Summer is the time to reap the rewards of the hours spent rearing tomato plants at home, with the main harvest occurring from July to September. There’s nothing quite like watching the thick green vines become decorated with small fruit, particularly when the first tomatoes ripen to a delicious hue of ruby red. But the growing process can seem wasted when you notice nibble marks from hungry pests or large cracks in the flesh of homegrown tomatoes.
If your lovely tomatoes frequently have slits or cracks in their skin, you may be curious about the cause and if there’s a solution. Gardening experts note that there is, and it is a surprisingly simple issue to fix if you get one thing right: watering. As with all plants, over- or underwatering tomatoes can be detrimental to their growth.
And that’s exactly the case for tomatoes that are split or cracked. House Digest explained: “Tomatoes tend to split and crack because of changes in their watering levels. If you’re planting tomatoes out in the open, they’re more likely to crack if a heavy rain is followed by a drought, or vice versa.
“In greenhouses, where tomatoes tend to thrive, you can better control the moisture level of the soil.”
How to water tomato plants
A consistent watering routine is very effective for tomatoes, ensuring there are no extreme fluctuations in watering from one week to the next.
Gardening experts suggest drenching the soil of tomatoes with just one inch of water each week or slightly more if the weather is hot. To avoid watering the leaves and fruit, stick to a narrow hose or watering can rather than sprinklers.
The finger soil test is foolproof for determining whether it’s safe to water your plants. Just stick your finger about an inch into the soil where the tomato plant grows.
Damp soil suggests waiting and repeating the test the following day. If the soil feels dry to the touch, you should go ahead and water.
Watering is worth spending time on to preserve the plump, red tomatoes’ aesthetic. Once split, bugs can feast on the juicy core.
Unlike during a heatwave when manual watering is simple, it is difficult to fix split fruit in periods of heavy rain “There is no remedy for the damaging effects of flooding, which often leads to fruit splitting and cracking”, explains the Royal Horticultural Society.
However, promptly harvesting ripe fruit is worthwhile to reduce losses. Check your plants daily in summer to find ripe tomatoes.
Are split tomatoes safe to eat?
Split tomatoes aren’t just unappetizing. “Once a tomato cracks, some nasty bugs can start to feast on the interior flesh”, said House Digest. Mould and fungus could grow and spread inside the split tomato, even as it starts to repair itself.
It is perfectly fine to cut around the cracks of a tomato and use the good parts in salads, sandwiches, salsas, and sauces.
However, it is not recommended to use split or cracked tomatoes if you plan on preserving them via “canning”. This involves sealing tomatoes in airtight jars and heating them to a temperature that kills harmful bacteria and prevents spoilage.
Tomatoes that aren’t quite table-ready but have already split can be picked and allowed to ripen off the vine.
For those growing potted tomatoes that have a greenhouse, it is possible to move tomato plants into a greenhouse in summer, especially if you have an unheated one and want to extend the growing season or provide a more controlled environment.