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Gary350
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WHAT is this Tomato deformity problem?

This is a strange deformity? Maybe it is extreme BER = Blossom End Rot. Maybe it is Catface. The whole tomato is twisted out of shape. It looks like each tomato is trying to divide into 2 or 3 separate tomatoes. On the front side there are lots of wavy places looks like slices of bread in a stack. I picked a ripe tomato last night and we managed to salvage about 2/3 of it for dinner. The plant has 16 green tomatoes all the largest tomatoes have this deformity problem, the small tomatoes look normal so far. I have 25 tomato plants this is the only plant with this problem. We had so much rain this year I did not plant tomatoes my normal way, I had to plant them in the mud. I usually dig a hole, add pellet lime, add low nitrogen fertilizer, some times wood ash. This year no hole, no lime, no ash, no fertilizer, I just pushed the plants into the mud. Plants all came from the Amish Garden Store.

Image

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Go2jbER0wk0

Image

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OvwLPdRN80
Last edited by Gary350 on Wed Jul 05, 2017 8:36 pm, edited 2 times in total.

SQWIB
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I have the same with my PL Brandywine Reds, but it doesn't seem to bother the fruit.

bri80
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Is that fruit from a different variety than your other plants, or do you grow a lot of the same variety? A lot of my large heirloom tomato varieties do stuff like that on nearly all the fruit. I've read that that is normal, and it wasn't until recently that "picture perfect" supermarket varieties were bred to look "perfect" all the time.

So if that's an heirloom variety you're trying that is different than your others, it's probably just how it grows. If not, could just be a random mutation?

gumbo2176
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A lot of the local "Creole Tomatoes" have that happen to them. It is not unusual to see them misshaped as they grow with that dark, hard patch near the center of the blossom end.

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applestar
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I'm sure there is scientific explanation, but I've always assumed that this is a result of fused blossoms/fruits with incomplete pollination due to various environmental effects. The void in the middle is sometimes clear/clean, but is often filled with something akin to scar tissue as each of the fused fruit tries to complete its shape and compete with each other, creating stresses in the bridging tissue. Often the cavity is considered ideal nesting spot by spiders, slugs and other denizens, or can collect inimical fungal spores and spoilage can start inside.

Since perfectly fused blossoms result in well-formed larger fruits, there is a tendency to want to save their seeds, but some of them then carry on the tendency to form fused blossoms. I wouldn't save seeds from plant with fused blossoms that also tends to be incomplete/imperfect.

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KitchenGardener
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What variety is it? I see those most in my cherokee purple.

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Gary350
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applestar wrote:I'm sure there is scientific explanation, but I've always assumed that this is a result of fused blossoms/fruits with incomplete pollination due to various environmental effects. The void in the middle is sometimes clear/clean, but is often filled with something akin to scar tissue as each of the fused fruit tries to complete its shape and compete with each other, creating stresses in the bridging tissue. Often the cavity is considered ideal nesting spot by spiders, slugs and other denizens, or can collect inimical fungal spores and spoilage can start inside.

Since perfectly fused blossoms result in well-formed larger fruits, there is a tendency to want to save their seeds, but some of them then carry on the tendency to form fused blossoms. I wouldn't save seeds from plant with fused blossoms that also tends to be incomplete/imperfect.
applestar....Scar Tissue is a very good descriptions. Judging by all the variety of different size tomatoes on this plant it appears that all tomatoes starts out round with a perfect shape. As the tomatoes gets larger they become lumpy. Then it looks like the tomato is trying to divide into several smaller tomatoes. The center of the tomatoes that looked like it was turning into 3 tomatoes took all kinds of strange shapes for a while then dried out like scab tissue on a wound in the center. The first ripe tomato looked like 3 tomatoes with a center that became rotted only after the tomato became ripe. Another tomato that tried to form into 2 tomatoes became rotted in the center while getting ripe also. The tomato that is starting to get ripe now has turned into a lumpy donut shape with the dark dry scar tissue material in the center of the donut hole. I think this is some type of genetic deformity in the plants DNA it appears that all the tomatoes on this 1 plant will all have the same problem. I worry about eating tomatoes that have a deformity problem wonder what that does to a persons body I hope it does not cause cancer or some other deadly disease. All the tomatoes in this section of the garden are Big Beef. I have 4 Beef Master in another location. I have 6 volunteer tomatoes in another part of the garden. I lost 3 tomato plants from curly top virus, leaf jumpers disease.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOP6R3JvNHg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxLMr784l0Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bWzyiU-S_w

imafan26
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Part of it is a large blossom scar which would be a varietal thing.
But, most of what is happening to your tomato is cat facing which usually occurs if the weather was cold at the time the flowers came out, or sometimes deformities can be from herbicide residues from spraying or from residues in compost.

https://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/ya ... of-tomato/

SQWIB
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I took a couple pics of my Brandywine reds, these aren't too bad but you can see a tunnel looking deformity that when cut open will not be ripe at the tunnel/connected areas.

sorry for the crappy pics, my phone don't like closeups!

Image

Image

Image

My Brandywine reds are always extremely ribbed

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Albert_136
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We've Brandywines of no provenance** that almost all do that.

**[I used to say unknown provenance but an artist scolded me and told me that it was properly no provenance.]



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