Tomato fruit bottoms cracked??

[Jonnyhat]

Is it normal for some of my unripe tomato fruit to have large cracks on them? The blooms on one of my Rose plants were huge compared to the rest of my plants. They were much large than a silver dollar. The fruit seemed to set normally but now that they are about golf ball sized the bottoms of the fruit on this one plant have deep cracks in it. The fruit i still green, still growing however I was wondering if this was normal?

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Jonnyhat

Is it normal for some of my unripe tomato fruit to have large cracks on them? The blooms on one of my Rose plants were huge compared to the rest of my plants. They were much large than a silver dollar. The fruit seemed to set normally but now that they are about golf ball sized the bottoms of the fruit on this one plant have deep cracks in it. The fruit i still green, still growing however I was wondering if this was normal?

The large blooms you describe are called Megablooms, nee fused blossoms and they usually do lead to ugly misshapen fruits with cracks at the bottom.

Here's a link about Megabloooms that is still here on the first page and have a look at what you might expect.

http://tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=35833

Carolyn

[Jonnyhat]

what's weird though is the rest of the tomatolooks fine, just the bottom but the cracks are pretty deep. its only 1 plant so I will just let this one go, who knows maybe it will be massive.

[Jonnyhat]

it looks as though the Brandywines and the prudens purple all have the same cracking so I guess this is normal.

[brooksville]

Sounds like catfacing, happens on fused blossoms.

[Jonnyhat]

thanks :/ I am not too worried I have 20 plants and at least 200+ fruit sets right now and more every day. my Taxi plants look like they robbed a supermarket.

[b54red]

The bottom splitting you are talking about is one of the main problems I have with Brandywine Sudduth's. I found this problem is not as bad on Brandywine Cowlicks and the taste and production are about the same most of the time. Heavy rainfall for too long can cause this kind of splitting on any tomato when it just takes up too much water; but the thin skinned varieties are a little more susceptible to it.

Bill

[Jonnyhat]

thanks, what happens next? are these throw aways or will the fruit just need to have the bottoms cut off after harvest? Sorry, again I am a newb when it comes to tomatoes.

[KarenO]

the problem is cosmetic only if it is cat facing. The fruit will be edible if not beautiful. Sometimes fruit from mega blooms ripen unevenly but that is ok too. Sauce is their destination at my house.
Karen O

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by b54red

The bottom splitting you are talking about is one of the main problems I have with Brandywine Sudduth's. I found this problem is not as bad on Brandywine Cowlicks and the taste and production are about the same most of the time. Heavy rainfall for too long can cause this kind of splitting on any tomato when it just takes up too much water; but the thin skinned varieties are a little more susceptible to it.

Bill

Bill, when Camo, Mike, bought the plant named Brandywine, he called it Cowlick's Brandywine b'c the nursery where he bought it was called Cowlick's.

So when one says Cowlick's is better than Sudduth, or the reverse, I have to wonder why.

Of course there are several so called strains of Brandwine( the pink one) and no way to know what Mike bought, but in the past there have been several pesons who have grown several of the so called strains and found essentially no difference as long as grown in the same season.

Actually I was interacting with Mike at another message site yesterday, and he was discussing this yet again

I do have to admit, though, that when Craig L sent me seeds for the Sudduth it was far better than the Brandywines I had been growing although I can't remember their strain designations now, since I had appointed myself to the President of the anti-Brandywine club if the US,

Fact is, I am not one who thinks that brandywine has THE best taste around,I like it, yes, I find it has a unique somewhat winey taste, but there are other varieties that I also think have a unique taste and Prue comes to mind since it's one of the few varieties that I can ID by aroma alone,

Carolyn

[digsdirt]

thanks, what happens next? are these throw aways or will the fruit just need to have the bottoms cut off after harvest? Sorry, again I am a newb when it comes to tomatoes.

It comes down to what you think when you look at it. Personally I find most of them to be so deformed, uneven ripened, and full of damaged skin and hard cores that I consider them Yucko, Phooey! (inedible). So I remove the fused blooms as soon as I see them for the benefit of the normal fruit on the plants. And if I miss one the resulting fruit get pitched.

But others prefer to carve out any edible portions they find in them and if they are happy doing that, fine. Choice is yours.

Dave

[Jonnyhat]

What if the same think is happening on non-megablooms?

[digsdirt]

What if the same think is happening on non-megablooms?

If it isn't from fused blooms then it is catfacing. Totally different situation and causes and totally different degree of 'pug-ugly'. So don't confuse the 2 things.

Is catfaced fruit salvageable? Many times, yes. Like Karen said above - it is often only cosmetic and you can just slice off the bottom and eat the rest. So it depends on the amount of catfacing and how the appearance of the fruit appeals to you.

Dave

[Jonnyhat]

watch it with the pug-ugly my pug is gosh darnoodley hansome

[b54red]

You could also be experiencing what I just went through with too much rain following an extended dry period. The sudden uptake of too much water can cause all kinds of splitting. I picked off my largest Donskoi fruit at the bottom of the plant this morning and threw it in the compost because it had a huge deep split in the bottom. It joined several others that had to be removed because of that the past few days. Fruit with shallow skin splits will usually heal over and be fine but when they get those deep crevices on the bottom when they are just starting to blush it is better to just remove them. I also picked most of my blushing tomatoes right after the rain stopped to lessen the chance of splitting; but I missed a few.

Bill