Tomato Problem
Gardening Reference » Gardening in 2005
by J'Lyn on September 02, 2005 08:28 AM
I've read through some of the posts on tomatoes trying to find my problem and I'm probably in trouble right from the start because I don't remember what kind of tomatoes I planted. ![[Embarrassed]](im/redface.gif)
Everyone else seems to know. Rank amateur, I know.... anyway... they are coming in just fine, but as they start to ripen a kind of seam appears down the side and eventually splits open, then will start to look moldy. I'm not letting them sit on the vine much past ripe. I pretty much pick them as soon as they turn color. I have cut out the bad part and they taste sweet and great. Any idea what's missing? I don't see any worms or bugs. I'm in California and it's been very hot lately. Could that be it? Any help is appreciated.
Everyone else seems to know. Rank amateur, I know.... anyway... they are coming in just fine, but as they start to ripen a kind of seam appears down the side and eventually splits open, then will start to look moldy. I'm not letting them sit on the vine much past ripe. I pretty much pick them as soon as they turn color. I have cut out the bad part and they taste sweet and great. Any idea what's missing? I don't see any worms or bugs. I'm in California and it's been very hot lately. Could that be it? Any help is appreciated.
by weezie13 on September 02, 2005 09:02 AM
Hey J'Lyn,
Check your watering practices!!!!
They usually split when after getting
"X" amount of water, and then all of a
sudden a larger amount of water, say
a good rain, or a longer watering...
or after a extreme dry spell
and then being watered......
Welcome to The Garden Helper's Forum,
we are very glad you found us!!!!
* * * *
Weezie
Don't forget to be kind to strangers. For some who have
done this have entertained angels without realizing it.
- Bible - Hebrews 13:2
http://photobucket.com/albums/y250/weezie13/
Check your watering practices!!!!
They usually split when after getting
"X" amount of water, and then all of a
sudden a larger amount of water, say
a good rain, or a longer watering...
or after a extreme dry spell
and then being watered......
Welcome to The Garden Helper's Forum,
we are very glad you found us!!!!
* * * *
Weezie
Don't forget to be kind to strangers. For some who have
done this have entertained angels without realizing it.
- Bible - Hebrews 13:2
http://photobucket.com/albums/y250/weezie13/
by J'Lyn on September 02, 2005 09:52 AM
Rain?? You're kidding, right? ![[Wink]](im/wink.gif)
This is borderline desert. We haven't seen rain since February. I water every other day, but it's possible that it's getting too hot for that to be adequate. Do you have any tips for how to water, as far as surface sprinkling or should I try some sort of deep water? Thanks, I'm glad I found you too.
This is borderline desert. We haven't seen rain since February. I water every other day, but it's possible that it's getting too hot for that to be adequate. Do you have any tips for how to water, as far as surface sprinkling or should I try some sort of deep water? Thanks, I'm glad I found you too.
by weezie13 on September 02, 2005 10:04 AM
What are the growing conditions...
Do you have your garden in raised beds, containers, etc..
What type of soil to are they growing in?
Regular garden soil/dirt or bagged, etc??
What were your watering practices???
Time of day you watered, and how much???
Like how much did you water?
And what do you have on top of the soil under your plants???
Like mulch, landscape fabric, grass clippings???
* * * *
Weezie
Don't forget to be kind to strangers. For some who have
done this have entertained angels without realizing it.
- Bible - Hebrews 13:2
http://photobucket.com/albums/y250/weezie13/
Do you have your garden in raised beds, containers, etc..
What type of soil to are they growing in?
Regular garden soil/dirt or bagged, etc??
What were your watering practices???
Time of day you watered, and how much???
Like how much did you water?
And what do you have on top of the soil under your plants???
Like mulch, landscape fabric, grass clippings???
* * * *
Weezie
Don't forget to be kind to strangers. For some who have
done this have entertained angels without realizing it.
- Bible - Hebrews 13:2
http://photobucket.com/albums/y250/weezie13/
by J'Lyn on September 02, 2005 10:58 PM
The plants are growing in the ground. I had to amend the soil, it's like concrete if you don't. I rototilled in a product called Bumper Crop, and peat moss. I don't have any kind of mulch around the plants. I water in the morning until the soil is wet, but it may only be wet on top? I did dig a small trench around the plants to provide irrigation. Don't know if that was a good idea or not. Would straw around the plants help? Better choice of amendments? Thanks a lot for the help.
by weezie13 on September 06, 2005 12:11 AM
Some times when the peat moss is added..
It can cause a wee~bit of problem
if it's too much and not completely mixed
in or alot has stayed in clumps together...
Peatmoss must not dry out, once it dries out,
it's hard to re~wet it... or it takes several
waterings to get the whole clump moist...
It's good for the soil, great for tomatoes..
and a good medium, but tends to be tempermental.
The top may look wet, but often the under side is
bone dry..
a good deep watering is good for a plant,
incourages deep roots and a plant can survive drought or drier conditions...
when you only water lightly, and daily, that incourages the roots to stay at the top for their
waterings and when it dries out, it also dries up
the feeder roots...
I wasn't sure of the "Bumper Crop" stuff,
had never heard of it....I found one or two things
on it, and it has peat moss in it also, so you
have a wee~bit of double dose of peat moss..
which again is good when kept moist, but not soaking wet...
And morning waterings are the best, gives the plant time to drink up lot's of water before the sun beats down on them.. and they can use the water during the day...
