Cracking Tomatoes
I grow a roma type tomato for soups and sauces. A lot of them have cracks in the top. Are the cracks from over watering or something else? When I cut into them they look fine, bright red and juicy. I had been running my sprinkler every couple of days because it was so hot earlier in July but we are having a cooler, rainy spell now and I'm trying to decide if I need to cut back on watering.
- stella1751
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- gixxerific
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it happens to everyone at one time or another if not every year in differing degrees. My tom's went into a state of hibernation during a heat wave only to come back ever so slightly. Than the drought stopped and tons of rain fell guess wha,t even with my my careful irrigation practices I have cracking starting again.
It's probably just that you've been getting rain that's causing it. I've been kind of screwed over the past couple weeks because all spring and summer we've been in a drought (I watered very regularly) but now every weekend it seems we get 2-5 inch downpours then everything for the rest of the week is split open .
- rainbowgardener
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Actually, the splitting of my tomatoes isn't from uneven watering just overwatering. Even if you make sure to keep your garden wet 2-5 inches of rain in a weekend will split your tomatoes, at least for mine it did.rainbowgardener wrote:As noted it's not the over-watering, it's uneven watering. If the tomatoes dry out, the skin hardens up. Then if they get a bunch of water, they swell up faster than the skin can stretch and crack.
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In a sense that is uneven watering I would assume. I have been watering regulary every day (when needed basically every day). But like you we had about 3+ inches in 2 day period. I haven't watered in about 3 day's and the ground is still soaked deep.Decado wrote:Actually, the splitting of my tomatoes isn't from uneven watering just overwatering. Even if you make sure to keep your garden wet 2-5 inches of rain in a weekend will split your tomatoes, at least for mine it did.rainbowgardener wrote:As noted it's not the over-watering, it's uneven watering. If the tomatoes dry out, the skin hardens up. Then if they get a bunch of water, they swell up faster than the skin can stretch and crack.
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Perhaps the cracks are due to water variations, but I can tell you that some varieties are certainly more suscepatble to cracking than other varieties.
Same goes for green shoulders. Some varieties are just prone to do that and other varieties not so much. I suggest you plant several varieties and watch to see which ones do best in your climate. After a few seasons you will find some favorites.
Same goes for green shoulders. Some varieties are just prone to do that and other varieties not so much. I suggest you plant several varieties and watch to see which ones do best in your climate. After a few seasons you will find some favorites.