Ugly late tomatoes

[enchant]

Most of the tomatoes I'm seeing these days look like the photo below. I'm trying to figure out why, and if there's anything I can do about it. I'm not sure what that effect is called, so I don't know what to put in the subject line. Coming off the vine, they're bumpy and rugged, like they've been in a fight.

As we got well into September, the combination of having more tomatoes than I knew what to do with, along with other real-life issues that had a much higher priority than the garden, meant that I really neglected watering it. It *has* been dry this summer in the Boston area, and perhaps that contributed to it. but the colder weather is also here, and we've had a lot of days in the 50's with nights in the 40's.

So what I'd like to know is... Does this tomato look like it's suffering from the effects of not enough water, or is this just the late season having its effect?

Thanks for any advice.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by enchant

Most of the tomatoes I'm seeing these days look like the photo below. I'm trying to figure out why, and if there's anything I can do about it. I'm not sure what that effect is called, so I don't know what to put in the subject line. Coming off the vine, they're bumpy and rugged, like they've been in a fight.

As we got well into September, the combination of having more tomatoes than I knew what to do with, along with other real-life issues that had a much higher priority than the garden, meant that I really neglected watering it. It *has* been dry this summer in the Boston area, and perhaps that contributed to it. but the colder weather is also here, and we've had a lot of days in the 50's with nights in the 40's.

So what I'd like to know is... Does this tomato look like it's suffering from the effects of not enough water, or is this just the late season having its effect?

Thanks for any advice.

I don't know about the white areas at the stem end, perhaps flashback from photography,, but if you look real hard at the dark areas you'll see that some have an internal ring structure, and that says anthracnose to me, which is commonly seen on fruits when the weather get much colder in the Fall.

Nothing you can do about, it just happens.

Carolyn

[enchant]

Most of that white on the skin is reflection from the bright sky.

Last year, I think it was a lot warmer around this time of year, and I think I had better results.

Thanks for the good info. I gotta move someplace warmer, I guess.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by enchant

Most of that white on the skin is reflection from the bright sky.

Last year, I think it was a lot warmer around this time of year, and I think I had better results.

Thanks for the good info. I gotta move someplace warmer, I guess.

No, you don't need to move to a warmer area at all, you just have to accept the fact that no two seasons are the same, meaning first cold weather, first frost, first hard frost, are different every year.

And Boston and the surrounding area is a lovely place to be, so stay put say I.

Carolyn

[AlittleSalt]

enchant, thank you for posting the picture. I have never seen that before and would be just as curious as to what could cause it to happen.

Thanks Carolyn for the answer.

I'm guessing the tomato is fine for eating?

[enchant]

The interior looks fine and tastes ok, although I can't bring myself to eat the uglier sections of the skin. And there are still enough pretty tomatoes so that I'm ok passing on the ugly ones.