Finally, someone with a video that addresses the actual problem of Blossom and rot. No more Tums, no more egg shells, no more silly concoctions, straight to the heart of the matter.
That's precisely the problem: flooding the soil with calcium supplements usually isn't the answer, and you can actually harm the soil by adding too much. It's almost always a watering issue. Mulch, drip irrigation, mulch, mulch, more mulch, water deeply, and, oh yea, add lots of mulch!
@TheMillennialGardener My flowers open, but then fall off the vine & whole flower w/ tiny tomatoe baby is inside of flower. It's non stop raining around here & humid.
Thanks. I don't want people to think that I have a perfect garden and I'm some expert. *Far from it!* Gardening is iterative, and it's always guess-and-check. Over the years, you get better at it if you're honest and truly assess your problems and look for solutions, but you can't fight the weather. Cold winters, drought, deluge rainfall...you just can't win every time every year. Honesty is always the best policy, most of all honesty with yourself.
If you found this video helpful, please “Like” and share to help increase its reach! Thanks for watching 😊TIMESTAMPS for convenience: 0:00 The Causes Of Blossom End Rot In Tomatoes 2:16 Tip #1: Fertilizing Tomatoes 5:24 Tip #2: Mulching Tomatoes 7:45 Tip #3: Drip Irrigation 9:19 Free Drip Irrigation Garden Hack 10:22 Correcting Existing Blossom End Rot 12:16 When Blossom End Rot Isn't A Problem 13:47 Adventures With Dale
Thank you for the upload. This might sound funny but it worked, I found blossom end rot last year and did an emergency response of dissolved Tums antiacid tablets and it saved the day. Now, back to Dale, he was in my backyard at OBX and did not stop by for pettings and a treat. So, that being said you and the Mrs. are on the hook for my share of treats and lots of pettings. Thanks again.
Had this problem with potted tomatoes every year, a few years ago someone told me to grind up some Tums mix with water and pour into the soil, I've never had end rot since. In fact when I transplant them now I put some ground up Tums in the hole first. I redo this when I see flowers and again during the growing season. Also when fertilizing I always stick my fingers all the way into the soil around the plant before adding anything that way the fertilizer gets deep into the soil, then just cover the holes. Last year I got over 100 tomatoes from 3 pots.
Love your channel extremely useful information! I'm fighting Tomato Blossom end rot on my plants first fruit. Yes i watched you and did what you said watered consistently used everything you suggested. still got some. Tryin something different to hopefully end it mid season... Put 2 banana skins and one medium cucumber in the blinder liquefy them then mix with 2 gallons water and put 8 oz on the plant every day for a week. Will let you know in 2 months if it worked. Banana for potassium cumber for calcium. PS: NW Oregon.
Thank you. I grew a new variety of paste this year and am seeing end rot on it and am devastated. None of my other variety of tomato is showing signs of this so I'm hoping it's like you said at the end and it'll work it's way out.
Ugh, wish I had found this video at beginning of season. We had a horrible drought in June, couldn’t get a regular water routine down, and boy have my tomatoes suffered. Saving this video and subscribing … thanks for the tips
*Thank you* for showing what to do after you already see the BER! I always see info on how to amend the soil (and water) at the beginning of the planting season so it was helpful to see how much of each fertilizer/amendment to use per plant!
I personally recommend getting a food mill and processing the puree into mason jars. That's my favorite way to store excess tomatoes. I'm Italian, so I go through A LOT of tomato puree!
As usual, you nailed it again. I do used bone meal, but I’m exercising this problem. I live in southeast PA and expercing the same weather as you are. I love the milk jug idea and will give it a try. Thanks again for your expertise.
Cool!!! Gonna make the drip jugs!! A perfect solution for my container tomatoes, as well as some other plants. I like all your videos but LOVED this one!! I do spend enough $$ on my garden every year, so I really appreciate when you tell us about something that’s free. I have been making my own bone meal lately. I pressure cook bones I’ve been collecting in the freezer for a couple of hours, and give the pups the broth with all the meat scraps. Then I dehydrate the bones for a few hours, (can do in the oven). Then I grind them up in an old coffee grinder. I’ve made about 3 full $10 bags and the dogs have benefited too. Chicken and pork rib bones work best. I also grind up all my egg shells and put them in my compost. I microwave them to kill any bad bacteria first. Thank you!!!!
@@TheMillennialGardener Seems like a lot of water to drain out in an hour in a potted container. What if you're gone for a week or so? I guess I'll stick to my slow drip set up I have going on and asked about in your last video.
Hey MG, Mark from Charlotte here. Interestingly, about 20 yrs ago I was having blossom end rot issues for a couple years. I read about the use of Epson salt for the magnesium. So I tried it and still use it and have never had blossom end rot again. Maybe a coincidence. Since then I have read magnesium does not prevent blossom and rot and other articles say it does prevent. I’ve also read that magnesium actually helps unblock the calcium locked up in the soil to help calcium absorption. Garden Tone product also include magnesium in their formula. For the last several years I continue to use a little bit of Epson salt as well as some organic fertilizer, blood and bone meals at planting time. This yr my biggest issue is my blooms are not setting well. I’m starting to try blossom set spray, not sure if it will help.
The blossom end rot issue is rarely caused by a lack of calcium in the soil. It is typically caused by soil moisture regulation problems. You get blossom end rot when your soil dries out too much, when you get deluge rainfall and the soil stays saturated for days on end, or when you go from extremely dry conditions to extremely wet conditions in a short time period. It's almost always a transpiration issue with the plant itself. There is too much focus on supplementation for controlling BER. Yes, supplementation is important in the sense that you need to keep your plants well-fed, but the biggest help to preventing BER is a very thick compost and mulch layer and regular drip irrigation.
I started saving all of my eggshells and my neighbor's eggshells. I wash and slowly bake them and then grind them and I use that for calcium in my garden. Last year I'll lost quite a few things due to blossom in rot so this year. I'm trying to stay on top of it and I put a handful of egg shells under each tomato plant and I'm also putting them in my melons.
Thanks! It's true that you need soluble calcium in your soil to prevent BER, but it's rarely the actual cause. It's almost always a watering issue. Lay off the egg shells and crushed up Tums. Add mulch and drip irrigation. All you need is a little bone meal at planting for calcium, but it doesn't make its way into the fruit if your soil is too dry or too sopping wet.
