Nakuru farmer learns from losses to cure blossom end rot
2 min read
By MaryAnne Musilo
In the tropics, tomato farmers fight more than 200 pests and diseases needing deep knowledge to get a crop out the end, as Nakuru farmer Duncan Karanja learned from his first season, which failed from problems he had never even heard of.
“When I was starting, I irrigated a 20×30 foot plot with a hosepipe, and it was exhausting. Yet my tomatoes still developed black spots at the base. I realized I wasn’t giving the plants enough moisture,” he said, causing blossom end rot, from nit enough water and the wrong soil nutrients.
Duncan now waters morning and evening to keep moisture steady. He also covers the soil with two to three inches of sawdust, dry grass, or maize stalks to hold moisture in and stop fungus from spreading. He ties his plants to stakes to lift fruit off the ground, cutting pest contact and letting in more air.
When late blight shows up, Duncan sprays Ridomil Gold, spending about Sh250 each time. “It’s pocket-friendly but powerful enough to protect my plants,” he said. Every 14 to 21 days, he sprays again to kill stem borers before they get inside the fruit. “You might see a healthy tomato, but inside it could be crawling, spraying prevents that,” he said.
He also learned not to give too much nitrogen from calcium ammonium nitrate before fruit forms, because it stops calcium from reaching the fruit and brings back blossom end rot. Now he puts CAN and well-rotted manure in the soil at planting and only again after flowering.
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He plants seedlings in the evening to avoid heat, waits a month before mulching, and uses F1 hybrid seedlings that can handle more diseases.
After following these steps, his 2021 harvest from a 10×15 foot patch earned him Sh23,000, which was a big change from his early losses.
“That first patch taught me a tough lesson. But after applying all these corrections, I earned enough to keep going,” he said. Today, he keeps rot low, plants strong, and yields high, showing that in tropical tomato farming, strong results depend on proper knowhow.
