fruit cracking
ccllaarrkkyy
Posts: 26
Im having some problems with my jalepeno plants and tomatoe plants can anyone tell me whats happening here and why please?
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ccllaarrkkyy
Posts: 26
ccllaarrkkyy
Posts: 26
ccllaarrkkyy
Posts: 26
Posts
Irregular watering I should imagine. Dehydration, then rush of water which swells the fruit more than the skin can accommodate. May have happened some weeks ago.
Jalapeno chilis have a crackly texture to the skin naturally. The tomatoes will be the erratic watering.
That's concentric cracking on the tom (as opposed to radial cracking where the cracks run vertically). Some tomato varieties are prone to it regardless of conditions. It may also be a watering issue as suggested above.
Best to harvest the tom now, ccllaarrkkyy, and let it ripen inside. The crack will open up and create a possible entry point for infection.
My tomatoes have been the same. I have grown Moneymaker this year. They taste good but the skins are a bit rough.
Thanks for the replies, its not down to erratic watering though I dont think, I have a very rigid schedule for them, I water them twice daily at the same times every day as Im down at my allotments all day long, the temps in the greenhouse do reach 30-40 degrees C though throughout the day, I was thinking it was a dehydration issue or sorts. Last year I had them split vertically which I did put down to erratic watering
@Patricia My tom plants are all Money Makers as well, strange...
Im pleased the cracks on my Jalepenos are natural though, thanks for confiraming this! I have around 50 decent sized ones on one plant.
Thanks for the advice, happy gardening folks
I haven't grown Moneymakers but some cursory research suggests they're not known as natural splitters. I think it might be down to overwatering, ccllaarrkkyy. The toms just can't absorb the amount of moisture they're getting. Twice a day is an awful lot of water. Mine never get that much and my temps are in the high 30s and low 40s.
Sounds like we have basically the same kind of enviroment, maybe it is down to overwatering on my behalf, Ive just been watching them and the soil their planted in seems to get really dry hence the twice a day watering... Ive picked off all the ones that have spilt and will try just giving them one water now at the end of the day when the sun starts to set, hopefully it will solve the problem.
Food for thought, thanks, will wirte back and let you know how it turns out
They're in the greenhouse, aren't they? Mine are in the ground. I water about every three days but very very very deeply. The roots are driven down deep into the soil away from the heat near the surface.
They're very high temps for a greenhouse because the heat is even more intense in the enclosed environment, even with ventilation. So you have a bit of a vicious circle in place. For the future, it's probably worthwhile trying to keep the temps down.