cracking

Elliot · August 22, 2008

Yesterday I must have picked fifty grape and cherry tomatoes and had to throw out half because of cracking. Every year we have cracking but this years its a menace. We have had a lot of storms. Maybe this accounts for it. I don't know. Its frustrating

Elliot

LI, NY

Tomstrees · August 22, 2008

yeah - a period of a dry spell followed by heavy rain = cracking ... frustrating.

I've tried to get around this by keeping the mater patch well watered throughout the growing season. However, I guess some tomatoes can be "prone" to cracking because of their "genes".

~ Tom

Tania · August 22, 2008

Some varieties are especially prone to cracking, and some crack less.

I try to pick all 'blushing' maters before a rainfall is forecasted. Of course, this may not be always possible... Also, when the rain stops, I do not rush into the garden to pick tomatoes, as sometimes even a perfectly-looking tomato may crack just sitting on the counter, if picked shortly after the rain. I noticed that the 'post-picking' cracking can be minimized by waiting for humidity to subside...

The 'better solution' is to search for varieties that do not crack that badly... although not all the commercial seed vendor may comment on cracking in their seed description.

Which varieties are you growing?

Tania

dcarch · August 22, 2008

Yes, lot's of cracking this year due to rain.

What I do:

1. I sun dry cracked ones. They taste pretty good even they are not full ripe.

2. I put the cracked ones under a fan to dry up the cracks so that they would not rot before they are ripe.

dcarch

August 22, 2008	#1
Elliot Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Hicksville, New York Posts: 503	cracking Yesterday I must have picked fifty grape and cherry tomatoes and had to throw out half because of cracking. Every year we have cracking but this years its a menace. We have had a lot of storms. Maybe this accounts for it. I don't know. Its frustrating Elliot LI, NY

August 22, 2008	#2
Tomstrees Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: NJ Bayshore Posts: 3,848	yeah - a period of a dry spell followed by heavy rain = cracking ... frustrating. I've tried to get around this by keeping the mater patch well watered throughout the growing season. However, I guess some tomatoes can be "prone" to cracking because of their "genes". ~ Tom __________________ My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant's point of view. ~ H. Fred Ale

August 22, 2008	#3
Tania Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Anmore, BC, Canada Posts: 3,970	Some varieties are especially prone to cracking, and some crack less. I try to pick all 'blushing' maters before a rainfall is forecasted. Of course, this may not be always possible... Also, when the rain stops, I do not rush into the garden to pick tomatoes, as sometimes even a perfectly-looking tomato may crack just sitting on the counter, if picked shortly after the rain. I noticed that the 'post-picking' cracking can be minimized by waiting for humidity to subside... The 'better solution' is to search for varieties that do not crack that badly... although not all the commercial seed vendor may comment on cracking in their seed description. Which varieties are you growing? Tania __________________ Tatiana's TOMATObase

August 22, 2008	#4
dcarch Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: NY Posts: 2,618	Yes, lot's of cracking this year due to rain. What I do: 1. I sun dry cracked ones. They taste pretty good even they are not full ripe. 2. I put the cracked ones under a fan to dry up the cracks so that they would not rot before they are ripe. dcarch __________________ tomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomato matomato tomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomato matomato tomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomato matomato