Recent heavy rains are likely to change this trend, raising the stakes against a bumper crop this season. Side splitting and cracking up are terms you want to hear in reference to a joke you just made, not about your tomatoes.
Heavy rain, especially when preceded by dry weather, is the leading cause of fruit cracking and splitting in tomatoes. This type of damage is most likely to occur as tomatoes begin to ripen and you are anxiously anticipating harvest, though green fruit can be effected as well.
Cracking and splitting occur when rapid changes in soil moisture levels cause fruits to expand quicker than the tomato skin can grow. There are two different patterns this damage may take. Vertical splits along the sides of fruits are known as radial cracking and are the most serious. This pattern of splitting commonly occurs during hot, humid weather. Cracking that occurs in a circular pattern at the top of tomato fruits, ringing the stem end, is known as concentric cracking.
When cracking of either type occurs in green tomatoes, fruits are likely to rot before they fully ripen if left on the vine. With both radial and concentric cracking, your best option is to harvest fruits immediately, before they begin to rot. These fruits are edible and can be allowed to finish ripening indoors, though any fruit that develops a sour smell or begins to ooze should go straight to the compost pile. Cracking in tomatoes is caused by fluctuating moisture levels in compost.
Quick facts. Plants affected: Tomatoes. Main causes: Variation in temperature and soil moisture can lead to split, cracked fruits. Timing: Summer.
Jump to What is the problem? Symptoms and causes Biology Control. What is the problem? It tends to occur early in summer, declining as the nights become warmer in late summer.
Russeting a rough skin surface and superficial marks are caused by variable temperatures, whereas cracking and splitting are due to fluctuations in soil moisture.
Water supply can be especially variable in growing bags and pots, and this requires regular monitoring both in the greenhouse and outside. Outdoors, variations in rainfall may cause damage. Although watering in dry spells will help, in periods of heavy rain there is no remedy for the damaging effects of flooding, which often leads to fruit splitting and cracking.
Prompt harvesting of fruits may reduce losses. Tomato fruits need warmth and moisture to swell and ripen. At the end of the growing season ripening will slow down and fruits are best picked and ripened indoors in a warm dark place. At this time of year the nights are cool and day length is short with the sun lower in the sky. It is difficult to avoid conditions that lead to uneven ripening and fruit splitting or cracking.
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Fertilizer keeps the soil healthy so plants produce as many tomatoes as possible. Location: Growing tomatoes in raised beds or containers with drainage holes will lessen the problem because heavy rain will drain away faster in the loose soil. Pick: As a last minute fix, you can always go out after a heavy rain and pick any almost ripe or ripe tomatoes. While it may be too late now, you can plant varieties that are less likely to crack.
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