Mwallace
Newly Registered
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2022 9:59 am

Fungus?

I had some trouble with my Tomatoes this year as they were growing they appeared to developer normal but just before ripening they would start cracking open on the tops and I the end would be so bad as to be unusable.


Pic attached.
Attachments
20221117_085329.jpg

imafan26
Mod
Posts: 13989
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Those are growth cracks. Radial cracking can be a varietal tendency but it will also be related to uneven watering. Concentric cracking is almost always from sudden changes in moisture that cause the tomato to swell faster than the skin can stretch. It is not a fungal disease. It is physiologic and some cracking is related to variety so a crack resistant variety helps. Keeping soil moisture even helps the most, but it is hard to do since you cannot always control the environment.

https://www.tomatodirt.com/tomato-cracks.html

pepperhead212
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 2880
Joined: Wed Oct 15, 2014 1:52 pm
Location: Woodbury NJ Zone 7a/7b

Welcome to the forum!

Some tomato varieties are notorious for cracking, while others resist fairly well. It often happens after heavy downpours. Did you have a lot of heavy rain this year, or drought conditions, followed by heavy rain? Also, did you grow several varieties, and it was happening in all of them, or just the one variety? This is why I always grow many varieties - some may have a resistance to splitting, diseases, heat resistance, and many other things, not to mention different flavors!

BTW, what area are you growing in? It's good to know, for a lot of questions people have about their gardens.



Return to “TOMATO FORUM”