bought was for in ground use only. Oops. Another google search showed that this could cause problems with the moisture in my plants. So I am guessing this may be a factor.
One solution however was to put calcium tablets in the soil. I went to CVS and was scouting the med aisle only to discover that calcium pills are not cheap and I really don't need 1000 pills sitting around. So, I went with another suggestion which we already had and that was Tums. Last night, I broke up two Tums and put them in one of the tomato plants. I went with two because that is what I take so I figured that is what the plant could take as well. If it's good for me and all.
They were fruit Tums so that was another fun twist. I hope the plant likes flavored meds.
I am not sure how this going to work because when I went out just now the red Tums were sitting in the soil still. I hope they dissolve. If not, I will try again.
I only tried this on one plant because not all three are affected and I didn't want to screw them all over if this was a bad idea.
I do think it is strange that I feel I will need to give a medical warning to anyone who eats my bionic tomatoes. Like "Oh we have some extra tomatoes. You aren't allergic to Tums right?"
For final kicks, here is the garden when we started and now:
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