This year has brought on a lot of issues for tomato gardeners. Seems like just about everywhere in the world, the tomato season has been a difficult one. Spring temps have been erratic, and summer is not yielding necessary precipitation in many parts of the world. With water restrictions on the rise, this could be more than a challenge. This can lead to far too many hot dry stretches for your tomatoes.
As summer progresses, many of these challenges are not going to simply go away. Blossom End Rot is a common problem for tomatoes when they get too dry. This condition is the result of too little calcium when there is not enough moisture in the soil. This condition will affect the fruits more than anything, and it will appear like a dark soft bottom on the fruit that will get bigger as it gets more ripe. You can avoid this by picking off any fruit showing these symptoms, and spray the remaining foliage with a solution of calcium chloride that you will find in your local garden center. Water as much as you can.
Spider mites are another common problem with tomatoes. The drier your weather, the bigger this problem will be. The unfortunate thing with these pests is that they will explode in populations overnight, and they LOVE the hot dry weathers. These will kill a plant faster than you can say spider mite. You will notice them as small 8 legged critters that like to hide underneath the side of the leaf. They feed through a piercing they make in the leaf and intake fluids from the plant. A registered pesticide unfortunately is the only way that you will be able to control these beasts. Ask your garden center for a tomato safe pesticide, as some pesticides will damage tomato foliage. Another alternative is using strong water streams at the affected area.
Beat the heat this summer and attack your tomato issues before they become a real problem.