User avatar
TomatoNut95
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 2069
Joined: Sun May 26, 2019 11:11 am
Location: Texas Zone 8

My plant is splitting!!!

Help! My 'mystery tomato' (that was supposed to be a six inch plant but skyrocketed to three- three 1/2 feet) is splitting in the stems in several places! This is the only plant that's doing this! What's wrong, and what do I do??? :cry:
Attachments
IMG_20190606_101538.jpg
IMG_20190606_101533.jpg
IMG_20190606_101613.jpg

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30504
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

I’m gonna ask if you are maybe over feeding it — the leaves look so dark green. I suppose I tend to underfeed, but mine never look as dark as that.

If so, the plant maybe forced to grow faster than it can maintain structural/inter-cellular integrity, especially if it was on the dry side then got flooded with water. Kind of like melon splitting,

User avatar
TomatoNut95
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 2069
Joined: Sun May 26, 2019 11:11 am
Location: Texas Zone 8

It has not been fertilized recently, it has done good on it's own.There is a little Scotts Humus and Manure in the pot. I just noticed the splits this morning. It was last watered.....Tuesday.... I believe; and I didn't flood it with a lot. The weather has been very hot, and now it has been raining. This tomato is inside my open greenhouse with all the other potted tomatoes. No other plant is showing splitting. This 'mystery tomato' is the largest and eldest plant in there. It does have a younger sibling, but it's not splitting either.

User avatar
TomatoNut95
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 2069
Joined: Sun May 26, 2019 11:11 am
Location: Texas Zone 8

What should I do about this, please? :cry: Will the splitting get worse? Should I wrap something around the splits? This is my mystery variety and I'd hate to lose this big plant! :eek:

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30504
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

I’m going to suggest something drastic — cut off the split stems. As long as you have one intact main stem, and fruiting branches below the split one, you will get fruits. More suckers will grow, too if this is an indeterminate type plant.

I’m going to elaborate further in the other thread where you posted photos of the green house and tomatoes.

User avatar
TomatoNut95
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 2069
Joined: Sun May 26, 2019 11:11 am
Location: Texas Zone 8

:shock: Yipe! Hate to, but you say it will help the plant, I will do so. You said the foliage was dark because of over-fertilizing, but I haven't done so in a while. This variety seems to be odd- I've noticed the young foliage looks rumpled/crumped up or wispy like, then changes as it grows. The tomatoes on it are staying green on it for like forever(but for me that's normal, it takes forever for my tomatoes to mature anyway) I cannot wait to see what fruit color it could possibly be. I'm hoping for orange. :wink:

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30504
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

TomatoNut95 wrote:This variety seems to be odd- I've noticed the young foliage looks rumpled/crumped up or wispy like, then changes as it grows.
...do you have pictures?

User avatar
TomatoNut95
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 2069
Joined: Sun May 26, 2019 11:11 am
Location: Texas Zone 8

I will post some tomorrow. It is dark out now.

User avatar
TomatoNut95
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 2069
Joined: Sun May 26, 2019 11:11 am
Location: Texas Zone 8

Ok, here's the foilage. It looks rumbled, wispy like, then changes as it gets older.
Attachments
IMG_20190607_084259.jpg
IMG_20190607_084234.jpg

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30504
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

It does look wispy. If I were to guess, and this is only an uneducated guess, this is going to be a cherry type tall/long, viney plant with elongated -maybe with pointed end- fruits.

User avatar
TomatoNut95
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 2069
Joined: Sun May 26, 2019 11:11 am
Location: Texas Zone 8

Nope, not a cherry. Here's the fruits. They've been green forever, like all my other tomatoes do.

User avatar
TomatoNut95
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 2069
Joined: Sun May 26, 2019 11:11 am
Location: Texas Zone 8

Whoops. Here they are. Small and rounded.
Attachments
IMG_20190607_084339.jpg

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30504
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Darn! :lol:

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30504
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Here, I’ll show you why I thought that — all of these with elongated pointed cherry fruits have that kind of crumpled twisted wispy foliage. You might be able to see in these photos?

Subject: Learning • Practicing to Cross Breed Tomato Varieties
applestar wrote:- Molten Sky F4 — still green with stripes evident
- Molten Sky F4 - unstriped variant
- Molten Sun F4
- Molten Sun F4 with blossom end blush! :-()
- Ladyfingers F4
- Afternoon Rosé F4

Image

User avatar
TomatoNut95
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 2069
Joined: Sun May 26, 2019 11:11 am
Location: Texas Zone 8

Wow! I noticed the pink looking tomatoes in the top middle picture- maybe that's what these are. Me, I'm hoping for orange! I know it must not be the dark tomatoes like in the same picture or I would think the fruits would have very dark green or black shoulders, right? Whatever this variety is, I will save the seeds from it and see if it will come true to type. I'm trying to think of a name for this mystery type. Since I thought it was a Micro Tom, I thought I'd use the name Tom for part of it. I was thinking- 'Big Tom', but since the fruits aren't big, I'll think of something else; maybe go by the fruit color depending on what it is. 'Yellow Tom' 'Orange Tom' 'Pink Tom'. :wink:

User avatar
Dissily Mordentroge
Senior Member
Posts: 137
Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2021 5:36 am

I also suspect overfeeding BUT some hybrid tomatoes created to grow without soil in liquid nutrient solutions will split like that if grown in soil.



Return to “Heirloom Tomatoes Forum”