Good advice, especially the latest about calcium deficiency. I get this every year, no matter what I seem to do, especially with Roma varieties. However, calcium solubility depends on the form. Calcium nitrate and calcium chloride are both soluble. Calcium carbonate or phosphate (technically hydroxyapatite from bone) are not. That's why egg shells don't do much of anything because like a piece of chalk the calcium carbonate just doesn't dissolve well. Rain water helps since it's naturally acidic but it's generally not acidic enough to help much. Many of these products list the amount of calcium but not the compound that was used or how much is actually available.
I am trying crushed oyster shells, normally given to chickens to make good eggs shells. I put a cup of them in a bucket of water, let them soak for a while, and add the water to the tomatoes. I also am trying direct addition of oyster shells to planting mix. We will see what works best. A huge 20 pound sack of crushed oyster shells should last a decade!
I’m not a believer in soil tests, because I can take 4 samples from all 4 corners of my yard and get 4 different results. As an engineer, it is astounding how much soil borings can change over a short distance. The thing about calcium supplements is it is fairly low risk to add to your soil, so simply adding routine organic fertilizers is often enough.
@@TheMillennialGardener definitely true. We had a vein that couldn't grow anything in my yard it stretched all the way to the neighbors. He recommended we move our pomegranate to the other side which is adjacent to his rose bushes that do great. The pomegranate was fine until the drought hit.
@@TheMillennialGardener I decided to delete my response to this. Anyone whose opening argument is "As an engineer" tells me right off you don't know what you are talking about. By putting me in my place firstly then making a bogus argument proves to me I should just unfollow you. So many posts you make on Amazon also are condescending as hell.
As always, love your videos! I use crushed eggshells around the base of the plant. You can also put the eggshells into a blender or magic bullet and make a powder to sprinkle at the base of your plant and work into the top inch of soil before watering.
That will definitely prevent calcium deficiency as long as it's done regularly. Egg shells take a long time to decompose, so adding them all throughout the winter is critical. Thanks for watching!
It will help with a calcium deficiency, but the point I was trying to make in this video is that a calcium deficiency is rare, and blossom end rot is almost always caused by uneven soil moisture and poor watering practices. The true cure for blossom end rot is thick, heavy mulching and drip irrigation.
Do you have a video on a garden tour? Would live to see your setup behind you. Looks like you have string lights with plants in containers on top of weed fabric? I have a small area that I need to do something with and I like your setup. Thanks!
I have many garden tours on this channel and my 2nd channel. My most recent tour is on my 2nd channel here: th-cam.com/video/nie0nyQxBus/w-d-xo.html I will have a tomato garden tour next week. I just finished filming it last night.
Thank you, very complete video as always. One question though, I have my tomatoes in a raised bed with drip, I run the drip for 1 hour every other day. Do you think this is excessive? I live in western Washington zone 8 where the summers are dry and temps in the 70's, not too hot, not too cool. Advice?
Oh my goodness 😳 I use many gallon milk jugs to mix my various plant food/fertilizers because I have garden, flowers, tropicals, etc. Never occurred to me to use a a drip irrigation. Brilliant and practical 👏 thank you. 😊 Good job Dale🤗 my dog Bear doesn't mind water, rain, mud... bring out soap then you can't catch him for a bath
In the winter when my garden is bare, I will take leftover bones from meals and boil them to get them clean, and then bury them in the soil. Within a year they are breaking down and you can smash them with just two fingers. Also CalMag is a life saver.
That's fine and healthy for the soil, but the cause of blossom end rot is rarely a lack of calcium. It's almost always soil moisture regulation problems. BER is corrected by mulching and deep-watering, because it isn't a nutrient problem in most cases. It is a transpiration uptake problem.
Great job explaining and getting the facts about the causes right. I will add that BER is most common in my garden in tomatoes that are long compared to their girth. Just like the yellow one you showed us. That shape is common In paste tomatoes. Thank for the informative videos.
I've been growing tomatoes for over 50 years. I have never had blossom end rot, even when we went through 2 years of drought (2022-2023). I have always planted my tomatoes with a scoop of organic fertilizer below the tomato plant. We top dress the garden each fall with composted cattle manure that we produce ourselves from our cattle. This year I did the same. We have been getting about 2 inches of rain each week (drought is over) and this year I started using an organic tomato fertilizer for the first time ever. I apply this twice a month. This is the only change in my growing practices. For the first time EVER I have blossom, on nearly every fruit (85 tomato plants). We had a soil test done last year and all our macro and micro nutrients were appropriate. Can too much water cause blossom end rot? Do you have any suggestions for me. Thank you in advance.
Thanks, love your videos! Straight to the point with excellent advice on gardening; you know what you're talking about! Stay cool, looks like a long, hot summer. 🌱🍅🌱
When planting the tomatoes put in the hole a piece of pvc pipe with a cap on the end going in the hole. Also drill some small/tiny holes in the pvc pipe. Leave a part of the pipe to be above the ground for putting water in the whole so the watering gets direct to the roots. Put your plant food down the pipe.
This also aerates the soil at root depth which is good. I read about this with fruit trees years ago and put a couple of 4” drainage PVC pipes full of holes filled with course gravel on some of my trees. I think they were 2-3’ down with a few inches above ground.
Thank you so much for this informative video. I have a container garden and it seems to be struggling. I am on the south eastern side of South Africa and it is winter now, but I will make notes for when I start planting again in September. (Spring). ❤️🌹🐝
Some of my plants got BER this year. First time ever and I'm pretty sure it's not my fault. Plants from different varieties in same bed, same watering schedule, same nutrients, etc, and only the F1 hybrids from Bonnies suffered. All the other plants (including the ones I started from saved seed) are producing. A lot of people in my area are having tomato plant issues and I suspect we all got 'big box store' plants from the same distributor with bad genetics.
We recently had a pine tree cut down. They shredded the limbs, pine cones and straw and put in a huge pile in the backyard. Can I use the mulch now for top dressing?
Absolutely! That is gold for mulch. I would use that on my fruit trees preferentially, because the chips are probably large grained and can be tough to scrape out of the way on your garden beds, but they can be used on your garden beds, too.
Great video, thanks. One other factor in blossom end rot is alkaline soil, which is a real problem around here. Speaking of "here", it's June 4 and I'm going to plant my garden today! I live outside of Yellowstone Park. I'm just amazed at your garden on May 29.
