Why Do Tomatoes Split? Simple, Because They Are Growing Too Fast. How Can I Stop Tomatoes Splitting? Simple, Read This Article.
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When tomatoes grow in normal circumstances they skin expands in unison with the flesh expanding. But sometimes the flesh grows really fast and the skin lags behind. When that happens the skin splits and the tomato is ruined.
How To Stop Tomatoes Splitting
Stopping tomatoes from splitting is easy if you know what causes the flesh to grow faster than their skin.
OK so we know that the flesh expands faster than the skin but why?
Why Do Tomatoes Split? Simple, Because They Are Growing Too Fast. How Can I Stop Tomatoes Splitting?
It’s usually because the plants been short of water and suddenly gets plenty. The flesh takes it up quickly but the skin can’t grow that fast. So we need to do one of two things.
Either unsure the toms don’t get too much water after they’ve been short .. that’s hard if they are outdoors and it suddenly rains a lot. Or we need to ensure they have plenty of water at all times.
What Happens To Split Tomatoes?
When a tom splits it is easily infected with fungi such as botrytis and within a few days the grey mould is seen. Occasionally small splits will heal. But they leave a nasty scar on the skin. The fruit are edible but I prefer to cut out the scar.
Split Tomatoes Plan B
The toms in the image are outdoors but have never been watered except a pint when first planted. Despite the lack of rain they put their roots down and have produced a reasonable crop. But if it rains they will now split.
So my plan B is to pick them if it rains and turn them into green tomato chutney. The alternative would be to increase watering over several weeks. But the first decent amount of rain will stop that plan.
How To Grow Perfect Tomatoes
I’ve written post on how to grow tomatoes in the UK. It’s based on my experience as a commercial tomato grower of over a decade. Click the link to read more.
