Is this Sun Scold or something else?

Dark Rumor · June 15, 2019

I have had about a half a dozen green tomatoes get this on about the same place as this Prudens Purple. Is this Sun Scold or something else. Is the tomato eatable?

Worth1 · June 15, 2019

Yes it is and yes, just cut off the scald.

Dark Rumor · June 16, 2019

Thanks, guess I should have not gotten rid of the other ones so fast

eyegrotom · June 16, 2019

Hi Dark Rumor I call it sun blister- sun scold. I had 10 or 12 from last week as we had 3 days of 100+ temps. Today I made a pot of Chile I just cut away the bad spots diced them up and put them in

Worth1 · June 16, 2019

Some varieties will sit and stare at the sun all day and not get scald.
Others need shade and will scald at the slightest hint of direct sun.
Prudens Purple seems to be the latter of the two types.
This is but one of many things to consider when choosing tomatoes to grow in Texas.

slugworth · June 16, 2019

sun scald and too much rain at one point.

Dark Rumor · June 16, 2019

This tomato was covered with a piece of green frost cloth like this one in the picture well before it got sun scald. I had several others that were covered with a green cloth get sun scald. I use the green cloth to hide the tomatoes from the mocking birds.

Worth1 · June 16, 2019

Socks do well too.

b54red · June 16, 2019

Of the varieties that I grow every year the worst one to get sun scald is Red Barn. Whenever a large fruit doesn't have adequate leaf cover this time of the year on RB it usually gets scalded. Even though I do single stem lean and lower I rarely have many fruits get scalded and we just had two weeks with 100 plus days in a row and only had one badly scalded fruit. I use the Missouri pruning method on most of my plants to give them more coverage but it doesn't always work out. Sometimes when diseases or pests cause the lose of a lot of leaves it is a terrible problem down here.

A couple of years ago during a particularly bad infestation of spider mites I used DE, soapy water and Permethrin to help control them. I lost a lot of leaves and used a really heavy dose of DE in the mix and it left all my fruit with a nice ghostly white coating which seemed to help a great deal with sun scald which should have been bad with all the leaves missing from the spider mite damage. I haven't tried using the coating since but if I do loose a lot of leaves again from any of the many maladies that can hit a tomato patch I am going to try it and see if it really works to protect the fruits from scald. Of course I will leave out the Permethrin unless I am dealing with spider mites again.

Bill

Dark Rumor · June 16, 2019

Quote:

Originally Posted by Worth1

Socks do well too.

I had not considered socks, guess I will hold onto my old socks which should hide the tomatoes from birds and squirrels. Course using TTF the tomatoes are getting to big to put socks on them,

brooksville · June 16, 2019

Kaolin clay is supposed to protect the fruit from sun scald and stink bug damage. Doesn’t kill the bugs just prevents them from stinging fruit.

b54red · June 18, 2019

Quote:

Originally Posted by brooksville

Kaolin clay is supposed to protect the fruit from sun scald and stink bug damage. Doesn’t kill the bugs just prevents them from stinging fruit.

I want to kill stink bugs.

Bill

Dark Rumor · June 18, 2019

Quote:

Originally Posted by b54red

I want to kill stink bugs.

Bill

June 15, 2019	#2
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	Yes it is and yes, just cut off the scald.

June 16, 2019	#3
Dark Rumor Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Southeast Texas Posts: 287	Thanks, guess I should have not gotten rid of the other ones so fast

June 16, 2019	#4
eyegrotom Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2018 Location: So Cal Posts: 380	Hi Dark Rumor I call it sun blister- sun scold. I had 10 or 12 from last week as we had 3 days of 100+ temps. Today I made a pot of Chile I just cut away the bad spots diced them up and put them in

June 16, 2019	#6
slugworth Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: connecticut,usa Posts: 1,152	sun scald and too much rain at one point.

June 16, 2019	#9
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	Of the varieties that I grow every year the worst one to get sun scald is Red Barn. Whenever a large fruit doesn't have adequate leaf cover this time of the year on RB it usually gets scalded. Even though I do single stem lean and lower I rarely have many fruits get scalded and we just had two weeks with 100 plus days in a row and only had one badly scalded fruit. I use the Missouri pruning method on most of my plants to give them more coverage but it doesn't always work out. Sometimes when diseases or pests cause the lose of a lot of leaves it is a terrible problem down here. A couple of years ago during a particularly bad infestation of spider mites I used DE, soapy water and Permethrin to help control them. I lost a lot of leaves and used a really heavy dose of DE in the mix and it left all my fruit with a nice ghostly white coating which seemed to help a great deal with sun scald which should have been bad with all the leaves missing from the spider mite damage. I haven't tried using the coating since but if I do loose a lot of leaves again from any of the many maladies that can hit a tomato patch I am going to try it and see if it really works to protect the fruits from scald. Of course I will leave out the Permethrin unless I am dealing with spider mites again. Bill

June 16, 2019	#11
brooksville Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2014 Location: South Georgia Zone 8a Posts: 179	Kaolin clay is supposed to protect the fruit from sun scald and stink bug damage. Doesn’t kill the bugs just prevents them from stinging fruit.