Good tips as usual. I've been searching for the 8lb bags of Jobe's Organics bone meal since 2020 with no luck. I gave up and switched to ordering 27lb bags of Espoma Bone meal online, although I prefer Jobe's NPK of 2-14-0 with 15% calcium to Espoma's 4-12-0 with 12% calcium.
It's been hard to find, which is a shame since it used to be *everywhere!* Walmart sometimes gets it, but my bag is almost empty. I'm going to have to find more, but it's been tough to find. I tried other brands, and they were lumpy. The Jobe's is far superior.
I got a question for you. I’m using a drip system. I’m using 4 gallon per hour Drippers for my tomatoes. I’m in New York. How many gallons a day do you think tomato should get right now. I am watering. 2 gallons per plant twice a day. What do you think?
I got a huge bag of lawn gypsum Soil Doctorx from Lowes and put a few handfull in each container. I will let you know how it works later this year. Those bags are much cheaper than buying Bone Meal.
Bone meal is much more effective than things like gypsum and lime, because it is a "whole food" that has enormous amounts of nutrients instead of just rock dust. That being said, the point of this video was mainly to explain that calcium deficiency is rarely the cause of blossom end rot. The overwhelming cause of blossom end rot is inadequate soil moisture levels, or wild fluctuations from wet to dry in short periods of time. The real cure in most instances is deep-watering and heavy mulching. If your soil goes through routine moisture fluctuations or is very dry, all the supplementation in the world won't matter, because the plant will fail to uptake the calcium.
@@TheMillennialGardener All my plants are in containers. Calcium supplementing is needed with the potting mix. My lawn soil has plenty of calcium if I planted in raised beds. My potting mix is mostly store mixes and some home mixes with peat and compost. I need to learn the best way to refresh my old container soil for the new year. This year I just dumped it in a wheel barrel and mixed in some new compost or new potting mix. I also throw in organic fertilizer.
For container plants, use wicking system for best form of moisture control and prior to planting your young plants mix Organic-Calcium in your potting soil and you’ll never have to worry about Calcium again.
Question: When adding some bone meal and fertilizer some time after the plants have been put in do you move the mulch aside before adding the nutrients, watering, then re-covering them with the mulch. Or can you just put the nutrients on top of the mulch and watering with a watering can? In this and other situations I’ve always wondered if just putting the fertilizer on top of the mulch then watering heavily is good enough, esp. when you have drip irrigation lines installed?
Awesome video! And love the milk jug idea. The watering issue makes a lot more sense and seems more practical than throwing an egg or a crushed Tums into the planting hole like I’ve seen others recommend 😂What kind of string do you use to string trellis your tomatoes? Looking for a durable option!
Yes, the problem is rarely lack of calcium in the soil. Crushing Tums and eggs usually does nothing except waste Tums, and egg calcium takes so long to break down it won't fix a problem that already exists even if lack of calcium in the soil was the issue. The overwhelming cause of blossom end rot is inadequate soil moisture levels, or wild fluctuations from wet to dry in short periods of time. The real cure in most instances is deep-watering and heavy mulching. If your soil goes through routine moisture fluctuations or is very dry, all the supplementation in the world won't matter, because the plant will fail to uptake the calcium. I have a video on how I string trellis here: th-cam.com/video/8eF2vKisb3c/w-d-xo.html The parts are all linked in my Amazon Storefront in the video description. It is important to use a synthetic twine like nylon. Natural fibers like cotton will shrink and expand when wet and dry and fray/fall apart in sun.
I don't use any specific method. I just experiment with a lot of different things, and I try to fix problem as they pop up. Over the years, I've made a lot of progress just by trial-and-error and try to share what I've learned to save everyone the headache.
Hello all, I’m new to the channel!Thank you thank you thank you for that info. This is just what I needed to know. I have several tomato plants and this is the only one I’m having that problem with and I am trying my best to garden as organic as possible. But they are all growing really slowly but can’t beat the flavor. I am located in Carencro Louisiana, and my garden is located in an old chicken coop (lg area) under and around a lot of oak trees getting approx 6-8 hours of direct sun and shade. It’s definitely a challenge for me so any suggestions are welcome. Have a great day Buds Up 🦋🌻🌞
I don't believe in soil sample tests. The reason why is two-fold: 1. Your problem is almost certainly not a soil issue. Most videos on blossom end rot focus on calcium supplementation, which isn't the cause in 95+% of the issues. It's a soil moisture problem. 2. If I take 4 soil samples from all four corners of my backyard, I'll get 4 different results. Being an engineer for a living, you learn that soil borings and test pits are only good for that exact location and a small radius beyond that exact boring. Unless you're taking hundreds of soil tests for your entire yard, or your garden is very tiny, it doesn't really tell you much.
@@TheMillennialGardener you have valid points. In other scenarios, without a soil sample test, all you are doing is guessing. As a previous wildlife management and DNR technician, a soil sample or the use of USDA soil surveys are valuable pieces of info to have. In most cases, one would take a sample of many close locations to get a generalized idea of what nutrients are in the soil
That is one of the issues listed in the article from Wisconsin Horticulture Extension - too much magnesium. Epsom salt is a magnesium bomb, and it's grossly overused. Unless you have a magnesium or sulfur deficiency, you shouldn't really use it.
Where can I find information about how much water to use in fabric grow bags? I've been very consistent with my watering but I have one brandy boy plant where 10 out of the 12 tomatoes set have BER. I've done everything in this video. Tomato-tone granular and bone meal once a month, a mix of jack's blossom booster/alaska fish fert/tiger bloom/neptunes flowering formula once a week. I just replaced my mulch later from large hardwood chunks to smaller hardwood chips and put down a layer of worm castings and compost. I'm using 5 gal fabric grow bags and happy frog potting soil. We've gotten no rain in weeks and it's been in the late 80's to early 90's. I turn my drippers on for 20 minutes per day around 6-7am. (constant single stream of water, not dripping from the HIRALIY pressure compensated drip heads) I have 2 other brandy boys that have had the same treatment but are in a slightly more shaded spot and I haven't seen any BER on them. I'm just not sure what to do but I'd love to know what the recommended watering amount is for my setup. It's my first year doing any kind of gardening and it's so disheartening losing so many tomatoes.
I'm using the milk jug method in my public garden. It seems the jugs seal the leak closed after a while. Or maybe the water-soluable fertilizers produced algae sealing the holes. Should I replace the jugs? The quart see-through bottles I use for my smaller plants don't have that problem, but they empty is 20 min.
