Comments on: Need a solution for why my tomatoes crack and split?

By: What are the black spots on my tomatoes?

What are the black spots on my tomatoes? — Fri, 27 May 2011 11:57:26 +0000

[...] Another common tomato problems are cracks and splits in your tomato fruit. If that’s your concern read my earlier post HERE [...]

By: Steven

Steven — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 01:02:33 +0000

thanks,for helpful info

By: ari

ari — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:38:08 +0000

My first year growing tomatoes in Mt. Shasta has been an interesting one, especially with 18″ of snow on Easter Sunday. I thought the splits were due to the extreme temps, but it may have also been my watering…thanks for the information. I thought split tomatoes were okay to eat, I fed them to my puppy.

By: donald j brady

donald j brady — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 18:32:36 +0000

Just had beautiful bowl of soup made from cracked tomatoes.Thank you for your imformation will use same next year with the of God.

By: Rees

Rees — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 19:54:56 +0000

You are exactly right Joe, all that really matters is that you end up with great tasting tomatoes
Send in a few pics if you can.

Rees

By: Joe

Joe — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 18:44:16 +0000

Nice article, and does make sense. It is my understanding that tomato plants like full sun, as is written on the tags that are on the flats I purchase at my local nursery. So I planted a dozen plants in the part of my property that gets full sun all day. My plants are huge, most over 6′ and have a large yield. But many are cracked, just a few like the pictures you show, but mostly cracks radiating out from stem end of tomato. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter because they always taste a million times better than anything at the store.

By: Will

Will — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 23:38:42 +0000

Ahhhh. I figured the inside of my tomatoes was growing faster than the outside and that they may have been getting to much direct sun after I pruned the dead leaves. Thanks, this is a great article!

Will Moore

By: Cedric Trigg

Cedric Trigg — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 02:19:29 +0000

We grow goliath tomatoes in the greenhouse. We are having a splitting problem. We have the water time set on a timer. We are using chicken manure as fertilizer and sometimes a blue color fertilizer. We have a shade cloth over the green house so it blocks the sun. What could be the cause?

We grow better boys tomatoes in the outside. We are having a splitting problem. We have the water time set on a timer. We are using chicken manure as fertilizer and sometimes a blue color fertilizer. We have a shade cloth over the green house so it blocks the sun. What could be the cause?

By: Rees Cowden

Rees Cowden — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 23:51:57 +0000

Barb,
Thanks for the note. When leaves turn brown and dry it is usually a sign of not enough water. When they turn yellow and are soft but still hang on the plant it usually means too much water. There are some diseases that cause tomato leaves to turn brown and shrivel up but if they are crispy it is most likely that they got too dry at some point. I suggest just keeping up with the regular watering like you are doing now. If the dryness looks like it is affecting more and more leaves it could be a disease. One other possibility is fertilizer burn. If you pumped them up with too much nitrogen it could cause them to burn.
Sorry to be so wishy washy but there are several possible causes. Yellow spots and wilting are blights or fungus. Brown and crispy is water or over fertilization
Good luck,
Rees

By: Barb

Barb — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:29:18 +0000

I live in the hot southern desert area, west of Las Vegas. I’ve learned that they need to be watered everyday otherwise they wilt and shade made all the difference. However, if my leaves are turning brown and dry, does that mean I’m over-watering? Should I water deep, less often, or shallow, daily?