Last updated on July 15th, 2017
HOW ARE YOUR TOMATOES DOING? My own recent harvest isn’t picture-perfect. As you can see from the photo up top, the skins have cracks, or splits. Read on, and I’ll tell you the cause of these blemishes (hint: I’m to blame) and how they can be avoided on emerging fruit:
Skin-splitting is the result of improper watering. You see, a tomato’s epidermis isn’t particularly elastic. Consequently it will crack or split open if the pulp underneath suddenly absorbs too much moisture. Over-absorption occurs when bone-dry soil receives a thorough soaking. I call this dry-then-drench practice “yo-yo watering.”
To prevent split skins on tomatoes, avoid yo-yo watering! I can tell you that soaring heat, a prolonged drought, and a one-night deluge caused the cracks on my tomatoes. In hindsight, I should have watered the plants daily, not weekly, when temperatures hit 98 degrees for three consecutive days. But I refused to go outside then, let alone fiddle with hoses. Mea culpa.
If you’ve made this same cultural mistake, here’s what you can do. Pick your largest fruits while still green, and let them ripen indoors. Younger fruits can be left on the vine; no cracks will appear as long as soil moisture is maintained.
Fortunately, split-skin tomatoes are still edible, providing you pick them before pests or rot come to call. Just cut off the blemished section of fruit, and enjoy the undamaged portion immediately.
Now, I’d love to hear about your own crop of “Love Apples.” Are the fruits healthy and robust? Or are they suffering the symptoms of our wacky, record-breaking weather?
Don’t miss anything at A Garden for the House…sign up for Kevin’s weekly newsletter!
You may also like:
Terry says
Yes I have some cracked also. Here in SE Michigan we have had a hot dry summer and I tried to water, but like you, I didn't like going outside! Also have some half eaten that I am guessing are from the squirrels. So I picked a bunch that were still a bit on the green side to ripen in the house. Making sauce from 30 large ones today. Plenty more still out there.
Charlotte says
Since this is the very first time I've grown tomatoes, and I only got them planted in June!, I didn't know if the splits were common. I almost always watered them daily during the heat but sometimes missed a day. I picked my first ripe tomatoe yesterday but gave it to a neighbor. Hope it tasted ok.
John says
This is a long post, but I'm so proud of my tomato crop and wanted to share my “secret”.
Although we've also had a terribly dry, hot summer, my tomato crop has been excellent. No cracks or blossom-end rot, and hardly a brown leaf on any of my 17 plants (12 'Celebrity', 1 yellow pear, 1 red grape, one 'Early Girl', and 2 'Cherokee Purple').
Here's my “secret”: After reading that tomatoes can never seem to get enough water, and having a disastrous year with blossom-end rot last summer, I decided to change the way I planted them this year (for the first time in 30 years).
First, I piled up a half-foot by two feet of aged horse manure from my neighbor, and covered it with about eight inches of half topsoil, half compost. Into this raised row (about 3' wide), I planted my tomatoes (laid sideways and up to their necks in the soil).
Second: I laid out a soaker hose upside-down the middle of the entire 45' length of the row, pinned in place with sod staples.
Third: I applied a handful of organic tomato fertilizer to each plant. (I think it was Epsoma.)
Fourth: I mulched the entire raised row with about 3″ of hardwood bark mulch. I left the soaker hose end connection sticking out a couple of inches on one end of the row.
Fifth: I used tomato cages that I've made from cattle fencing (studier and cheaper than those cone-shaped ones on the market).
Now, when we don't get rain (and this part of Indiana has been missed repeatedly by summer storms so often that many lawns are brown), I simply hook up the soaker hose and let it run about an hour. The mulch helps keep the whole tomato row moist and I've never had a better, blemish-free crop. I can't give them away fast enough!
The secret is lots and lots of water, consistently, but this method saves a lot of time and effort!
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Terry – you're making sauce, and I've got a tomato-polenta pie in the oven. Ain't August grand? (I'll do a feature on tomato sauce later this month…maybe you'll share your recipe?)
Charlotte – welcome. What a kind soul you are to give away your first ripe tomato! See you soon again, I hope.
