Why do tomatoes crack open??

[joel]

I have been on many forums, looking for an easy answer.
Most fuss & never agree on anything.
Some say it is the lack of something in the soil, most say lime.
Some say it is uneven water or to much water.
I have more problem with Sauce tomatoes.

 

[Meerkat]

Drying out then watering them too fast. What I hear anyway, not sure.

 

[SheepDog]

Too much water, especially late in the season. Once they start to turn from green you should stop watering.

 

[joel]

This why I am investing in drip irrigation & pellet Gypsum.
I hope this will work, I know egg shells take for ever.

 

[Terri9630]

Lack of water, calcium deficiency, sun scald. There is no easy answer. It really depends on each gardens conditions. Here in the desert we have to have shade cloth over our tomatoes and water twice a day. Actually almost everything in the garden needs shade cloth and twice a day watering.

 

[Terri9630]

Too much water, especially late in the season. Once they start to turn from green you should stop watering.

Not here. That would result in dead plants and no tomatoes.

 

[joel]

I know a guy who raised tomatoes commercially in the N.C. mountains & made money at it.
He said drip system is the best thing he has used in 50 something years of growing tomatoes & other viggies.
He is retired & grows for the locals, who come to his house to get vegetables.
He also sends vegetables to the farmer market a few times a week.
I swear he can grow on concrete.

 

[phideaux]

My dad , always kept 1 gallon milk jugs with water in them and punched a coupe small holes in the bottom,
and set them next to the plants. He did this all season long, and never had a split tomato,
and had tomatoes till frost, when everybody else's were dried and burned up from the heat.


I never did try that.


Maybe I should .


Jim

 

[Tank-Girl]

Not here. That would result in dead plants and no tomatoes.

never mind.

 

[Dani]

Why it happens I don't know. . . I just keep mine moist thru out the growing season and added the eggshells at planting. I have not ever had a problem with them cracking on me, except the first year when I didn't keep the soil moist enough. It would have small cracks around where they attached at the stem. I didn't do the eggshells that year either. I found what works for me and stuck with it.

 

[Grizzleyette___Adams]

What works for me: I don't subject my tomatoes to "feast or famine" type of watering, and keep an even supply of moisture in the ground (mulch!) to the tune of an equivalent of at least one inch of rainwater a week. At transplanting time, I add about a teaspoon of powdered eggshells in the soil and a couple handfuls of (mostly plant-based) compost. I also have about an inch layer of compost on the surface of the ground beneath the mulch for a slow and steady supply of balanced nutrients.

As long as the water supply does not wildly fluctuate and the soil does not completely dry out to bone-dry status, my 'maters behave themselves. I mulch, mulch, mulch like I am Ruth Stout's daughter or something.

Certain varieties of tomatoes are "thin-skinned" and are prone to cracking. Look (Google) for varieties that are described as "crack resistant."

 

[Weedygarden]

I know a guy who raised tomatoes commercially in the N.C. mountains & made money at it.
He said drip system is the best thing he has used in 50 something years of growing tomatoes & other viggies.
He is retired & grows for the locals, who come to his house to get vegetables.
He also sends vegetables to the farmer market a few times a week.
I swear he can grow on concrete.

An automated system is absolutely the best thing for a garden. I had a plot in a community garden where there were some plots that had automated systems and others that did not. The difference in the amount of produce from an automated system was huge. People tried to get the rest of the garden automated, but the leaders stood firm against it. Of course, guess whose plots were automated?

Automated watering of yards, gardens, any plants makes a huge difference.

 

[Meerkat]

Lack of water, calcium deficiency, sun scald. There is no easy answer. It really depends on each gardens conditions. Here in the desert we have to have shade cloth over our tomatoes and water twice a day. Actually almost everything in the garden needs shade cloth and twice a day watering.

Hydroponic s would be great for desert but may have to go non organic. Some do organic hydros though. Aquaponic is good if you can learn to grow fish food and work with chelating iron for absorption. We tried duckweed, not good results.

 

[joel]

Aquaponic is always organic, because the chemicals would kill the fish.
Tomatoes do well in both Hydroponic & Aquaponic, but I do not have time for it.
It is strange that over watering in the ground will cause problems.
However Hydroponic & Aquaponic work well with tomatoes.

 

[Meerkat]

Aquaponic is always organic, because the chemicals would kill the fish.
Tomatoes do well in both Hydroponic & Aquaponic, but I do not have time for it.
It is strange that over watering in the ground will cause problems.
However Hydroponic & Aquaponic work well with tomatoes.

We grew just about everything with hydro ,even cabbage but stalk was a little leggy on cabbage but it tasted good. We used Master Blend with Epsom Salts or Canna Blends.
I think you have to add iron chelating chemicals to grow Aquaponics though. Do you agree?

 

[joel]

Yes, I have not run a system as of 2018, but I have talked to some who have & make a study of them.
So you know much more than I.
https://university.upstartfarmers.com/blog/the-beginners-guide-to-iron-in-aquaponics