Are you talking about using the jugs as greenhouses? Or using the jugs as free drip irrigation? I assume the latter? Keep in mind that during the summer, plastic expands due to heat, so holes made during spring when it's a lot cooler could "close up" some. Also, some sediment or algal growth could plug them up after a period of time. You may need to clean out the hole or make a new one.
Yes and no. Bone meal is powdered and contains a lot of phosphorous and significant nitrogen. I think bone meal will begin breaking down more quickly than egg shells. Egg shells take a very long time to break down, especially when only crushed. If you were to, say, dry them and powder them in a coffee grinder, I'm sure they would break down more quickly, but that's a considerable amount of work. Egg shells are awesome to add to your soil at all times, but they're something you want to add consistently since they take so long to break down. I wouldn't consider them a solution to fix an existing blossom end rot problem. If you have an existing blossom end rot problem, you'd want to add water soluble fertilizers that contain calcium and apply a fine bone meal problem. If you don't have an existing blossom end rot problem and just want to keep your soil healthy, add crushed egg shells regularly. I never throw away an egg shell. They all go into the garden!
Hey, I know your comment is 3 months old, but no one has responded yet. Maybe I can help. I have been using gallon jugs for a drip system, and you'll have to fill them up once or twice a day depending on the heat. They drain in about 30 minutes to an hour. The holes clog up really easy, so don't use too small of a needle to puncture them. You may find that half a gallon is sufficient enough.
I add crush oyster shell in the bottom of hole when I plant its used for chicken egg production you can get it at tractor supply or any feed store way cheaper than all the other stuff you are using
The point I was trying to make in this video is that very few cases of blossom end rot have anything to do with calcium deficiency. It is almost always a soil moisture issue. All the supplements in the world won’t help. The real cure is heavy mulching and drip irrigation. You only need the most basic amount of calcium, and maybe none at all.
I am in arizona. I usually use a 50% mixture of native soil with 50% compost, manure, etc for my raised beds. Arizona soil is super rich in minerals and needs zero added calcium. I occasionally get blossom end rot and it is all most always due to water stress. The last 5 years or so I have been putting a 3-5" thick layer of mulch and I water every single day like clockwork. So far, I have had no issues this year and very little since I have added the mulch layer. We are regularly over 100 degrees here and the mulch layer is vital in maintaining soil moisture. Even with it I still have to water everyday.
So I've had a problem with my tomatoes growing roots in my mulch layer, making it difficult to pull the mulch back to apply things like bone meal. How big of a problem is this? Can I just dust the bone meal on top of the mulch? Or does it HAVE to be applied to the top of the soil? Also, doesn't the bone meal change the PH level of the soil quite a bit? How much is too much?
Great presentations. Unfortunately, the deer have been cleaning out my strawberries, black rasberries, and blackberries. I might have to put up an 8 foot fence to keep them out. Frustration at the highest.
We have deer that travel across our property every morning & evening. Oddly, they have only eaten one thing in my veg garden - sweet potato vines. But they have eaten every leaf off my rose bush & the day lilies around my mail box. My neighbor, 200 yds away, has never had them eat anything in her many, many flower beds. I find that cheapo deer & bird netting is very effective. When I draped the sweet potato beds in bird netting, the deer only ate the vines up to the netting. And draping the plants around my mail box with netting stopped them completely. I prop the netting up with bamboo stakes or PVC pipes. (I make a tunnel with the pipes & cover it with netting). Apparently, if a deer brushes up against the nearly invisible netting, they will shy away from it.
I understand. We had deer like something terrible when we lived in New Jersey. Having a fenced-in yard is the way to go. Try to fence in whatever you can.
The units with a sensor attached to a garden hose can be very effective against deer, rabbits, raccoons and cats. Very quick and easy to set up. Many to choose from at different price points.
Finally, someone with a video that addresses the actual problem of Blossom and rot. No more Tums, no more egg shells, no more silly concoctions, straight to the heart of the matter.
That's precisely the problem: flooding the soil with calcium supplements usually isn't the answer, and you can actually harm the soil by adding too much. It's almost always a watering issue. Mulch, drip irrigation, mulch, mulch, more mulch, water deeply, and, oh yea, add lots of mulch!
@TheMillennialGardener My flowers open, but then fall off the vine & whole flower w/ tiny tomatoe baby is inside of flower.
It's non stop raining around here & humid.
Love the fact that when things are not working out you don't hide it. You show the viewer, explain with relevant facts and proven corrective actions.
Thanks. I don't want people to think that I have a perfect garden and I'm some expert. *Far from it!* Gardening is iterative, and it's always guess-and-check. Over the years, you get better at it if you're honest and truly assess your problems and look for solutions, but you can't fight the weather. Cold winters, drought, deluge rainfall...you just can't win every time every year. Honesty is always the best policy, most of all honesty with yourself.
Been watching videos on blossom end rot for about 3 hours. This is the best one so far. Great job!
If you found this video helpful, please “Like” and share to help increase its reach! Thanks for watching 😊TIMESTAMPS for convenience:
0:00 The Causes Of Blossom End Rot In Tomatoes
2:16 Tip #1: Fertilizing Tomatoes
5:24 Tip #2: Mulching Tomatoes
7:45 Tip #3: Drip Irrigation
9:19 Free Drip Irrigation Garden Hack
10:22 Correcting Existing Blossom End Rot
12:16 When Blossom End Rot Isn't A Problem
13:47 Adventures With Dale
If you see end rot on a tomato, should you immediately pick affected the fruit off the plant?
Best channel for tomato growing so far. Thank you!
Thank you for the upload. This might sound funny but it worked, I found blossom end rot last year and did an emergency response of dissolved Tums antiacid tablets and it saved the day. Now, back to Dale, he was in my backyard at OBX and did not stop by for pettings and a treat. So, that being said you and the Mrs. are on the hook for my share of treats and lots of pettings. Thanks again.
I use the tums and Epsom in the hole when planting
Then monthly dissolve them and do again
Had this problem with potted tomatoes every year, a few years ago someone told me to grind up some Tums mix with water and pour into the soil, I've never had end rot since. In fact when I transplant them now I put some ground up Tums in the hole first. I redo this when I see flowers and again during the growing season. Also when fertilizing I always stick my fingers all the way into the soil around the plant before adding anything that way the fertilizer gets deep into the soil, then just cover the holes. Last year I got over 100 tomatoes from 3 pots.
