Most of us have seen cracks in a tomato that reveal a portion of stretched inner meat. The phenomenon is often found in plump, mature tomatoes. If picked right way, cracked tomatoes can definitely still be edible.
Unfortunately, exposed tomato flesh almost seems to be an invitation to creatures and insects to hop on board and taste test. The longer it stays on the vine, the more prone it is to attract fungus and bacteria. This is not a feature of tomato growth that a gardener usually enjoys.
Due to their unflattering appearance, and since they can become a major target for a variety of pests and diseases, cracked tomatoes are often cast aside.
So what can a gardener do in order to avoid tomato cracking? Before this common tomato issue can be resolved, another query must be addressed – what do the cracks in tomatoes actually mean?
The Meaning Behind the Cracks
The depth of the splits found on mature tomatoes varies from fruit to fruit. If a tomato begins to crack while it’s still green, then as it grows, the split will get deeper and deeper.
There are two different kinds of cracking that generally occur in mature tomatoes: Concentric and Radial. While the concentric cracks split in a pattern around the circle of a stem scar, radial cracks split from the stem to the blossom end of the fruit.
One good way to understand why tomatoes split in varying degrees is to compare the cracks to stretch marks. When people gain weight or muscle mass quickly, the human body may form stretch marks in order to keep excess fat completely covered with skin.
Some tomatoes grow so quickly that the epidermis and cells simply do not have the ability to stretch over the new growth. Instead of forming stretch marks like a human, tomatoes simply split.
All gardeners want their tomatoes to grow, but what makes some tomatoes grow too fast? Sometimes a gardener can stress tomatoes out with irregular watering techniques. Cracking often occurs when tomatoes go through a period of dryness followed by excessive ‘make up’ watering.
The dry spell followed by an excessively moist spell can cause the inner flesh of the fruit to grow much faster than the epidermis can stretch. Have you kept a consistent and balanced watering schedule for your tomatoes, but still seen cracking occur?
Keep in mind that other variables that can cause tomato cracks are temperature fluctuations and excessive sun exposure.
What can you do?
Preventive measures are always best. To keep your tomatoes from cracking, try to set up a consistent watering schedule. Don’t wait for the tomato soil to become completely dry before it gets watered.
If you’re going out of town, you could get a tomato sitter to pop by, or you could just set a timer on your sprinkler system. Also, make sure your watering program doesn’t cause excessive moisture. Excessive moisture leads to tomato flesh that can outgrow its own skin.
Mulching and good soil fertilization can also help prevent cracked tomatoes.
One extra tip: If you’ve already taken the time to research which tomato is best for your area, then a little more digging can help you determine which of those varieties are naturally resistant to cracks.
The pests who love cracked tomatoes may be disappointed in the results of your efforts, but you’re sure to enjoy the tasty, smooth tomatoes from your garden!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I use a form of your polinazation method,explained in your book.It Works……All i do is tap the flowering stems with a small rod…once a day during blooming…..a fruit IS produced @ almost every flower!
I am producing tomatoes now in my greenhouse.
Thanks for the tip.
BD
Letting the soil get dry puts cracks in my tomatoes, once it rains. One neighbor had so much trouble with this the past Summer months that she just picked them all green and fried them up! We had two months of infrequent rains. your information about keeping tomatoes wet helped me a LOT. I mentioned it to her, but most tomato growers are instructed to water infrequently and deeply.
Some of my lengthwise cracking seemed to come from bugs sucking juices from the ripening tomatoes. The water system was down for a while, and nasty after that–still recovering, so they might have gotten too dry when these cracks showed up, too.