John – nice to meet you. Congratulations on your magnificent tomato harvest, and thanks for all the sound advice. Stick around, yes?
ChicagoBonnie says
I just came in from picking about 20 tomatoes. I've kept them watered regularly and mine have cracks too. The cracks i can deal with, but mine also one or 2 little pin holes in each one. I couldn't figure out what was making them, until today, when I saw a tiny slug crawling out of one of the holes…yuck! I always cut the pin hole area away, but now I wonder how many unseen slugs I have eaten this summer..oh just the thought makes me queasy…
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
ChicagoBonnie – Welcome! Sounds like you have a considerable tomato-harvest too. Thanks for the slug alert. I will check for little pinholes in my tomatoes from now on!
Terry says
Kevin I just made plain sauce, that way I can use it later whatever way I want, usually spaghetti sauce or chili. I just peeled, cut out the seeds, cooked them for several hours, mashing with a potato masher until it got saucy. Add 2 tablespoons lemon juice in each quart jar and canned in a water bath for 40 minutes for quart jars.
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Terry – Well, that is wise. This way you're not trapped with something already flavored a special way.
And, glad to know the art of canning still exists. It's work – but worth it, no?
Adele says
Interesting…there are cracks in almost all of my heirloom tomatoes. But the hybrids have almost none at all.
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Adele – I've noticed the same thing here. The heirlooms seems to have the least flexible skins, while the hybrids — especially the modern ones — are “crack-resistant.”
And speaking of heirlooms, my Cherokee Purples have the biggest splits of all!
Tammy says
Perfectly timed post, Kevin, thanks! I've grown tomatoes for years and never seen cracks like these — but we've not had a drought like this in years either.
I've got cracks in the big boys planted in self-watering pots but not in the romas planted in raised beds with soaker hoses built in.
Ted says
Ours are barely growing, thanks to the leftover blight from last year. Those that survived do mostly have cracks, and we typically have the sprinkler go off every day. Interestingly, I saw on a show one time that some professional growers cut way back on their watering for the last half of the Summer, as it promotes fruit growth and ripening. Guess maybe that works best for non-hybrids? In any case, I've had more problems with over-watering in the past than under-watering, so I've erred on the side of cutting back on the watering this year. Maybe that wasn't the right thing to do . . .
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Tammy – You've convinced me to look into a soaker-hose set-up for my raised beds.
Ted – Sorry to hear about your blight trouble! Consider planting next year's crop in a different area. And definitely remove any old potatoes from your garden next spring (if you have potatoes), for the blight can live over winter on the tubers, and be transferred to tomato plants.
Sharon says
Kevin, This is all such great information. Thank you!
John says
I'd advise to not water tomato plants with a sprinkler to avoid getting the foliage wet. If soaker hoses are not an option, water early in the morning so that the foliage will dry off quickly. Wet foliage encourages disease, at least in my experience and from what I have read.
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
John – thank you. That is one of the tomato-rules here at A Garden for the House: keep the foliage dry.
BTW, what varieties did you grow this summer? Any heirlooms?
Susan says
I was doing pretty well without having any split skins this summer. But the deer found a way in and took out most of my garden – everything but the watermelon. I guess if they are that hungry, they are welcome to it. I’ve since raised the fence, and am planning my fall garden now so the squirrels will have something to eat.
lisa halloran says
Hi guys! bought my first ever organic Heirloom tomatoes here in Denver! They eventually outgrew their cone shape wire cages,a nd now I have what you seem to be calling blossom ent rot, cause as they ripen a large brown circle’s appearing on their bottom, and then if I leave it, it “eats” its way thru the tomato. Bummer, cause I cut off the top of one, and it was extremely delicious. What did this newcomer do wrong? How does this happen? Thanks, vet tomato growers!
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi lisa – Blossom end rot, or “BER” and cracks in skin have something in common: they are both the result of uneven watering. BER can be quickly cured by providing the tomato plant with steady moisture.
Barb Gilligan says
Hey all you fellow gardeners….What about tomatoes with white cores? What causes that?