I don't know how old you are, but I find it refreshing that the younger crowd has an incredible enthusiasm for growing.
Love your channel extremely useful information! I'm fighting Tomato Blossom end rot on my plants first fruit. Yes i watched you and did what you said watered consistently used everything you suggested. still got some. Tryin something different to hopefully end it mid season... Put 2 banana skins and one medium cucumber in the blinder liquefy them then mix with 2 gallons water and put 8 oz on the plant every day for a week. Will let you know in 2 months if it worked. Banana for potassium cumber for calcium. PS: NW Oregon.
Thank you. I grew a new variety of paste this year and am seeing end rot on it and am devastated. None of my other variety of tomato is showing signs of this so I'm hoping it's like you said at the end and it'll work it's way out.
Your videos are incredibly helpful, concise, clear, and I learn something every time. So glad I found your channel!
I learn so much from you! Thank you. Ordered 4 bags of jobes from your storefront.
Ugh, wish I had found this video at beginning of season. We had a horrible drought in June, couldn’t get a regular water routine down, and boy have my tomatoes suffered. Saving this video and subscribing … thanks for the tips
*Thank you* for showing what to do after you already see the BER! I always see info on how to amend the soil (and water) at the beginning of the planting season so it was helpful to see how much of each fertilizer/amendment to use per plant!
Thank you, I started way to many mators 😝
Thank goodness for dehydrators.
I personally recommend getting a food mill and processing the puree into mason jars. That's my favorite way to store excess tomatoes. I'm Italian, so I go through A LOT of tomato puree!
@@TheMillennialGardener my husbands favorite! Great idea thanks darling💚🌿
As usual, you nailed it again. I do used bone meal, but I’m exercising this problem. I live in southeast PA and expercing the same weather as you are. I love the milk jug idea and will give it a try. Thanks again for your expertise.
Cool!!! Gonna make the drip jugs!! A perfect solution for my container tomatoes, as well as some other plants. I like all your videos but LOVED this one!! I do spend enough $$ on my garden every year, so I really appreciate when you tell us about something that’s free. I have been making my own bone meal lately. I pressure cook bones I’ve been collecting in the freezer for a couple of hours, and give the pups the broth with all the meat scraps. Then I dehydrate the bones for a few hours, (can do in the oven). Then I grind them up in an old coffee grinder. I’ve made about 3 full $10 bags and the dogs have benefited too. Chicken and pork rib bones work best. I also grind up all my egg shells and put them in my compost. I microwave them to kill any bad bacteria first. Thank you!!!!
Really like your idea of repurposing milk/water jugs for slow drip system as a temporary fix until I can get an irrigation system set up!
Thanks! I've used it before in potted plants to keep them moist if I'm going away for the weekend.
@@TheMillennialGardener Seems like a lot of water to drain out in an hour in a potted container. What if you're gone for a week or so? I guess I'll stick to my slow drip set up I have going on and asked about in your last video.
Hey MG, Mark from Charlotte here. Interestingly, about 20 yrs ago I was having blossom end rot issues for a couple years. I read about the use of Epson salt for the magnesium. So I tried it and still use it and have never had blossom end rot again. Maybe a coincidence. Since then I have read magnesium does not prevent blossom and rot and other articles say it does prevent. I’ve also read that magnesium actually helps unblock the calcium locked up in the soil to help calcium absorption. Garden Tone product also include magnesium in their formula. For the last several years I continue to use a little bit of Epson salt as well as some organic fertilizer, blood and bone meals at planting time. This yr my biggest issue is my blooms are not setting well. I’m starting to try blossom set spray, not sure if it will help.
The blossom end rot issue is rarely caused by a lack of calcium in the soil. It is typically caused by soil moisture regulation problems. You get blossom end rot when your soil dries out too much, when you get deluge rainfall and the soil stays saturated for days on end, or when you go from extremely dry conditions to extremely wet conditions in a short time period. It's almost always a transpiration issue with the plant itself. There is too much focus on supplementation for controlling BER. Yes, supplementation is important in the sense that you need to keep your plants well-fed, but the biggest help to preventing BER is a very thick compost and mulch layer and regular drip irrigation.
I started saving all of my eggshells and my neighbor's eggshells. I wash and slowly bake them and then grind them and I use that for calcium in my garden. Last year I'll lost quite a few things due to blossom in rot so this year. I'm trying to stay on top of it and I put a handful of egg shells under each tomato plant and I'm also putting them in my melons.
Very nice video, well done! Strange it popped up because I posted a short this morning about the myth of tums and egg shells to prevent BER!
Thanks! It's true that you need soluble calcium in your soil to prevent BER, but it's rarely the actual cause. It's almost always a watering issue. Lay off the egg shells and crushed up Tums. Add mulch and drip irrigation. All you need is a little bone meal at planting for calcium, but it doesn't make its way into the fruit if your soil is too dry or too sopping wet.
Amazing sharing.. 🌷🌷👍👍
Thank you so much 🙂
Good advice, especially the latest about calcium deficiency. I get this every year, no matter what I seem to do, especially with Roma varieties. However, calcium solubility depends on the form. Calcium nitrate and calcium chloride are both soluble. Calcium carbonate or phosphate (technically hydroxyapatite from bone) are not. That's why egg shells don't do much of anything because like a piece of chalk the calcium carbonate just doesn't dissolve well. Rain water helps since it's naturally acidic but it's generally not acidic enough to help much. Many of these products list the amount of calcium but not the compound that was used or how much is actually available.
Awesome presentation! Sir
Thanks so much for this noble contribution.
I am trying crushed oyster shells, normally given to chickens to make good eggs shells. I put a cup of them in a bucket of water, let them soak for a while, and add the water to the tomatoes. I also am trying direct addition of oyster shells to planting mix. We will see what works best. A huge 20 pound sack of crushed oyster shells should last a decade!
Get a soil test done. I did and the amendments recommended got rid of my end rot.
I’m not a believer in soil tests, because I can take 4 samples from all 4 corners of my yard and get 4 different results. As an engineer, it is astounding how much soil borings can change over a short distance. The thing about calcium supplements is it is fairly low risk to add to your soil, so simply adding routine organic fertilizers is often enough.
@@TheMillennialGardener definitely true. We had a vein that couldn't grow anything in my yard it stretched all the way to the neighbors. He recommended we move our pomegranate to the other side which is adjacent to his rose bushes that do great. The pomegranate was fine until the drought hit.
