Is there a visible effect on tomato fruit when...

[PinkPetalPolygon]

Is there a visible effect on tomato fruit when... you aren't watering enough? Are there across the board symptoms, a certain "look"?

(Besides the obvious: the whole plant drooping after you haven't watered it in a few days, a look which you should definitely avoid with consistent watering. )

Can you tell by looking at a tomato fruit that it needs more water? If so, how?

Thanks!

[Lindsaylew82]

I know that sometimes the fruit can look more like a "stuffing tomato" if it's consistently under watered. The fruit can be smaller with consistent under watering. Stunted.

In my experience. Plants that require more water, but aren't getting any more that the rest of the garden show physiologic leaf roll. I have a picture of Black Sea Man tomato in my past garden that was very unhappy. If they're left to completely dry out, they get wilted and droop. If they get left like that, it's difficult for them to recover, and they can get dry edges and leaf drop.

[Lindsaylew82]

This was supposed to be German Johnson, but I kept calling it German Bell. I think in actuality It really was just competing with a pecan tree 20 feet away. Idk though, cause the ones on either side were fine, but it could've just been more sensitive.



The one in the middle, all rolled up and not happy.


Physiologic leaf roll. Same plant.

[MichaelC]

Dry farmed tomatoes are huge business around here. Typically Early Girl, they are amazing. I'm not sure at what point they stop watering.

Also not uncommon in farming in this area is to let the plants sprawl rather than stake them.

[tomc]

See: Blossom End Rot, a watering and not a calcium issue.

[Lindsaylew82]

I saw a segment on a documentary about dry farming, and I was under the impression that dry farming was where the attention was focused on trapping and preserving water sources, picking more tolerant cultivars, and preventing run off and evaporationon from the crops, than it was them growing without water. Is that right?

[imafan26]

If plants don't get watered enough the leaves will dry the fruit will be small and ripen early. the fruit will not be as firm or shiny as a tomato that is getting enough water. If it is watering is uneven you will also get concentric cracking. It is usually a problem when you get a lot of rain.

[MichaelC]

I saw a segment on a documentary about dry farming, and I was under the impression that dry farming was where the attention was focused on trapping and preserving water sources, picking more tolerant cultivars, and preventing run off and evaporationon from the crops, than it was them growing without water. Is that right?

My understanding was that they just quit (or severely limit) watering once roots are established. The most common is Early Girl. The fruits come out much smaller (like 2" max), have a very thick skin and are intensely flavorful.

Here's an article I just grabbed for you -> https://www.happyboyfarms.com/our-produc ... .php?id=47

A couple years ago there was a bit of unexpected rain, and the tomatoes were not as small or good.

I'll bet that what you're referring to is also called dry farming.

[PinkPetalPolygon]

This was all a bunch of awesome information, thanks!

Dry farming early girl tomatoes (as described in the link) sounds very appealing. Especially in my grandmother's yard. This is kind of what happened last year, actually, haha. I watered in the beginning for a few weeks then asked my grandmother's husband to water the plot for us for like a week...

I came back and he just DIDN'T water it once in a week it felt like. Okay. Maybe once. But every thing got fried, and it didn't work out as dry farming???

(The fact that he didn't water the tomatoes was kind of dumbfounding, uhh, they had a soaker hose and all he had to do was turn a knob in a highly accessible place. )

Everything tanked or almost died. And I realized I wasn't going to make it there every 3 days to water so I kind of gave up entirely.

And they still had a few tomatoes. But omg, it would of been awesome to set them up with "dry farming" in the first place.

Soo, in real life this year, I had actually posed this question

While looking at my early girl tomato plant!
And I noticed that it looked ... the opposite of plump! Almost like sunken in! (Not quite, but more toward sunken than plump, hah)

Unfortunately, mine is in a pot so the idea of "dry farming" where the root goes six feet away (or a few feet/etc) to get moisture is not possible/not something to shoot for at all. And it is actually my first year growing in pots and the first year being hyper aware that wet leaves/wetness causes disease...

But I don't wanna parch the tomatoes in a quest for health

It actually rained and the tomatoes look different/definitely more plump. So there's your answer I think, they did look sunken in due to not having enough water, imo.

(I'm also aware I DON'T want to over-water them to try to inflate them, haha. They aren't like water balloons. Or if you do they won't taste good. Besides other problems.)

But I am not trying to dry farm in a pot. So. Now I know I need to water more now that the temperature is going to be 85/90 instead of 70/80! (Which is obvious I guess but this is the first year with tomatoes in a (7 gallon) container so I definitely have to learn what's what with the watering!)

Next year we are going to look into more dwarf-ish / 5 feet max plants for containers... I kind of went crazy and put some frickin' 8 feeters into some containers. Teehee. It's nothing I technically regret yet, knock on wood, but I look over at my "Patio Tomatoes" and think they look like perfect bonzais. Uhh. If I can get similar yields off of smaller plants I think I should try that. And then save the 9 feet plants to go in the ground at my MIL's house, hah.

[Lindsaylew82]

Whatever you decide to do, it's important that you do it consistently with tomatoes. Otherwise, you tough skins, and cracks, BER, and overall unhealthy plants.