Rosemarie says
I am just SOooooo jealous. Our tomatoes are history! Have nothing left but dried plants to be pulled out and trashed. We had a real bounty thanks to Gro Pots and growing on the deck where the poor deer couldn’t get to them. They’ve trashed everything else in the yard – except weeds, of course – they’re a bit picky! Still feel sorry for the way they’ve had to forage this summer – beautiful animals even if they are a nuisance to so many!
Had over 200 though and would have been able to use all of those except for the BER.
BUT wanted to share my tip – after the first onslaught of not even knowing what it was, I learned to pick the tomato as soon as the BER was noticed – usually just a small lighter spot.
They ripened well in the house and the BER stopped right there so there was less to cut away. Next year we’re going to add 2C of lime to each grow pot as I’ve read that prevents – or helps prevent – the BER. Have been congratulated on our crop – first time I used the the Gro Pots and will definitely get many more to fill up the deck next summer. Sounds like a commercial, doesn’t it? But it was the best thing I’ve ever seen for perfect tomates.
Bell peppers and jalapeños are still producing well. But my kirby cukes could not handle the heat even after several plantings.
We had triple digits temps for 3-4 straight weeks – so feel we did good.!!!
Next year will put the heirlooms in the Gro Pots – this year just did the hybrids – oh! do I have
plans for Next Year!
In the meantime have to visit our big Farmer’s Market for good tomatoes – so I am very, very jealous of all you harvesting and still harvesting.
We rarely eat green salads in the summer – luckily we are both of the same mind-set that if tthere are homegrown tomatoes, who needs more? Can also do “green” in the winter!!!
Hope you are well Kevin
Kathy says
I am playing catch-up here with emails and am really enjoying and appreciating getting to read all of the tips and input that everyone is sharing!! Thank you to everyone commenting here! It has really helped and I am saving the tips in a file to refer to for next years gardens!
Kevin, thank you so much for this blog and all that you share with us!!
Barb says
Hi from the Midwest, Downers Grove, a western suburb 20 miles East of Downtown Chicago. Weather here very strange this year as we all know. Hence, a challenging tomato growing season.
I have approximately 75 Heirloom Tomato plants., all colors and sizes. Guessing I have about 50 varieties. I have 47 planted in a rented community garden plot and about 28 in my garden. Heirloom Tomatoes are susceptible to diseases so they are more of a challenge to grow. I have been cutting back the diseased leaves and have sprayed with Organic copper and sulphur products. I water daily giving them approximately 1.5 gallons of water that sits overnight in buckets. This helps take out the chlorine from the water. I also have blossom end rot and hear that this only happens when the first fruits start to ripen. Not finding this true this year. A lot of labor!
I am growing about 8 new varieties this year and finding that all of them have been very tasty. Many of them are quite large. Have one that must weigh close to 2 lbs. but have not weighed it yet. I believe it is a brandywine. I never saw a tomato this large. Hoping it will have a good flavor.
I brought in samples of diseased leaves and a tomato for positive identification to the local master gardeners at a university extension office. They were unable to assist me in identifying the issues and was disappointed that they could not. I pretty much think I have several issues going on….early blight and septoria leaf spot. Could be other issues such as a lack of some kind of nutrition in the soil, etc., but Heirloom tomatoes are not disease resistance.
With all that being said, the tomatoes are coming in and ripening now. However, due to the lack of leaves on the plants and the cold weather which hampered fruit setting, there are fewer tomatoes than there should be. I feel it will be a much shorter tomato growing season as compared to last year. Things are just all around later this year by about 3 weeks.
It’s frustrating to work so hard and be faced with so many roadblocks. However, I am not one to give up easily. I learn something new each year and I’m hoping that next year the weather will cooperate better.
Nothing better than a fresh home grown tomato. Love those tomato and mayonnaise sandwiches!
Zylo-gardener says
I have some tomatoes and though the tomatoes that are produced are meant to be medium sized, i am getting tomatoes smaller than that and i have heard that lack of water can result in smaller-than-should-be tomatoes. Has this been the case with anyone here? that your tomatoes have gotten less water than they should have and so the tomatoes were a little smaller than they should have been? I am not sure if this is the case with me or not because i do know that there was a period in which my tomato plants that were in pots weren’t getting enough water and though now they are okay and getting water, the tomatoes on the plants may still be feeling the effect of the previous lack of water. Has anyone had this problem?