Is it cheaper just to buy the fertilizers?
@@TheMillennialGardener I decided to delete my response to this. Anyone whose opening argument is "As an engineer" tells me right off you don't know what you are talking about. By putting me in my place firstly then making a bogus argument proves to me I should just unfollow you. So many posts you make on Amazon also are condescending as hell.
Sooooo helpful!!! Thank you!
As always, love your videos! I use crushed eggshells around the base of the plant. You can also put the eggshells into a blender or magic bullet and make a powder to sprinkle at the base of your plant and work into the top inch of soil before watering.
That will definitely prevent calcium deficiency as long as it's done regularly. Egg shells take a long time to decompose, so adding them all throughout the winter is critical. Thanks for watching!
Your information is always so helpful
Thank you! I'm so happy to hear that!
I have chickens and use a lot of egg shells in my soil. Helps with this problem.
It will help with a calcium deficiency, but the point I was trying to make in this video is that a calcium deficiency is rare, and blossom end rot is almost always caused by uneven soil moisture and poor watering practices. The true cure for blossom end rot is thick, heavy mulching and drip irrigation.
Thank you so much for your educative video
Most helpful video I've watched yet on blossom end rot. Thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
Do you have a video on a garden tour? Would live to see your setup behind you. Looks like you have string lights with plants in containers on top of weed fabric? I have a small area that I need to do something with and I like your setup. Thanks!
I have many garden tours on this channel and my 2nd channel. My most recent tour is on my 2nd channel here: th-cam.com/video/nie0nyQxBus/w-d-xo.html
I will have a tomato garden tour next week. I just finished filming it last night.
Dale is a good puppy. Glad to see him overcoming his water phobia.👍♥️
He's doing well. He's really growing to enjoy the beach. We're going to have to take him more often this summer. He really relaxes there.
Thank you so much. You give me confidence to keep trying.
Great information! Thank you. Happy Gardening.
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you, very complete video as always. One question though, I have my tomatoes in a raised bed with drip, I run the drip for 1 hour every other day. Do you think this is excessive? I live in western Washington zone 8 where the summers are dry and temps in the 70's, not too hot, not too cool. Advice?
Oh my goodness 😳 I use many gallon milk jugs to mix my various plant food/fertilizers because I have garden, flowers, tropicals, etc. Never occurred to me to use a a drip irrigation. Brilliant and practical 👏 thank you. 😊
Good job Dale🤗 my dog Bear doesn't mind water, rain, mud... bring out soap then you can't catch him for a bath
You're welcome! It really is convenient using milk jugs as drip irrigation, especially for potted plants and grow bags. Dale says hi! 🐕
Thanks I needed more learning more about tomatoes
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!
In the winter when my garden is bare, I will take leftover bones from meals and boil them to get them clean, and then bury them in the soil. Within a year they are breaking down and you can smash them with just two fingers. Also CalMag is a life saver.
That's fine and healthy for the soil, but the cause of blossom end rot is rarely a lack of calcium. It's almost always soil moisture regulation problems. BER is corrected by mulching and deep-watering, because it isn't a nutrient problem in most cases. It is a transpiration uptake problem.
This video is so helpful and informative. Thank you! Subscribed!
Thanks for subscribing! I appreciate it!
@@TheMillennialGardener You're welcome!
Great job explaining and getting the facts about the causes right. I will add that BER is most common in my garden in tomatoes that are long compared to their girth. Just like the yellow one you showed us. That shape is common In paste tomatoes. Thank for the informative videos.
I've been growing tomatoes for over 50 years. I have never had blossom end rot, even when we went through 2 years of drought (2022-2023). I have always planted my tomatoes with a scoop of organic fertilizer below the tomato plant. We top dress the garden each fall with composted cattle manure that we produce ourselves from our cattle. This year I did the same. We have been getting about 2 inches of rain each week (drought is over) and this year I started using an organic tomato fertilizer for the first time ever. I apply this twice a month. This is the only change in my growing practices. For the first time EVER I have blossom, on nearly every fruit (85 tomato plants). We had a soil test done last year and all our macro and micro nutrients were appropriate. Can too much water cause blossom end rot? Do you have any suggestions for me. Thank you in advance.
Thanks, love your videos! Straight to the point with excellent advice on gardening; you know what you're talking about! Stay cool, looks like a long, hot summer. 🌱🍅🌱
When planting the tomatoes put in the hole a piece of pvc pipe with a cap on the end going in the hole. Also drill some small/tiny holes in the pvc pipe. Leave a part of the pipe to be above the ground for putting water in the whole so the watering gets direct to the roots. Put your plant food down the pipe.
This also aerates the soil at root depth which is good. I read about this with fruit trees years ago and put a couple of 4” drainage PVC pipes full of holes filled with course gravel on some of my trees. I think they were 2-3’ down with a few inches above ground.
Ty so much. You explain things so well
You’re welcome!
great presentation, thanks!
Thank you so much for this informative video. I have a container garden and it seems to be struggling. I am on the south eastern side of South Africa and it is winter now, but I will make notes for when I start planting again in September. (Spring). ❤️🌹🐝
Thanks so much! Can I solve the issue by dissolving Gypsum in water and watering the plants?
Some of my plants got BER this year. First time ever and I'm pretty sure it's not my fault. Plants from different varieties in same bed, same watering schedule, same nutrients, etc, and only the F1 hybrids from Bonnies suffered. All the other plants (including the ones I started from saved seed) are producing. A lot of people in my area are having tomato plant issues and I suspect we all got 'big box store' plants from the same distributor with bad genetics.
Great advice thank you
Thanks for sharing this video great idea 💡✨ I never thought about doing that thanks again.
You're welcome!
We recently had a pine tree cut down. They shredded the limbs, pine cones and straw and put in a huge pile in the backyard. Can I use the mulch now for top dressing?
Absolutely! That is gold for mulch. I would use that on my fruit trees preferentially, because the chips are probably large grained and can be tough to scrape out of the way on your garden beds, but they can be used on your garden beds, too.
Great video, thanks. One other factor in blossom end rot is alkaline soil, which is a real problem around here. Speaking of "here", it's June 4 and I'm going to plant my garden today! I live outside of Yellowstone Park. I'm just amazed at your garden on May 29.
Great presentation
Thank you!
