I’m a gardening expert and here are three pro tips to keep your veggies from rotting

THERE are few things worse for a gardener than finding out his vegetables are rotting on the vine, but one expert has some tips to avoid future disappointment.

According to the gardening expert, there are three simple tips you can follow to keep your veggies from rotting.

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In a post on the Savvy Gardening website, expert Jessica Walliser walks gardeners through the steps to identify, prevent, and treat rotting vegetables.

The first step in preventing rot, she writes, is to properly identify the rot problem.

Walliser specifically addresses what’s known as “blossom end rot,” a problem that can thwart your plans to eat veggies straight from your garden.

The expert says this type of rot has a “distinctive appearance” and describes it as “blackened, sunken cankers appear on the underside (flower end) of the fruit”.

Often the tops of the vegetables look like they’re perfectly fine, only to have the rotten flesh on their underside.

“They’re always at the blossom end of the fruit, never at the top,” she said.

Plants like tomatoes, summer squash, and peppers are particularly susceptible to this type of rot, but Walliser says there are ways to prevent it.

Second, any gardener trying to keep rot away wants to better understand why vegetables rot in the first place.

Blossom end rot is not a disease or something caused by insects, according to the gardening expert.

It turns out that this type of rot is actually a disorder of the plant itself.

“It’s a physiological disorder thought to be caused by stress combined with a lack of calcium in the developing fruit,” Walliser wrote in her blog post.

As she explains, when the plant is deficient in calcium, which is needed in large amounts during growth, the fruit breaks down.

A few problems that can contribute to calcium deficiency are not enough calcium in the soil itself, but typically it has to do with soil that doesn’t maintain a constant moisture level.

The third and final step in keeping the rot away is to get the soil right.

According to Walliser, it is important to ensure that the plant absorbs sufficient water, which in turn helps ensure that the plant receives enough calcium.

“The calcium is there; Your plants just don’t get it,” she said.

“Blossom end rot is particularly common in tomatoes grown in containers or during years of inconsistent rainfall.”

Watering your plants regularly will help prevent rot problems.