At this late stage of the season my tomatoes all crack

[Elliot]

It seems that unless I pick the fruit early, the tomatoes are all cracking. Its something I tend to see almost every year in September. at first I thought it was all about watering but now I see that its a late season problem. Is there anything more I can do to prevent this?

[KarenO]

I just pick mine at blush. Then they never crack
KarenO

[MendozaMark]

Originally Posted by Elliot

It seems that unless I pick the fruit early, the tomatoes are all cracking. Its something I tend to see almost every year in September. at first I thought it was all about watering but now I see that its a late season problem. Is there anything more I can do to prevent this?

Do all your varieties crack? Are some less prone, if so you may want to try different varieties. Since you are saying its cold related, have you tried any cold protection? You can get cheap fabric row cover, old bed sheets or actual frost blankets. One thing I don't like about the fabric row cover is it catches on everything and sometimes it damages the plants when you take it off.

[Elliot]

It seems that from Aug1 when we start getting cherry and grape tomatoes getting ripe, there is no cracking. Now they are all cracking. It has not been that cold

[MendozaMark]

Originally Posted by Elliot

It seems that from Aug1 when we start getting cherry and grape tomatoes getting ripe, there is no cracking. Now they are all cracking. It has not been that cold

Cracking tomatoes are usually caused by the plants getting more water then they need or the fruits are growing quicker then the skin can handle. Having now had a coffee i can think of a few possibilities that may be your issue.

1. Its late season and your plants are getting weaker and all problems will be exasperated.

2. Your plants are slowing down but you are still watering them the same as full summer when their growth is at the peak.

3. You may be getting morning dew that is also adding to the over water conditions.

4. Your plants for whatever reason are varying too much in moisture, going from very dry to very wet, to very dry....

Hopefully the Tomato experts will jump in here as i am just speculating. I have had cracking issues as well, but it always happens in my desert garden after we get a huge rainfall.

[ContainerTed]

Down in the garden, Grandma Frieda, Aunt Gertie, Pappy Kerns, and Sweet Sue were hanging out discussing all the recent heavy rain. The conversation turned frustrating when Aunt Gertie commented, "All this heavy rain is giving me a splitting headache."

Grandma Frieda nodded agreement while forcing several painful smiles.

Sweet Sue gave out a pain filled moan and said, "I feel all bloated. I think I'm retaining a lot of water".

Pappy Kerns spoke up and murmurred, "Hey, ladies, I'm feeling it too. My skin is breaking everywhere. This ain't no catfacing".

Loopy the dwarf happened by at that moment and quickly asked, "What's everyone cracking up about?"

===================================

Couldn't resist this one.

[jillian]

Originally Posted by ContainerTed

Down in the garden, Grandma Frieda, Aunt Gertie, Pappy Kerns, and Sweet Sue were hanging out discussing all the recent heavy rain. The conversation turned frustrating when Aunt Gertie commented, "All this heavy rain is giving me a splitting headache."

Grandma Frieda nodded agreement while forcing several painful smiles.

Sweet Sue gave out a pain filled moan and said, "I feel all bloated. I think I'm retaining a lot of water".

Pappy Kerns spoke up and murmurred, "Hey, ladies, I'm feeling it too. My skin is breaking everywhere. This ain't no catfacing".

Loopy the dwarf happened by at that moment and quickly asked, "What's everyone cracking up about?"

===================================

Couldn't resist this one.

Hilarious!!!!

[gorbelly]

I think it has to do with the fact that September in the NE tends to alternate between sunny and dry and very heavy rain that really saturates (i.e. remnants of tropical storm and hurricanes). I don't think regular watering can make up for that kind of rain pattern--it still overwhelms the soil.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Elliot

It seems that from Aug1 when we start getting cherry and grape tomatoes getting ripe, there is no cracking. Now they are all cracking. It has not been that cold

Elliot, it's not the cold at all, it's the torrential rains that's been occuring from time to time the past couple of weeks and since I've been following the US Tennis Open I know what kind of weather you have had in your area as well.

When the epidermis and cell wall are at their maximum size, and that doesn't have to be a fully ripe fruit either, water going in, constraint of cell wall, not good, so cell wall cracks/splits.

Up here north of you it's been abnormally dry, scattered rain amd T storms possible almost any day but they haven't hit where I am until two days ago and especially today so I can just imagine what some of my fruits will look like in a day or two.

And here on the computer waiting out a rain delay for the mens final lm NY which was supposed to start at 4 PM, and watching the rain that hit you on the island as well.

Carolyn

[MissS]

Originally Posted by ContainerTed

Down in the garden, Grandma Frieda, Aunt Gertie, Pappy Kerns, and Sweet Sue were hanging out discussing all the recent heavy rain. The conversation turned frustrating when Aunt Gertie commented, "All this heavy rain is giving me a splitting headache."

Grandma Frieda nodded agreement while forcing several painful smiles.

Sweet Sue gave out a pain filled moan and said, "I feel all bloated. I think I'm retaining a lot of water".

Pappy Kerns spoke up and murmurred, "Hey, ladies, I'm feeling it too. My skin is breaking everywhere. This ain't no catfacing".

Loopy the dwarf happened by at that moment and quickly asked, "What's everyone cracking up about?"

===================================

Couldn't resist this one.

Thank you!!!

[Gardeneer]

Puck them at the first hnt of color break and bring them inside. let them ripen on the counter or elsewhere. Now the indoor temperatures much warmer that the lows outside, your mators should ripen faster indoor.

[zipcode]

Cold nights, big temperature swings, morning dew have a big effect. Also nutrient intake from colder soil is affected. So yes, it's difficult to control this in open ground.

[b54red]

The skins on the tomatoes are usually thicker and less able to stretch due to the hot dry weather of late summer and when fall comes around any rain or sudden growth will cause cracking and splitting. Fall tomatoes also need less water because they are not losing as much due to the cooler temps so any heavy rain gives the fruit too much moisture and pop goes the tomato. You can lessen the uptake of moisture by removing some roots by taking a shovel and pushing it down about a foot from the plant on one or two sides cutting some of the main side roots.

Bill

[clkeiper]

Mine cracked after the first rain we got all Summer.. as in there was no rain fall for 8 weeks here, so I had to water as best I could. Now that the soil is not saturated or bone dry the tomatoes are not nearly as nasty looking as they were, but I pick everything that has color every couple days and let them ripen in the baskets just so I dont run the risk of losing several bushels at a time since I have 100 tomato plants outside. The high tunnel tomatoes are much nicer all the time.

[imp]

Over filled water balloons. Too much water for the structire of the tomato fruit.