Good tips as usual. I've been searching for the 8lb bags of Jobe's Organics bone meal since 2020 with no luck. I gave up and switched to ordering 27lb bags of Espoma Bone meal online, although I prefer Jobe's NPK of 2-14-0 with 15% calcium to Espoma's 4-12-0 with 12% calcium.
It's been hard to find, which is a shame since it used to be *everywhere!* Walmart sometimes gets it, but my bag is almost empty. I'm going to have to find more, but it's been tough to find. I tried other brands, and they were lumpy. The Jobe's is far superior.
Great, helpful information! Thank you MG! 😊👍
You’re welcome! Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the piece of mind
I got a question for you. I’m using a drip system. I’m using 4 gallon per hour Drippers for my tomatoes. I’m in New York. How many gallons a day do you think tomato should get right now. I am watering. 2 gallons per plant twice a day. What do you think?
I got a huge bag of lawn gypsum Soil Doctorx from Lowes and put a few handfull in each container. I will let you know how it works later this year. Those bags are much cheaper than buying Bone Meal.
Bone meal is much more effective than things like gypsum and lime, because it is a "whole food" that has enormous amounts of nutrients instead of just rock dust. That being said, the point of this video was mainly to explain that calcium deficiency is rarely the cause of blossom end rot. The overwhelming cause of blossom end rot is inadequate soil moisture levels, or wild fluctuations from wet to dry in short periods of time. The real cure in most instances is deep-watering and heavy mulching. If your soil goes through routine moisture fluctuations or is very dry, all the supplementation in the world won't matter, because the plant will fail to uptake the calcium.
@@TheMillennialGardener All my plants are in containers. Calcium supplementing is needed with the potting mix. My lawn soil has plenty of calcium if I planted in raised beds. My potting mix is mostly store mixes and some home mixes with peat and compost. I need to learn the best way to refresh my old container soil for the new year. This year I just dumped it in a wheel barrel and mixed in some new compost or new potting mix. I also throw in organic fertilizer.
Thank you for your time and wonderful tips.
You’re welcome! 😊
Great info. Thank you!
You’re welcome!
For container plants, use wicking system for best form of moisture control and prior to planting your young plants mix Organic-Calcium in your potting soil and you’ll never have to worry about Calcium again.
Great info
Thank you!
Great ideas!
Glad you like them! Thanks for watching!
Question: When adding some bone meal and fertilizer some time after the plants have been put in do you move the mulch aside before adding the nutrients, watering, then re-covering them with the mulch. Or can you just put the nutrients on top of the mulch and watering with a watering can? In this and other situations I’ve always wondered if just putting the fertilizer on top of the mulch then watering heavily is good enough, esp. when you have drip irrigation lines installed?
thanks am your new subscriberfrom the philippines
Thanks so much for subscribing! I appreciate it!
Looks like you have a beautiful garden. Do you remove the fruit that has the blossom end rot?
Awesome video! And love the milk jug idea. The watering issue makes a lot more sense and seems more practical than throwing an egg or a crushed Tums into the planting hole like I’ve seen others recommend 😂What kind of string do you use to string trellis your tomatoes? Looking for a durable option!
Yes, the problem is rarely lack of calcium in the soil. Crushing Tums and eggs usually does nothing except waste Tums, and egg calcium takes so long to break down it won't fix a problem that already exists even if lack of calcium in the soil was the issue. The overwhelming cause of blossom end rot is inadequate soil moisture levels, or wild fluctuations from wet to dry in short periods of time. The real cure in most instances is deep-watering and heavy mulching. If your soil goes through routine moisture fluctuations or is very dry, all the supplementation in the world won't matter, because the plant will fail to uptake the calcium.
I have a video on how I string trellis here: th-cam.com/video/8eF2vKisb3c/w-d-xo.html
The parts are all linked in my Amazon Storefront in the video description. It is important to use a synthetic twine like nylon. Natural fibers like cotton will shrink and expand when wet and dry and fray/fall apart in sun.
Thanks for grate video
Glad you liked it!
Great video on BER my questions is would you advise using tomatoes collars for growing tomatoes? Thank You
Amended soil beds with chicken manure, worm castings AND some rabbit manure. Looks like you use Mittleider method? Us too.. SE Idaho area.
I don't use any specific method. I just experiment with a lot of different things, and I try to fix problem as they pop up. Over the years, I've made a lot of progress just by trial-and-error and try to share what I've learned to save everyone the headache.
Another great video!
Thank you!
Hello all, I’m new to the channel!Thank you thank you thank you for that info. This is just what I needed to know. I have several tomato plants and this is the only one I’m having that problem with and I am trying my best to garden as organic as possible. But they are all growing really slowly but can’t beat the flavor. I am located in Carencro Louisiana, and my garden is located in an old chicken coop (lg area) under and around a lot of oak trees getting approx 6-8 hours of direct sun and shade. It’s definitely a challenge for me so any suggestions are welcome.
Have a great day Buds Up 🦋🌻🌞
A very helpful video MG! Although I learned a good bit of info, I was really hoping you wouldve mention taking a soil sample test!
I don't believe in soil sample tests. The reason why is two-fold:
1. Your problem is almost certainly not a soil issue. Most videos on blossom end rot focus on calcium supplementation, which isn't the cause in 95+% of the issues. It's a soil moisture problem.
2. If I take 4 soil samples from all four corners of my backyard, I'll get 4 different results.
Being an engineer for a living, you learn that soil borings and test pits are only good for that exact location and a small radius beyond that exact boring. Unless you're taking hundreds of soil tests for your entire yard, or your garden is very tiny, it doesn't really tell you much.
@@TheMillennialGardener you have valid points. In other scenarios, without a soil sample test, all you are doing is guessing. As a previous wildlife management and DNR technician, a soil sample or the use of USDA soil surveys are valuable pieces of info to have. In most cases, one would take a sample of many close locations to get a generalized idea of what nutrients are in the soil
Very nice information
Thanks!
Lifesaver. New gardener here. Containers
So I'm in the Burgaw area and was wondering how often you water the garden area in are areas?
Very well made
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!
I see so many people saying use Tums or Epsom salt. Epsom salt can actually cause blossom end rot by tying up calcium uptake.
That is one of the issues listed in the article from Wisconsin Horticulture Extension - too much magnesium. Epsom salt is a magnesium bomb, and it's grossly overused. Unless you have a magnesium or sulfur deficiency, you shouldn't really use it.
Love that we are in the same area, been Binge watching all your videos! Keep up the great work and thank you!
