Newbie Question

sstasher · June 30, 2013

Hi everyone, I just had a few questions about watering. I've been watering my tomato plants with about a gallon each every 3-4 days. Today I noticed that one of my baby tomatoes (from my super sauce plant) split on me after fertilizing and watering yesterday. At least that what I think this is.

My question is what should I do different in terms of watering. Should I spread it out to ever other day and watering half a gallon or should I be watering more? Rain is pretty much a non factor here in Los Angeles. I should also say that I hand water since my garden isn't really big enough to do a drip system.

Thanks for all your advice!

Redbaron · June 30, 2013

As a general rule, tomatoes split from fluctuations in water combined with genectics that make them more susceptible. I have found that with a thick mulch, I have far less splitting. Some varieties are going to split though, no matter what you do. I never grew super sauce, so no idea there.

ddsack · June 30, 2013

sstasher, did you have a chance to look carefully at that tomato earlier, and are you positive that the split occurred only after you watered it? On the few times I've seen exposed seeds like that, it been a result of some kind of faulty pollination or growth, and tended to show up as the tomato increased in size, like cat facing does, but has nothing to do with watering. Your tomato looks like it is still pretty hard and green. My experiences with split skin is that it occurs after the tomato has reached mature ripe size and is at least in the breaker or blush state where the extra water can't be used for growth as with a greenie.

Redbaron · June 30, 2013

Good point Dee! I agree 100%. That tomato is very young to be splitting from water fluctuation.

efisakov · June 30, 2013

Agree with Dee, looks like a catface to me as well.
I like this website: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hs200
It explains different disorders and shows pictures.

sstasher · June 30, 2013

Dee, I'm not absolutely sure now that I think about it. I've never heard about catface until today! Should I let it keep growing or pinch it off?

Ella, thank you for the link! I'm going to check it out right now.

ddsack · June 30, 2013

You can let it grow, it won't look like a perfect tomato, but you can filet out anything that looks odd to you, and eat the rest.

June 30, 2013	#1
sstasher Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 3	Newbie Question Hi everyone, I just had a few questions about watering. I've been watering my tomato plants with about a gallon each every 3-4 days. Today I noticed that one of my baby tomatoes (from my super sauce plant) split on me after fertilizing and watering yesterday. At least that what I think this is. My question is what should I do different in terms of watering. Should I spread it out to ever other day and watering half a gallon or should I be watering more? Rain is pretty much a non factor here in Los Angeles. I should also say that I hand water since my garden isn't really big enough to do a drip system. Thanks for all your advice!

June 30, 2013	#2
Redbaron Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 4,488	As a general rule, tomatoes split from fluctuations in water combined with genectics that make them more susceptible. I have found that with a thick mulch, I have far less splitting. Some varieties are going to split though, no matter what you do. I never grew super sauce, so no idea there. __________________ Scott AKA The Redbaron "Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted & thoughtful observation rather than protracted & thoughtless labour; & of looking at plants & animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single-product system." Bill Mollison co-founder of permaculture

June 30, 2013	#3
ddsack Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Northern Minnesota - zone 3 Posts: 3,231	sstasher, did you have a chance to look carefully at that tomato earlier, and are you positive that the split occurred only after you watered it? On the few times I've seen exposed seeds like that, it been a result of some kind of faulty pollination or growth, and tended to show up as the tomato increased in size, like cat facing does, but has nothing to do with watering. Your tomato looks like it is still pretty hard and green. My experiences with split skin is that it occurs after the tomato has reached mature ripe size and is at least in the breaker or blush state where the extra water can't be used for growth as with a greenie. __________________ Dee **************

June 30, 2013	#4
Redbaron Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 4,488	Good point Dee! I agree 100%. That tomato is very young to be splitting from water fluctuation. __________________ Scott AKA The Redbaron "Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted & thoughtful observation rather than protracted & thoughtless labour; & of looking at plants & animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single-product system." Bill Mollison co-founder of permaculture

June 30, 2013	#5
efisakov Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: NJ, zone 7 Posts: 3,162	Agree with Dee, looks like a catface to me as well. I like this website: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hs200 It explains different disorders and shows pictures. __________________ Ella God comes along and says, "I think I'm going to create THE tomato!” Last edited by efisakov; June 30, 2013 at 04:43 PM.