Tomatoes Splitting Why

newatit2010

Well-Known Member
The tomatoes I am growing are getting big and are splitting opened. I water every other day could I be watering to much? Damn they are good.
 

Brimi

Well-Known Member
Don't worry about that. Tomato growers go for those tomatoes. they just grew out of their good skin.
What strains do you have?
I have a lot of different strains myself.
This year:
Big Rainbow
Cherokee Purple
Purple Russia
Lollipop
Sugar Lump
Pineapple Noir
Polish Linguisa

Love tomatoes ;O)
 

treduece

Well-Known Member
last year i grew early girls and a cherry tomato. now I got some beefsteaks and romas (one is topsy turvy)
 

newatit2010

Well-Known Member
Sorry I'm not much of a gardener lol to me they were tomatoe plants the wife bought and I have sprayed for bugs. They are almost plate size and juicey. Just thinking if I was watering to much are maybe picking to late? Thanks yall love them tomatoes
 

mcpurple

Well-Known Member
well it sounds liek to much water, on the farm i work on the toms have not been watered for 3 weeks nows, and they look great, its called dry farming. and yes to much water in bloom will split them as the water will make them to fat for how fast they can grow and bam your split, they are still good to eat, could be over ripe i guess, if you want you can pick toms that are not fully ripe and let them sit a few days in a room temp dark area to ripen, and then place on a window sill to turn them bright red
 

Carl Spackler

Well-Known Member
I have to agree with the other folks. Too much water. I have the same problem but there is little I can do as this is from unusual amounts of rainfall lately. I had problems with fruitsetting (bloom but no fruit) as well, this was due to the high temps. Not a great year for tomatoes but hey farming is a gamble taken every year. Even a modest harvest is better than the plastic ones at the grocery. One way to battle splitting is to harvest early before they start to turn. Put in a widow sill for a few days (ripening will stop immediately in the fridge).
 

dannyboy602

Well-Known Member
well it sounds liek to much water, on the farm i work on the toms have not been watered for 3 weeks nows, and they look great, its called dry farming. and yes to much water in bloom will split them as the water will make them to fat for how fast they can grow and bam your split, they are still good to eat, could be over ripe i guess, if you want you can pick toms that are not fully ripe and let them sit a few days in a room temp dark area to ripen, and then place on a window sill to turn them bright red
You don't think it could possibly be heat related?
 

LittleT

Well-Known Member
comes from watering too much when soil has been very dry a few days.i get it here in n. c. a week of no water then a hard rain then a few extra hot days they begin to split
 

mcpurple

Well-Known Member
I have to agree with the other folks. Too much water. I have the same problem but there is little I can do as this is from unusual amounts of rainfall lately. I had problems with fruitsetting (bloom but no fruit) as well, this was due to the high temps. Not a great year for tomatoes but hey farming is a gamble taken every year. Even a modest harvest is better than the plastic ones at the grocery. One way to battle splitting is to harvest early before they start to turn. Put in a widow sill for a few days (ripening will stop immediately in the fridge).
a window sill wil NOT ripen a tom, it will turn it red, to ripen them it needs to be ina darker room temp area and then it will ripen more.
and i dont think heat is an issue with toms, our GH gets up to 120 easy and we have not watered them for 3 weeks

You don't think it could possibly be heat related?
a small chance it may be heat but again our green house gets up to 120 and my toms are in heat every day. most cracking or splitting is to much water and they swell to fast. dry farming will get you much more flavor as well instead of the plain watery taste.

dry farming is great i ust learned about it and i am now using it on my own toms. the plant thinks its the end of the season and starts to produce like crazy trying to make seeds before the plants dies.
 

doser

Well-Known Member
I have always believed it to be a problem related to uneven watering but it sounds like you have a schedule that you maintain so overwatering would be my next guess.
 

nickman

Active Member
I REALLY DONT THINK ITS OVER WATERING ...

I THINK ITS JUST WHEN THE TOMATOES GET A LITLE OVER RIPE(too red) ...

MINE DO IT ALL THE TIME IF I LEAVE EM ON A LIL TOO LONG ...
 

Carne Seca

Well-Known Member
Sorry I'm not much of a gardener lol to me they were tomatoe plants the wife bought and I have sprayed for bugs. They are almost plate size and juicey. Just thinking if I was watering to much are maybe picking to late? Thanks yall love them tomatoes
You need to find a good fried green tomato recipe. I made some last week that lasted all of five minutes with my family. I cooked two heaping platefuls :D
 

mcpurple

Well-Known Member
I REALLY DONT THINK ITS OVER WATERING ...

I THINK ITS JUST WHEN THE TOMATOES GET A LITLE OVER RIPE(too red) ...

MINE DO IT ALL THE TIME IF I LEAVE EM ON A LIL TOO LONG ...
it could not be over watering but it is a small chance it isnt. some will split when over ripe but that is mostly due to it having to much water in them causing them to swell then split, some heirlooms will split on theri own no matter what, if you dry farm you should not have any splitting issues and it enhances taste alot and the toms are most the time much less watery and slimey on the inside. out of about 50 toms on our farm that are by far over ripe on the vine none have split they have just fell off the vine.
 

cocodreams

Member
Splitting in tomatoes is often the result of inconsistent root zone moisture. Letting the plant dry too much between waterings is often the culprit. On the other hand, letting the soil dry slightly between waterings can induce fruiting and keep the root zone healthy. Its a toss up-- the age old question between fashion and function, appearance and taste.

Heirloom varieties are slightly more prone to splitting than hybrid varieties.
Splitting in no way affects the taste or quality of the tomato though. It may however, reduce its shelf life a bit.

Commercial growers grow for appearance, durability and shelf life.
My tomatoes are slightly flawed, but incredibly delicious. I'm growing them for taste.
 

mcpurple

Well-Known Member
mine looks like mutants, or at least the 1st set did cuz i had a N over does but now they are coming in very nice. but like you say they taste just as good if not better.
 

WeedFreak78

Well-Known Member
I have Sweet Cherry 100s,some Reg.cherry and roma's. I'm having issues with the cherries splitting but not the roma's- mostly due to a very rainy 2week stretch. They taste the same so no big deal, I used my last bunch of split cherries to make the sweetest spaghetti sauce I've ever had.
 
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