Help!

[DandyLioness]

What the heck is happening to my greenhouse tomatoes???? I just plucked these today, and they're stressing me out!!! <_< :( :unsure: :(

Do I keep it too hot in there?? :( I'm so sad.

[DandyLioness]

PLEEZE someone tell me what's going on!?!???!?!

[SilenceOfTheClams]

Dandy.... to ME... and I'm no EXPERT ON VEGGIES..... but the couple of tomatoes I had that were similar WERE in HOT HOT DIRECT SUN... so I think you DO have a heat problem there.....

Me thinks they're stewing! :unsure: <_< <_<

[DandyLioness]

OK, so it's not a fungus problem then? I REALLY AM stressed out about my tommies? <_<

[KiwiGardener]

I have to agree with the heat and direct sun.
I get a couple like that but not many as their is a moss that grown on my glass house to filter out the direct sun.

[MrSeedy]

From what I"ve read and also experineced over the years, tomatoes are very sensitive to fluctuations in soil moisture, so if they're going from moist to very dry often , that might cause some cracking in the skin, and in the worst cases where I let my tomatoe patches get too dry, and the plants were overly deprived of water as the fruits were ripening, they'd actually take up so much water , that they'd actually split their skins from all the expansion, when they took up the extra water.
If they're cracking when they're green it may mean they've gotten too dry at various points and if they "split" when ripening , they've most likely gotten enough water earlier , but not at the ripening stage. It's also true that the sun can cause sunscald but that doesn't necessarily look like the "cracking"!

[donybee]

I'm sure heat is a contributing factor. My greenhouse hits 120 (Highest my thermometer goes) in the summer sun, even with the door and window open for venilation.

[Ginny42]

Dandy, I always thought it had something to do with the sun too, but looks like MrSeedy hit the nail on the head with the water fluctuations. Here's what I found for ya:
Growing tomatoes in places where it rains regularly is a dicey proposition. When rain falls directly onto ripening tomatoes, it causes the fruit to absorb water through the skin and split. More than 1/4 inch of so of rain at the wrong time also saturates the soil and causes the plants to take up a slug of water, which also splits the fruit. If the moisture sits on the split fruit for a day or so, the cracks will mold and the tomatoes rot.

and:

Cracks on tomatoe fruits, radiating from the stem axis, are usually caused by changes in watering practices, either on your part or by mother nature. When the tomatoe plant has become accustomed to a certain quantity of water, and then has a radical increase in the amount of water,a growth spurt will occur. The fleshy tissue of the fruit will grow much more rapidly than the skin, causing the skin to split. The fruit is OK, other than the corky texture around the split. The splits will, however become more succeptible to viral infections, which could lead to the loss of the fruit or possibly theplant. When you grow your tomatoes, give them a very good, deep watering each time, thereby accustomizing the plant to the extra water it may experience later in the season.

[DandyLioness]

Thanks everyone for your help. Ginny, sounds like that's exactly what's going on. I've been watering from the top, which I shouldn't and I don't water regularly enough... It's MY fault and I better smarten up! ^_^

I will water the ground only from now on... and make sure I follow a watering schedule! ^_^