You're welcome! Thanks so much for watching!
Where can I find information about how much water to use in fabric grow bags? I've been very consistent with my watering but I have one brandy boy plant where 10 out of the 12 tomatoes set have BER. I've done everything in this video. Tomato-tone granular and bone meal once a month, a mix of jack's blossom booster/alaska fish fert/tiger bloom/neptunes flowering formula once a week. I just replaced my mulch later from large hardwood chunks to smaller hardwood chips and put down a layer of worm castings and compost. I'm using 5 gal fabric grow bags and happy frog potting soil. We've gotten no rain in weeks and it's been in the late 80's to early 90's. I turn my drippers on for 20 minutes per day around 6-7am. (constant single stream of water, not dripping from the HIRALIY pressure compensated drip heads) I have 2 other brandy boys that have had the same treatment but are in a slightly more shaded spot and I haven't seen any BER on them. I'm just not sure what to do but I'd love to know what the recommended watering amount is for my setup. It's my first year doing any kind of gardening and it's so disheartening losing so many tomatoes.
I'm using the milk jug method in my public garden. It seems the jugs seal the leak closed after a while. Or maybe the water-soluable fertilizers produced algae sealing the holes. Should I replace the jugs? The quart see-through bottles I use for my smaller plants don't have that problem, but they empty is 20 min.
Are you talking about using the jugs as greenhouses? Or using the jugs as free drip irrigation? I assume the latter? Keep in mind that during the summer, plastic expands due to heat, so holes made during spring when it's a lot cooler could "close up" some. Also, some sediment or algal growth could plug them up after a period of time. You may need to clean out the hole or make a new one.
I knew Dale would love the water. Next time he'll be swimming...LOL!
Now that would be something! I don't think Dale will ever be a water dog, but he's making pawgress!
@@TheMillennialGardener LOL!
If I don't have any bone meal, I'll use crushed egg shell powder instead. Does it function in the same way?
Yes and no. Bone meal is powdered and contains a lot of phosphorous and significant nitrogen. I think bone meal will begin breaking down more quickly than egg shells. Egg shells take a very long time to break down, especially when only crushed. If you were to, say, dry them and powder them in a coffee grinder, I'm sure they would break down more quickly, but that's a considerable amount of work.
Egg shells are awesome to add to your soil at all times, but they're something you want to add consistently since they take so long to break down. I wouldn't consider them a solution to fix an existing blossom end rot problem. If you have an existing blossom end rot problem, you'd want to add water soluble fertilizers that contain calcium and apply a fine bone meal problem. If you don't have an existing blossom end rot problem and just want to keep your soil healthy, add crushed egg shells regularly. I never throw away an egg shell. They all go into the garden!
If I use the old milk jugs as a drip system how many times a week do I use a jug per plant? Thanks
Hey, I know your comment is 3 months old, but no one has responded yet. Maybe I can help.
I have been using gallon jugs for a drip system, and you'll have to fill them up once or twice a day depending on the heat. They drain in about 30 minutes to an hour. The holes clog up really easy, so don't use too small of a needle to puncture them. You may find that half a gallon is sufficient enough.
I add crush oyster shell in the bottom of hole when I plant its used for chicken egg production you can get it at tractor supply or any feed store way cheaper than all the other stuff you are using
The point I was trying to make in this video is that very few cases of blossom end rot have anything to do with calcium deficiency. It is almost always a soil moisture issue. All the supplements in the world won’t help. The real cure is heavy mulching and drip irrigation. You only need the most basic amount of calcium, and maybe none at all.
I am in arizona. I usually use a 50% mixture of native soil with 50% compost, manure, etc for my raised beds. Arizona soil is super rich in minerals and needs zero added calcium. I occasionally get blossom end rot and it is all most always due to water stress. The last 5 years or so I have been putting a 3-5" thick layer of mulch and I water every single day like clockwork. So far, I have had no issues this year and very little since I have added the mulch layer. We are regularly over 100 degrees here and the mulch layer is vital in maintaining soil moisture. Even with it I still have to water everyday.
How do you 'work it into the top layer of the soil' where all the surface is mulched to prevent moisture loss (we use pea straw or sugar cane mulch).
So I've had a problem with my tomatoes growing roots in my mulch layer, making it difficult to pull the mulch back to apply things like bone meal. How big of a problem is this? Can I just dust the bone meal on top of the mulch? Or does it HAVE to be applied to the top of the soil?
Also, doesn't the bone meal change the PH level of the soil quite a bit? How much is too much?
Does it help when you start to see BER to remove those tomatoes right away?
good stuff
Thank you!
I mulched with grass clippings, Fertilized,planted with bone meal and added some later..I never let tomatoes do without water.I still got end rot..ugh
milk jug irrigation! Subscribed just because of that.
Bottom end rot part is fine, we need more ocean footage!
On a serious note, thanks again. Went on a bone meal run in the garden after watching.
I'm just here for the Dale Clips...🤣😂 Seriously tho... thanks for another great video
You’re welcome! Dale says hi 🐕
Thanks!
i learned something new .....
Thanks for watching!
@@TheMillennialGardener You're Welcome ...
You got your shit together. That is freaking awesome. I use old gallon water jugs. To grow Cooking Herbs. Right on.
I'm glad you found the video helpful. Thanks for watching!
Great presentations. Unfortunately, the deer have been cleaning out my strawberries, black rasberries, and blackberries. I might have to put up an 8 foot fence to keep them out. Frustration at the highest.
Deer stew is the solution 😁
We have deer that travel across our property every morning & evening. Oddly, they have only eaten one thing in my veg garden - sweet potato vines. But they have eaten every leaf off my rose bush & the day lilies around my mail box. My neighbor, 200 yds away, has never had them eat anything in her many, many flower beds.
I find that cheapo deer & bird netting is very effective. When I draped the sweet potato beds in bird netting, the deer only ate the vines up to the netting. And draping the plants around my mail box with netting stopped them completely. I prop the netting up with bamboo stakes or PVC pipes. (I make a tunnel with the pipes & cover it with netting).
Apparently, if a deer brushes up against the nearly invisible netting, they will shy away from it.
I understand. We had deer like something terrible when we lived in New Jersey. Having a fenced-in yard is the way to go. Try to fence in whatever you can.
Time for some deer steaks
The units with a sensor attached to a garden hose can be very effective against deer, rabbits, raccoons and cats. Very quick and easy to set up. Many to choose from at different price points.