Straw under the plants helps keep the moisture in, and weeds down..
A good word for straw is to get it the season before, and let it winter over a full year to kill
any extra weed seeds, and will be heading closer to the decomposing stage amd breaking down better if you want to rototill it in~in the fall time
to amend the soil...
* * * *
Weezie
Don't forget to be kind to strangers. For some who have
done this have entertained angels without realizing it.
- Bible - Hebrews 13:2
http://photobucket.com/albums/y250/weezie13/
It can cause a wee~bit of problem
if it's too much and not completely mixed
in or alot has stayed in clumps together...
Peatmoss must not dry out, once it dries out,
it's hard to re~wet it... or it takes several
waterings to get the whole clump moist...
It's good for the soil, great for tomatoes..
and a good medium, but tends to be tempermental.
The top may look wet, but often the under side is
bone dry..
a good deep watering is good for a plant,
incourages deep roots and a plant can survive drought or drier conditions...
when you only water lightly, and daily, that incourages the roots to stay at the top for their
waterings and when it dries out, it also dries up
the feeder roots...
I wasn't sure of the "Bumper Crop" stuff,
had never heard of it....I found one or two things
on it, and it has peat moss in it also, so you
have a wee~bit of double dose of peat moss..
which again is good when kept moist, but not soaking wet...
And morning waterings are the best, gives the plant time to drink up lot's of water before the sun beats down on them.. and they can use the water during the day...
Straw under the plants helps keep the moisture in, and weeds down..
A good word for straw is to get it the season before, and let it winter over a full year to kill
any extra weed seeds, and will be heading closer to the decomposing stage amd breaking down better if you want to rototill it in~in the fall time
to amend the soil...
* * * *
Weezie
Don't forget to be kind to strangers. For some who have
done this have entertained angels without realizing it.
- Bible - Hebrews 13:2
http://photobucket.com/albums/y250/weezie13/
by J'Lyn on September 07, 2005 08:59 AM
Awesome, thanks a lot.
by weezie13 on September 07, 2005 10:24 AM
J'Lyn,
You haveta come back with![[gabby]](im/graemlins/gabby.gif)
progress ![[critic]](im/graemlins/critic.gif)
reports for us.
Good![[angel]](im/graemlins/cherub.gif)
or Bad ![[devil]](im/graemlins/devil.gif)
on how your
plants do in the future..
That's how we all learn..and for future
gardener's that come in and read up on posts...
That's half the fun of helping,
is the feed back and results to a happy![[thumb]](im/graemlins/thumb.gif)
gardener![[flower]](im/graemlins/flower.gif)
* * * *
Weezie
Don't forget to be kind to strangers. For some who have
done this have entertained angels without realizing it.
- Bible - Hebrews 13:2
http://photobucket.com/albums/y250/weezie13/
You haveta come back with
progress reports for us.Good
or Bad on how yourplants do in the future..
That's how we all learn..and for future
gardener's that come in and read up on posts...
That's half the fun of helping,
is the feed back and results to a happy
gardener
* * * *
Weezie
Don't forget to be kind to strangers. For some who have
done this have entertained angels without realizing it.
- Bible - Hebrews 13:2
http://photobucket.com/albums/y250/weezie13/
by johnCT on September 07, 2005 09:00 PM
Also, some varieties are more prone to cracking than others, but most times the right cultural practices can cure the problem.
* * * *
John - Zone 6
* * * *
John - Zone 6
by Sorellina on September 10, 2005 02:45 AM
J'Lyn,
I swear by straw as a mulch source for tomato plants. It really helps hold the water in. Also, using a soaker hose or some sort of drip irrigation should help your situation out in California. The idea is to keep your water levels even. Too much/too little cause problems for tomatoes. Think of the splitting situation like what happens when you want to skin tomatoes for canning. You put them in boiling water for a few minutes until the skins split. The skins split because the fruit are taking up water through the stem end (watch closely next time you do this) until the fruit can't take in anymore and the skin ruptures. Same thing happens if your plants suddenly get a lot of water after being in drought conditions. You can also end up with blossom end rot where round black sunken-in patches will form on the bottom of the fruit if watering isn't consistent. This also happens naturally. I can speak for those of us in the Great Lakes region because we suffered drought conditions earlier in the summer followed by thunderstorms. This caused a lot of headaches with blossom end rot and fruit splitting. Figure out your irrigation issues and your fruit won't split.
Buona fortuna,
Julianna
* * * *
I swear by straw as a mulch source for tomato plants. It really helps hold the water in. Also, using a soaker hose or some sort of drip irrigation should help your situation out in California. The idea is to keep your water levels even. Too much/too little cause problems for tomatoes. Think of the splitting situation like what happens when you want to skin tomatoes for canning. You put them in boiling water for a few minutes until the skins split. The skins split because the fruit are taking up water through the stem end (watch closely next time you do this) until the fruit can't take in anymore and the skin ruptures. Same thing happens if your plants suddenly get a lot of water after being in drought conditions. You can also end up with blossom end rot where round black sunken-in patches will form on the bottom of the fruit if watering isn't consistent. This also happens naturally. I can speak for those of us in the Great Lakes region because we suffered drought conditions earlier in the summer followed by thunderstorms. This caused a lot of headaches with blossom end rot and fruit splitting. Figure out your irrigation issues and your fruit won't split.
Buona fortuna,
Julianna
* * * *
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